March 29, 2011

March 28

Alarm went off at 5:00 I was up and at 'em by 5:30.  I did Wii Yoga and the stretching felt really good.  Will I get to the gym to swim tonight???? Maybe, or maybe get on my bike for a bit.  Ever since I dropped my Kindle off the handlebars and broke it, I haven't been on my bike :(. 

Week 12, when will things slow down?

NEVER!  That is what I've determined.  For week 12 I didn't get anything physical accomplished, except having allergies and sneezing my chest muscles sore again.  I'm very motivated by my itty bitty bikini, so I WILL be getting in bikini body shape!!!  I'm going to start getting up early (5ish) and working out before the kids get up.  Then trying to get to the gym in the daytime.  This is my last week of regularly scheduled work, after Wednesday or Thursday, I'll have more daytime time to get to the gym. 

Week 11, What a Week

One of these days I'm going to run out of reasons for not getting to the gym.  Hopefully!  Sunday, after my eager and ready to workout mood, I got some bad news.  My uncle, who we are all very close to, had a heart attack and died.  So shortly after my last post and through most of the week, I was with my grandma and mom, and we helped each other through the worst of it (I hope).  It's been a very busy and trying week, and I'm trying to keep upbeat for the kids.  I just don't spend a lot of time alone... I've been worried about things going unsaid, and have been trying to figure out how to ensure that the girls know how much I love them every single day and forever.  I've got to get scrapbooks caught up, journals written...
I'm feeling motivated to spring clean, to purge, and to get a fresh beginning to the year.  I've quit my job!  I gave my notice.  I told them I'd work a couple days a month (with notice, as to arrange care for the girls).  We will be done with our schedule this month.  We are ready to move on and work towards better things as a family.  Hopefully this will open up more time for me to focus on me and the family, and making memories that will matter!
I'm thinking of doing some Wii or video workout tonight.  I'm stiff and sore and ready to feel better!

Week 10

This week I spent getting back into the swing of things.  My state boards are done till I'm ready for the practical part of the test.  So I have repacked the 4 boxes of school papers I had out, filed away all the notecards I was studying, and I'm ready to get my life back.  This week I didn't work out, but I did read some good articles on the internet.  Including the one I linked to on the blog, I'm going to be doing some of those shoulder exercises.  I feel like a hunchback after I've sat at the desk. 
I'm going to try for the pool tomorrow. I bought a swimsuit, one that is totally inappropriate, but who cares, right???  I'll get a picture of it (not on of course) and get it up here as inspiration to get my arse in gear!  It isn't one to wear to the gym, it isn't even one to wear to the waterpark.  It's one that if a child were to pull on one of the strings, I'd be standing there in NOTHING!!  I may put a stitch or two in the bottoms to make sure that doesn't happen :).
Okay, This coming week will be a good week!  As long as I don't sneeze, my chest doesn't even hurt anymore! 

Week 9

I didn't write for week 9... So here it is, I went to the gym and got in the pool.  My chest muscles are feeling much much better, I stopped swimming when I did because I was getting a pulling feeling, but it went away later that day. 

Balance Your Blades: 3 Corrective Shoulder Exercises | Active.com

Balance Your Blades: 3 Corrective Shoulder Exercises | Active.com

Any good orthopedist or physical therapist knows pain in one part of the body is often caused by dysfunction in another part of the body. The most common area of pain in swimmers is the shoulder rotator cuff.

Swimmer's shoulder is a form of bursitis that develops when a bursa, or fluid sack, located at the shoulder rotator cuff is repeatedly impinged during the swim stroke and becomes inflamed. Repetitive impingement may also cause tendonitis (inflammation) or tendinosis (tissue degeneration) in the tendons of the rotator cuff.

The primary cause of swimmer's shoulder is not the rotator cuff, however; it's the scapula. Commonly known as the shoulder blades, the left and right scapulae are strategically positioned as critical links between the spine and the shoulder rotator cuffs.

Essentially, the scapulae and the 17 muscles around them are the foundation of your shoulders and the base of every arm movement. A healthy shoulder blade must be both stable and mobile. Lack of adequate stability or mobility in the shoulder blade makes the rotator cuff susceptible to impingement during overhead arm movements such as those involved in the freestyle swim stroke.

Posture Problems

Healthy shoulder blades are a rarity in our society. The problem is the amount of time we spend sitting in front of computers and steering wheels. The hunched position we tend to assume in these situations leads to a more or less permanent forward rounding of the upper spine, called kyphosis.

This posture inhibits the ability of the scapula to tilt backward and create space for the rotator cuff in the shoulder joint when the arm is lifted overhead. As a result, the rotator cuff gets pinched, causing tissue damage.

It doesn't stop there. In the keyboard-typing and steering-wheel-grasping positions our shoulders are internally rotated and protracted (pushed forward) for long periods of time. This leads to laxity and weakness in the muscles that externally rotate and retract (pull back) the shoulders.

Eventually, these imbalances cause the shoulder blades to float away from the spine toward the shoulder sockets, a phenomenon known as scapular winging. A healthy shoulder blade is sucked up tight against the ribcage. If your shoulder blades are visibly poking out of your upper back when you stand with your arms at your sides, then you have scapular winging.

Swimming tends to exacerbate these issues further, while also hastening and intensifying their consequences. Swimming strengthens the shoulder's internal rotators and protractors at the expense of the muscles that move the shoulders in the opposite directions.

To improve your shoulder health and performance, it's necessary to counterbalance these effects with strengthening exercises for the muscles that externally rotate the arms at the shoulder socket and retract the shoulder blades. A little bit of corrective exercise for the shoulders goes a long way.

I recommend doing one set of each of the following three exercises twice per week as a preventive measure if you have never experienced swimmer's shoulder. Build to two sets of each exercise three times per week if you have had a shoulder injury.

(Thanks to Eric Cressey, M.S., C.S.C.S., a Boston-based strength and conditioning coach who works with endurance athletes including Dede Griesbauer, second at Ironman Brazil this year, for teaching me these exercises.)