Overuse injuries and general fitness.

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Hi everyone!

Okay, so it has been a while...

1. Figuring out the overuse injuries (Aug 2024)
2. Overuse injuries – 2 weeks later… (Aug 2024)
3. Overuse injuries – First month… (Sept 2024)

.. it's been 4 months - and what an intense few months its been.

For the first time in decades, I had to do an exam (scheduled for late Nov) and it was so incredibly hard. I must have studied for well over 200 hours, it was extremely stressful, it has a 30% pass rate and at no point in the 100 questions did I feel confident in any of my answers. I passed, but it was rough... and I think I got burnt out over it.

My diet, exercise and rehab routine went completely out the window as I didn't have the spare brainspace for any of it.

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Yes, my brain also has teeth.

I've basically been exhausted for all of December, so Thanksgiving and the Christmas and New Years breaks were perfectly timed for recovery and I'm feeling much more in control now.

So, these are the things I'm working on:

Essentially there are a bunch of things I'm working through, and here is the list:

1.) Golfer’s Elbow in both elbows
2.) Plantar Fasciitis (heel pain)
3.) Stiff neck headaches
4.) Lower Back pain
5.) Hypertonic Pelvic Floor muscles

I also might have a rotator cuff issue on my left side. There's a bit of pain during the elliptical machine and bench presses, but at no other time, and it subsides quickly... so I'll keep an eye on that.

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Alright, let's set a baseline for 2025...

These are the measurements I took this morning using my Renpho scale app thingy:

1.15kg really is nothing to even think about, but looking at the trends my Body Fat went up from 17.1 to 17.6, my Subcutaneous Fat went up from 15.1 to 15.5 and Muscle Mass went up from 55.8 to 56.4kg so I've got a little bit to work on there, but nothing I'm particularly worried about.

In the 10 days before the exam I was studying like 10 hours a day and eating from Foodtrucks every lunch. I was sleeping terribly and was generally a mess. I was doing cardio consistently but still managed to develop a little bit of a belly... and then after the exam I was so burnt out it took maybe 3 or 4 weeks to get back into a proper routine diet-wise.

I'm now on a consistent diet of:

Breakfast

• Water
• Porridge with berries, nuts and raisins.
• Apple
  
  

Lunch

• Rice, beans, veggies.
• Apple
  
  

Dinner

• Protein shake
• Apple

Am I obsessed with apples? I guess so, I always find them such a nice palate cleanser after my meal, I legit feel weird if I don't eat an apple after eating.

I've been more consistent with my upper body routine over my lower body routine, but it wasn't perfect. I did have quite a few misses.

Here is what I'm doing currently. The aim is Thursdays and Sundays:

2 sets:

• 2 x 6 pull ups
• 10 lbs dumbbells side press 10
• 10 lbs dumbbells front press 10
• 10 lbs dumbbells hammer curls 10
• 15 lbs dumbbells shoulder press 10
• 40 lbs dumbbells bench press 10
• 15 lbs dumbbells bench fly 10

If I can I try to get another 2 sets of 6 pull ups later that same day too... but that's happened a lot less than I'd like.

This is my routine...

2 sets :

• calf raises (x20)
• step ups (x20)
• 30 x 2 lb. dumbbell squats (x10)
• lunges 25 lb. Dumbbells (x20)
• jump squats (x10)

I've done it 14 times since Sept 29th, which I guess is nearly once a week, so I guess I wasn't doing as badly as I thought I was.

I've been doing a little bit more treadmill since the elliptical has been hurting my shoulder. I haven't cycled at all but I sometimes throw rowing in the mix.

I generally do cardio for 20 minutes, and even that feels so long... but I think I would like to try and run for 5km on the treadmill to see how long it takes me. I'm not sure if I'll make that a regular thing or not.

Alright... what process have I made...

1.) Golfer’s Elbow in both elbows

This actually went down.. and then mysterious came back super hard when I downloaded Marvel Rivals (so fun!) and had to uninstall it. It's been generally okay with the occasional flareup. Last time one elbow was sore, I wasn't sure if it was because I had been lying down and propping my head up - or because I had done pull ups the day before.

2.) Plantar Fasciitis (heel pain)

This is worse than it was. Part of it is definitely the treadmill... but I've worked out the real cause. I didn't have this in my old house when I ran 3 times a week on the road.. but it came on about a month after moving... and I'm pretty sure it's because I'll often walk up 15 flights of stairs a few times a day.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE taking the stairs. The burn of the lungs and quads... so good.

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So, I'm hoping to try and fix it with my rehab routine instead. I'll see how this goes. I might have to adjust.

3.) Stiff neck headaches

This was a massive problem while studying. I had to constantly change up my study situation (desk, different desk, couch, repeat) because the headaches would knock me out for a whole night. I'd also take breaks to do neck-specific rehab exercises - which all helped but there was still some really bad days.

The problem is that if I don't do pull ups for a while, and then get back into them - I get the exact same headache... and because it takes a few hours to come on, I wouldn't know what I did to bring it on.

There was a couple of times the same headache would last for days. Not cool.

4.) Lower Back pain

I finally figured this one out.
It's from standing at my standing desk.
I now have 2 desks, and I try to make sure I use my chair at the standing desk instead of standing. It does still flare up sometimes, and it does become super uncomfortable if I try to sleep on my stomach, but I've got this in a manageable stage at least.

5.) Hypertonic Pelvic Floor muscles

This issue was actually amazing. I think I had this 99% solved in December.
I had been really consistent with the specific exercises in Sept and November, and then in December I stopped doing them and it all felt really good... until it didn't.

It came back with such a massive vengeance, and is still a pretty significant issue for me... but I now know that those particular exercises made a difference so I've just got to never stop doing them and I should be okay.

So that's where I'm at! Looking to make this a regular piece until I can get these injuries reduced to only a tiny affect on my life.

I hope your health and fitness is going well!
Thanks for reading!