So Monday was my first day back working from home for 3 hours per my Occupational Health schedule. Let me just say it was the toughest 3 hours of my life. There is a huge difference between checking the odd web page and some email and actually having to stick to the computer for 3 hours. I was shocked at how little I was able to tolerate sitting at the computer, and that was really no surprise since that is why I started to stand at my desk in the first place. The shocking thing was that I was completely unable to concentrate on anything work related once the pain set in. I suppose that’s why they let you back in slowly because had I been at the office I would have had to leave after about an hour. I really didn’t anticipate it to be that difficult, I thought that standing at my desk would be OK and it is, as long as what you are doing is not important. Once you add importance and the requests of co-workers to the mix and all of a sudden it’s like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. I guess I will have to get used to it, I am working another 3 hours tomorrow and I am hoping to start at 8 rather than 9 so that I can take advantage of my morning enthusiasm and mobility. Yes, I know that sounds counter to what I have said recently in my posts about mornings being very difficult and painful but the fact is that once the pain goes away after an hour or so I am far more mobile and intellectually and physically capable than I am later in the day.
This brings about a secondary issue that I have to deal with and that is a return to regular workouts. I know for a fact that if I don’t start getting back into daily activity I will be at a very real and painful disadvantage once I have to return physically to the office. Not only that, but coaching is due to resume at the start of July and I am going to have to work around that schedule too. It was with that in mind that I decided to add to my walk this week and I am happy to report that I managed to do some chinups today. Chinups are the one thing that I have been avoiding since surgery. I suppose in my mind I wanted to make sure I did not stress my rear chain with suspension in case the movement was too severe. But now that I am at physio and the manipulation of the scar tissue and the corrective positioning of my hip seem to be working OK then I figure it’s about time. I know I still haven’t seen the surgeon yet, that is next week, but I am pretty sure that he will tell me to continue to take it easy. I am afraid that at my age, that’s not really an option if I want to recover fully and quickly. I know that the less I do, the worse I get so it’s pretty simple maths that I have to do as much as I can staying below the injury line in order to get me back to a situation where I am durable and capable in my real world activities.
Today’s workout:
I did a demo video of all my Olympic lifts, in one respect to show mechanics but in another respect to make sure my form is as solid as I hope. That was only a total of about 50 reps. I then went out to the back deck and completed 50 chinups. It was purposefully a light day to monitor just how much pain the chinups will generate.