Injuries in the Gym - Assisted Pull Up Machine - Ahhhhh

From time to time I am reminded that although I am mentally enthusiastic about weight training that I need to be a bit more cautious in order to avoid  injuries which can derail my fitness program.  My current injury occured about a week ago when I got a bit cocky about my strength on the Assisted Pull Up machine.  That is not me in the picture, and it is not even close to what I would wear to a gym :-0 but that is an example of the machine that I hurt myself on.

I did one chin up - narrow hold not wide and said to my trainer - too light!  So he made an adjustment and all of a sudden I was straining through 10 reps.  Thankfully I was sensible enough to do the next two sets at a more friendly weight - but I was to find out later that it was already too late.  When you try to lift weights that are too much for you you lose your form.  If you are on the 'hyper mobile' end of the scale you can also mess up your joints and then muscles can tighten to a frightening degree to try to support the now dodgey joint - anyway, that is what happened to me!

Here is a link to an article in the Huffington Post on how to use these machines (I might forward it to my trainer)  My Massage Therapist (magic hands Margaret) - thinks I may have let my 'traps' rise up … as well as having put to much strain on my 'lats' and now my right lower back and 'glute' are in open rebellion.

Fix Your Form - How to Use the Assisted Pull Up Machine

So far I have had one Osteo visit, two massages with another booked, a stretching and foam roller session for an hour with my trainer, and I have booked an acupuncture treatment as well.  I've had to cancel my training session for today and am hopeful that I can attend on Thursday.  Walking is still ok, so I have a 2 hour bush walk planned for later in the week too.  I am getting by with Ibuprofen and heat packs.

So it is a slow start to my fitness year.  Needing to peel back a few Summer Holiday kgs, and get back in shape may take a little longer than initially projected.  But as I am oft reminded - results are 70% about the diet - so I can do that.  It has been 1 year since I signed up with Vision and they have been great overall.  I can't see myself giving up on them anytime soon.  Whether I can justify another year of having two gym memberships in another matter.

Out with the old in with the new ...

One of the great things about losing weight is of course buying clothes in a smaller size - like my new pair of Lululemon pants - full length for the cooler weather.  I love buying from this store as they take up the hem for free!  If they didn't that would be another $25 on top.  It's expensive being shortish.

My old pair, besides looking like they had been in the wash a few too many times, were only staying up with the assistance of a draw string being done up quite tight!  Of course, when one is buying new clothes in smaller sizes, one runs out of space to store them along side the clothes that are now too large!

It is tempting to still wear them even though they don't fit right anymore.  It is tempting to keep them 'just-in-case' or because you can't bear to give them away, having spent good money on them.  But storage is at a premium at my house, so today - out they went!  The people at the Smith Family will be able to choose amongst Laura Ashley, Country Road, Adidas, JAG and Verge (that's the one that really hurt :  www.verge.co.nz ), and that is just from my dresser draws - I am yet to go through my wardrobe.  I threw out anything 'L' and anything higher that a 12.  I was still holding onto some stuff that I had bought right after I had my last baby 5 years ago!

In other news - Magic Hands Margaret (my Massage Therapist) figured out and sorted out a niggling lower back pain that I had not been able to shift for the past few weeks.  Turned out it was my Lats that were actually causing the grief.  I am so relieved and please to be able to push on with the training with my new Lat stretch.  I had been avoiding boxing which I love - thinking that the twisting and impact of the punches had caused the issue.  

My next fitness goal is to prepare for my skiing holiday in New Zealand in June/July.  I am only a 'beginner' skiier, but I want to be able to have lessons and enjoy myself at a level I could only previously have imagined :-)