60 to Sexy

So you may remember that I hurt my back in early August. I decided to take a couple weeks off from lifting to let it heal. Tuesday was my first day back in the gym and whaddaya know, I promptly herniated a spinal disc.

So seemingly dramatic statements aside, it looks like I wasn’t as healed as I should have been, and even a short gym workout after two weeks of rest was enough to have either A) herniated the disc (more likely) or B) severely sprained a ligament (less likely, but possible.) The treatment for either is the same, so the doctor didn’t feel the need to get an MRI to be absolutely sure - he just wrote me a prescription for some Physical Therapy and told me not to do any lifting for 4 weeks or so. My first PT appointment is Tuesday, and the success of those three weeks will determine when I’m able to continue working out.

So at the very least maybe I can help you all learn from my idiocy, as the truth is I only brought this upon myself:

1. If you’re working out, form is more important than weight. I originally hurt myself on some barbell squats with shitty form. From there, it only took three warm-up cleans and then pulling a 30 pound barbell off a rack for me to do some serious damage.
2. However long you think it takes to heal from a back injury, double it. Don’t risk reaggrivating it because the second time hurts a lot more.
3. Getting into and out of cars has been the bane of my existence since Tuesday morning.
4. Seriously - Tuesday morning I got stuck and it took me 2-3 minutes to be able to get out of my own car in my work parking lot.

Either way, the reality is that this bumps me out of the competition. Truth be told I’ve been more or less out since early August anyway, while I “healed,” but this is the final nail in the coffin. I’ll still be around, (hopefully) supportive, and eager to see you guys progress, but it looks like I’m benched until next season. In the meantime, though, keep on keeping on everyone. The final stretch approaches - dig deep, stay safe, and go kick some ass.