The Road to Recovery Begins

Now that I have gotten to the bottom of my injury, I've been able to accept the fact that I won't be back to heavy lifting any time soon.  I now know exactly what I'm dealing with and can rework my plans and goals accordingly.

To start out with, I have to accept that my goals for this year will not be met.  Obviously, I'm not injury free.  I will not be lifting heavy for quite some time, so my 135 bench is in jeopardy.  Running is out of the question, so no 5k with Mike, either.  It's unfortunate that more than half of my goals were blown out of the water 9 days into the new year, but it is what it is.

My immediate focus is obviously to allow the disc to heal.  The primary tool for this is physical therapy.  I need to learn how to have better posture, how to lean over correctly, and how to keep my entire spine moving properly.  My focus has always been my lower back and its mobility, but it turns out I should have been focused on the thoracic region as that area is  locked.  When that happens, the lower back compensates.  It can only compensate so much before something gives.  In my case, the disc.

I love my physical therapy practice.  They are teaching me a ton and are giving me a solid arsenal of stretches and exercises that will not only help the disc to heal, but will help keep me moving in the future.  They also are keeping me active.

I also will be starting back up some training.  I am very limited in what I can do, but there is enough that I can add on to my PT regimen to keep some strength.  I also will be incorporating more low intensity cardio, like walking.  Fortunately, it's almost spring and I can take this outside.

As for taekwondo, I started that back up about 2 weeks post injury.  My kicks aren't as high and I am hesitant about putting all my weight on the leg that is numb, but I'm there and doing it.  I also can't do much of the conditioning stuff as I can't run or jump.  We have about a month before testing.  It's unclear to me if I will be able to test.  I can do all the test material and will have the classes, but conditioning is part of it and would be what holds me back.  I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

This week will  be my first step on the road to recovery.  I'm looking forward to having a solid goal again.