Damn my desk job and getting older...

9andaWiggle

Addicted Member
Had a simple project in mind. Build 2 small raised beds for a salsa garden with cedar and fill with new dirt.

So we went to Lowe's, got 4 2x6x8's, 10 bags of soil, and the tomato/pepper plants we wanted. We're too late for onions down here I think, we couldn't find any sets for those.

Went home, cut/assembled the beds (one 2'x4', the other 2'x8'). Then took the hoe and scraped off the grass where the beds were to be placed. Set the frames, filled them with dirt, tilled it in, and set the plants.

Not that big a deal, right? Pretty easy. But it wiped me out. I got blisters, and my back/arms are sore as hell. My brain has even turned against me, telling myself things through my thoughts like "My God when did you turn into such a pussy?", "suck it up Nancy", and "you didn't use to be such a whiny little bitch". :Coffee:

I don't want to get old and out of shape (oops, too late for that!) I don't want my dick to go limp! I don't want to eat prunes, wear Depends and wallow in my own shit! Hmmm... Guess maybe I might need to start doing more than 12oz curls for exercise.:)

Aging sucks! And I don't think I'm really that old.
 

9andaWiggle

Addicted Member
The hoe was tough! I think the biggest problem is sitting at a desk staring at a computer all day. When I get home after sitting all day, it seems hard to find the motivation to get active. So I'll eat and sit on my ass some more.

The wife wanted to run some 5k's last year, so we trained some for those (but not enough, honestly). Surprising how weak my lungs were, and I'm not even a smoker! But we haven't ran since November... need to start doing that again and add a little weight training to tone/strengthen back up. Yesterday proved that.
 

Robadat

Member
Get out and do things, keep active. :cool:
As you get older, it gets harder and harder to start the old engine. You got to keep it tuned up and running every day.:Thumbsup:
And no, chasing and boinking sheep doesn't count...:Laugh:
 

Greg T.

The Jizz Slinger
Consider yourself lucky that you are at least still able to do those things. I used to run around like a maniac at work, climb around working on my hot rods and tuning others for people, set up, tear down and play music, etc. Now I've been cut off at the knees after my back injury and surgery. I have all I can do to get an hour or two of any kind of labor and I'm in grave pain.
 

9andaWiggle

Addicted Member
And that's another part of it Greg. Sometimes I'm sitting on my ass thinking "there are a lot of people who'd like to be as physically capable as I am, and here I sit..." yet I still struggle to find motivation.

I suppose it's a matter of training my brain as much as it is my body.

And back injury is no fun. I've had/have some issues in my lower lumbar area. Fortunately, chiropractic care has been able to help when it flares up. But it's still a weak point and I have to be mindful of it on days like yesterday. I can't run around just grabbing and tossing 40 to 80 lb bags of dirt/manure like I did when I was 20.

I'm still sore today, but at least everything feels like it's still in alignment and no pressure on the sciatic nerve. That shit hurts! Just muscle soreness at this point.
 

Greg T.

The Jizz Slinger
I've had a laminectomy and decompression surgery on my L3, 4, and 5. That leaves my lower back like a U-joint. Still have no feeling in my feet except tons of ice cold pain. Nerve impingement on the next level up. Nobody will do a 4 level laminectomy and decompression so they want to do a 4 level fusion. That is NOT going to happen. So, I put up with numb feet full of pain.
 

AlwaysWrite

Addicted Member
Have your back checked before it's too late. Starts out numb and then when it gets really bad and neuropathy sets in the pain starts.
Dear Greg T:

When I was young, I had several major (and prolonged) back-problem episodes, and I was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis (which probably was advantageous in at least one way, because it prevented me from passing the Selective Service physical and a possible stint in Vietnam).

Each of three major "episodes" (as I figured out later) came because of extreme exercise followed by very little exercise. EPISODE 1 came after I frequently (during my senior year in high school) ran numerous laps around the (440-yard) track -- always a mile and sometimes much longer -- but after graduation, I got a summer job at a newspaper and pretty much stopped running altogether. EPISODE 2 came in my senior year at Vanderbilt University, when I stayed on campus throughout the Christmas holidays, and because the gym was closed, I didn't swim or play basketball there, as I did when it was open. EPISODE 3 came during the first summer I didn't bowl a summer league (after bowling three or four winter leagues), and my back hurt so bad the following winter league that for much of the season, it hurt almost every time I even picked up my bowling ball, though amazingly, I was still able to average 183 after a several-year string of solid averages of 195 and up.

After Episode 3, a doctor gave me an expert opinion that if I did certain exercises each time I felt another such "episode" coming on, I most likely wouldn't have any severe problems, and I took his advice, did those exercises every time my back started acting up, and I haven't had any major back problems in nearly 40 years.
 

Scolai

Active Member
Funny you are all talking about this today. I was standing - literally just standing - in my classroom this morning when something in my lower back just said, "Fuck it," and went to hell. This isn't the first time my back has gone all stupid on me recently, so I'm beginning to become all too accustomed to the feeling. It hurts like a bitch, but I manage.

My feet are not numb at all. Every now and again, my right thigh will go numb and get a hot sensation about it. Not sure what that is, but it only happens when I'm standing for longish periods of time. On rare occasions, both thighs go numb and get that hot sensation.

I'm soft around the center, thus exacerbating the problem, and I've had back issues since I was 14. I think my chiropractor and I need to become closely acquainted again... Maybe AW can share that list of exercises he uses...
 

9andaWiggle

Addicted Member
I've not experienced what you're describing, Scolai, but it sounds like it could be a pinched nerve. I've heard others describe intense heat in such cases.

Most of my back issues are related to degenerating and/or bulging disc that pinch the sciatic nerve, which feels like a knife in the back and immediately takes all strength out of my legs (for me it's primarily my left leg). Like you, it'll happen out of the blue - generally with the seemingly most minor movement. In one case, I simply turned slightly to get TP from the roll after taking a shit and damn near fell off the pot. That one took a few weeks and multiple trips to chiro to get straightened out. By far, it was my worst episode. I could hardly walk. I crawled around the house for two days (of course it happened on a weekend!) before I had to force myself to somewhat hobble in to work.
 
Top