Sorry for the absence!

I know it's been a really long time since I last posted and I apologize. I am still working away at P90X, but I've had to take a couple of breaks.

After my last post, I believe I did about 3-4 more days of P90X, with a few soccer games thrown into the mix. With about 2 weeks left before the end of the program, I decided that I needed to take a three day break. I'm still having major sciatic nerve problems and the pain is pretty much constant...it even hurts when I cough. I thought that maybe it would get a little bit better if I took a few days off. At about day 2 of my mini break, I got sick with a cold and ended up taking almost 3 days off work because of it. So for about a week, I did no exercise whatsoever.

After taking the week off, I started back into P90X (this was last Monday) and had a soccer game early last week as well. Then on Thursday, we left for a trip to Ontario for four days. I did a bunch of walking during the trip, but no other exercise. And I ate pretty crappy too! I got back from my trip late last night.

So that brings us up to date. I've got soccer tonight and Wednesday and I'll be continuing on in week 12 of P90X. My sciatic nerve issue is no better after about a month of pain and the week off didn't do me any good at all. I have a physio appt. next week so I'm hoping she can perfom miracles! It's kind of painful to run during soccer, but I'm making sure I put heat on it before my games and stretch it really well. Plus I take 2 extra strength ibuprofen before each game. Most of the moves in P90X don't bother me, but there are a couple that I usually end up skipping over.

So that's where I've been. I know I've been really slack lately, but I'm going to try and be better about posting for my last 2 weeks. I'm anxious to finish, but it will take a little longer than 2 weeks since I play soccer about twice a week. I haven't taken any measurements in quite a while, so I'm hoping I see some more change since day 60! I'll post again soon!

Days 69, 70, 71 - Kenpo, Stretch, and Chest, Back & Abs Ripper

This will be another quick post because I've gotten myself really behind again. My sciatic nerve is still bothering me, so exercising has been a bit difficult. But I managed to do the last 3 workouts pretty well, plus I played soccer on Friday night. I took a day off on Saturday too (unintentionally) because I had to work, then we were with friends for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

I really hope this nerve problem goes away soon. I'm finding it difficult to put my shoes and socks on and I limp for a bit every time I get up off a chair. Also, oddly enough, when I laugh, cough, sneeze, etc, it hurts my ass! (see previous post if you aren't sure what I'm talking about).

My massage therapist and fellow soccer player assessed me on Friday before my game and she can't figure out what's going on. She did a few tests on me to see where the pain originates, but they didn't really tell her anything. But she thinks the problem either originates from a tightness in my piriformis muscle in my bum, or from a known disc problem in my back...or both. So I'm not really sure what to do about it, aside from stretching the muscle. I'm going to try icing my back tonight instead of my bum and see if that helps. If it does, that will answer my question at least.

I shouldn't be having this many problems!!...back issues, sciatic nerve issues. The whole point of getting into shape was to get rid of these problems! I'm only 33! I can't imagine what I'll be like at 50 at this rate!

Day 68 - Core Synergistics

I have a really sore bum! As I discussed in my last post, I went to see my massage therapist yesterday to work on my piriformis muscle, which is causing some sciatic nerve pain. She worked REALLY hard on it and as a result, I have a big bruise on my left bum cheek!! I'm quite sore as well and still have nerve pain, so I have some stretches and exercises to work on.

I was a little wary to try core synergistics today because there are some exercises which work your gluts, but it wasn't so bad. The only part I had problems with was the 3 minutes of lunges with the barbells, where you do the kick-backs and overhead presses. But I was able to do the whole exercise, without too much pain!

I'm almost done week 10, which means that I've only got three weeks left!!! I'm excited to be finished this round, even though I plan to keep going and do the classic version throughout the summer. Because I play soccer, the last three weeks will probably take much longer than that. Once the season starts, I'll be playing 2-3 times a week, so I won't do P90X on those days. I'm really hoping I can finish the round by the end of June, so fingers crossed!

Soccer and Massage

Yesterday was my first league game of the summer. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we played on the turf, which is awesome to run on. And thanks to P90X, I felt amazing!!! I'm usually really out of shape at the beginning of the summer season and only really get into shape by the end of the summer...when the season is over. So it felt fantastic to actually be in shape at the beginning! Imagine how fit I'll be by August!

For the past several weeks, I've been dealing with piriformis syndrome, which is when your piriformis muscle pinches the sciatic nerve. It's rather irritating and aches most of the time. Today I went to see my massage therapist right after work and when I told her my problems, she asked if I had plans later in the evening "because this is going to hurt!" Holy crap, she wasn't lying! I've never had such a painful massage before. But it's all good and I know it will help in the long run. So my instructions for tonight are to rest and ice one area, while putting heat on another. So I guess I'll be skipping my P90X workout tonight.