Things I Should and Shouldn't Do

Kathy our receptionist at work always says, "exercise will kill you."  Maybe I should listen to her.

For a month, I have been on the mend from Back-Attack 1.0.  I took it easy at the gym, cut back the weight lifting, and focused mainly on low impact activities.  

On Friday, I was doing spin class with Tony Valdez, which is fun and everyone is really nice, especially the gal sitting next to me, who invited me to her "abs and back class" from 6:05-6:30.  I didn't have to walk the dog because the Tiger had the morning off, so I decided to try it out.  

Huge mistake.  

Somewhere in between the V-ups and the push-ups and the side-to-side crunches the old S9 vertebrae decided to protest again.  I came home with a pretty sore back Friday morning.  

I planned to swim and spin on Saturday, so I figured I would get in the pool and see how I did.  I was a bit stiff, but I thought it might loosen things up.  Swimming, fine.  Spinning, okay.  I even did 40 minutes of walking/jogging on the treadmill (yeah, little private triathlon of training--I am awesome).  Fine.  Working out, all fine.  

Then, in the afternoon, more pain.  

After my pain killers wore off last night, and today, super pain.  

Dramatic reenaction of my butt and back pain.

Here are the things that are not fine: sitting, getting up from sitting, standing too long, rolling over in bed, bending over slightly to the side in either direction, picking up heavy things, laying down sometimes.  I went into see the doctor today because the last time I had these symptoms, I also had a UTI (TMI?), which can cause severe back pain and infect your kidneys, yikes!

Since the symptoms of Back-Attack 2.0 were nearly identical to Back-Attack 1.0, I decided I better get check out.  

Nope, it's just the S9 acting up again.  Only this time, I have way less pharmaceutical assistance.  Anti-inflammatory drugs, heat, and taking it easy--stupid!

I did make an appointment with my real doctor.  Hopefully she can give me some ideas for how to take care of my problematic hips and lower back a bit more proactively.  Maybe some physical therapy?  I'd like to avoid back attack 3.0.  

So, yes to low impact stuff once I am healed.

No to abs and back classes, at least until I get a prescription for that kind of activity.

Or maybe I should just give up on exercise.  It will kill you.