Day 88: Christmas Day for Fitness

I woke up at 3:30a with my right shoulder throbbing. Though my shoulders are typically sore when I wake up, the throbbing was something that I haven’t experienced in several weeks. After getting up for a few minutes I was able to fall back asleep for the rest of the night.

After waking up and going through my (new) morning routine, I had the unique fun of dealing with more medical bills. It is the art of staying on top of paperwork and payments since insurance is hitting at different dates, payments are crossing with the processing of statements and more. 

My morning and early afternoon were a standard day at work comprising of meetings, emails and working on projects. It has been nice having my standing desk so that I can switch back and forth throughout the day. 

Since physical therapy was scheduled for 5p I decided to head to the gym before, which was the first time I had tried that. 

I have really wanted to start expanding my workouts beyond only the stationary bike as a way of testing my upper body while being able to work on my lower body.  

I decided to incorporate squat and curls with a 2-4 lbs resistance band to test myself. After dynamically warming up I aimed to accomplish 4 sets x 15 reps with a 30 second rest between rounds.  

My shoulders felt great until around the 5th rep of the final round but I still finished all 4 sets. Even though I felt that soreness I still think I could move up to the next band resistance. 

I then tackled 20 minutes on the stationary bike using the “Random Hill” setting. I was able to accomplish 8 miles in 20 minutes when I usually would get 9 miles in 30 minutes on the manual setting. 

I was very happy that I felt strong with the squat and curls so that I can start doing more than just the stationary bike. 

I came back home, worked through foot mobilizations, took my post-workout drink and protein shake followed by walking over to physical therapy. 

Physical therapy was another set of wins for the day! 

While the external rotation in my elbows still needs work, the range of motion in my shoulders continues to improve. We didn’t test the range of motion degrees but it was significantly better. 

Actually it has improved so much that, for the first time, my physical therapist had me try doing seated bench press and seated rows. It was the first time since my injuries that I have lifted any weight beyond light dumbbells. 

Though I felt a twinge of soreness while bringing my arms back to start the press movement, it felt amazing to press and pull weight again. 

We continued my session by doing external and internal elbow rotation work using the TheraBand. 

While we were working through the movements I received approval to try jogging, continue using (light) weights as we did today and doing pushups and planks.  

It was like Christmas morning for me.  

I would have been happy with just the squat and curls.  

I would have been happy just doing the seated press OR seated rows.  

I would have been happy if I could start trying pushups OR planks OR jogging/running.  

But I either accomplished or received approval to do all of it today!  

I will be curious to see how sore I am within the next 1-2 days since I usually have delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). This was, by far, the hardest I have worked when it comes to using weights or resistance. 

With another early morning heading down to Santa Clara, it is going to be an early night for me.