Day 3 Workout woes

Before this bout of pain kicked in, I was working out five days a week...a mixture of cardio and circuit training. I have quite a bit of weight to lose, so that was my original motivation, but over the last six months, I've really come to enjoy my time at the gym. My neighbor and I would had over about 5:30am, before our spouses left for work and our little ones filled the rest if our day.

It was total me time...my only me time, really. I had to stop about 6 weeks ago when the pain became too much. Walking around the house is a struggle now, much less hopping on an elliptical. That's one of the things I don't understand about TMS recovery. Am I supposed to jump right back into my workout routine? How can I do that when I'm limping around in severe pain? When Dr. Sarno advises returning to normal activity, does he mean after the pain subsides? I'm not concerned about hurting myself further with physical activity, just being able to do the activity with the pain.

 

Everyone seems to have a different perspective on this question. My physical therapist suggested I read Dr. Sarno's book. I was having a lot of pelvic floor problems. Terrible cramping in my thighs, abdominal cramping, IT band hard as a rock, butt muscles cramping. She started me out slow with stretching as I went along to build my confidence. Then as I continued to reinforce Sarno's program I started walking farther and farther and faster and faster. I would start out with the pain and tightness then continued the talking to my mind to "cut the crap out. I am going to do this no matter what. Then the pain would move to my knees..... sneaky TMS. You are not going to get me down. I am going to do this no matter what. I am rockin."

WJC, you are on your way.

 

Thank you, Stella. That's the one thing I've been super confused about. I feel like if I tried to jump right back into my old routine, I might pass out from the pain, but I'm sure I can start some stretching or tai chi. I think I'll do that tomorrow!

 

My personal bias is to keep working out. I started playing sports when I was completely feeling not ready for it and seeing that I could handle it when I thought I couldn't was important.

 

I've been experimenting with the "just keeping working out in spite of the pain approach."

Some part of me is freaked out about doing this, but I've been limiting myself to minimize pain for so long, that it seems worth the experiment.

As I've been running, I've been forcing my focus away from the pain - thinking about things i'm excited about, tuning into my hearing/vision and other senses. Sometimes doable, sometimes my run just hurts. I'm sticking to this plan for a while though, since it's fascinating to watch the pain move from one place to the next. Perhaps I got it on the run : )