I'm So Weak

Earlier this year, I ruptured a disc in my back.  My wife bought me a grill for a Valentines/Anniversary present.  We went on our anniversary to pick it up, and since she was pregnant, I refused to let her help me hoist it into and out of the truck.  “Cripple”, I called her and poked fun at her delicate condition.  Little did I know how the words would come back to haunt me.

Months of x-rays, MRIs, doctor visits, therapy, and epidural cortisone injections proved unfruitful.  This was probably not the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life, but it was the most consistently enduring.  The disc had ruptured onto a nerve that went down my leg.  The more sitting and walking I did, the worse the pain got.  Eventually, I could only get relief by lying down.

The day of surgery finally came and went, and the doctor was able to remove all the offending disc tissue.  Relief from the rupture was immediate.  Relief from the surgery was something a little slower in coming.  Even now, I’ve only been back in the gym for few weeks.

Did you know that in some cases the muscles in the human body can begin to atrophy as quickly as 3 days if they are not being used?  Of course, diet and previous level of exercise can greatly affect this, but even a moderately healthy individual will notice the effects in mere weeks if they stop their exercise routine.

I lay on my back for weeks.  I’m still amazed at the amount of muscle I lost.  Now, when I’m working out, trying to do crunches, my abs shake like I’ve never attempted a single sit-up.  It’s frustrating, but something I’ve got to work through.  The doctor said I’ve got another disc that’s looking iffy, so if I don’t get in there and strengthen my back up, I’ll be back in the same condition.  That’s a thought I just can’t bear.

But even now, I can take solace in the words my oldest son told me when he was a mere 4 years old.  As I sat at the house that morning, I was complaining about how I didn’t want to go to work.  With wisdom beyond his years, Griffin looked up at me and said, “Daddy, sometimes I don’t want to go to school, but I have to do it anyway.”  So, I went to work.

I think our society has become so inundated with entertainment that we feel like having fun is one of our inalienable rights.  Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, fast food, video games, and a DVR full of this week’s latest offerings.  Maybe it’s just me that struggles with this.   

Responsibility is more than just a 24-point word.  It’s a choice.

What's That Smell

I went to the gym on Monday.  Yeah, me.  I have to go in the morning, or otherwise I’d never get to spend any time with my kids.  Thankfully, I’m able to shower at the gym before going straight to work.  I’m sure that if that weren’t the case, my co-workers would insist that I wait until the evening to do my fitness routine.

Another advantage to going early is that I can get the workout done before the heat of the day sets in.  And, man, has it ever been hot.  Lately, it’s still in the nineties at 8:00 pm.  So, there’s that too.

I figured out, Tuesday morning, that there’s one flaw in the execution of my daily routine.  When I finished my shower and started getting ready for work, I popped the cap off of my deodorant, and immediately noticed that there was nothing there.  What had happened, the previous day, is that I left my gym bag in my truck all day, and the ‘solid’ deodorant melted up into the cap.

I salvaged enough to make due for the day, and then explained the problem to my wife that evening.  She had a great idea of leaving the Right Guard Power Stripe container in the truck, but setting it vertical so that the deodorant melted back down into the container and became usable again.  I thought it was brilliant.

So, Wednesday morning, I took two containers of deodorant; one to use, and my busted up bottle that needed fixing.  After my workout, I carefully placed BOTH bottles in the cup holder of my front seat.  I did that because I’m smart, and knew that both bottles were going to melt.  I left them there all day long, so the sun could do its job.

When I arrived at my truck to go home, I noticed that the sun had done exactly what it was supposed to do…and then a little more.  The deodorant had melted so completely that it seeped out of the bottom of the container and all over my cup holders. 

Thankfully, it didn’t leak down onto the carpet.  That would have been a mess.  Still, I can’t get all the melted deodorant out of my truck.  These are the kind of cup holders that slide into the dash.

The upside to this is that my truck has a crisp, clean, manly smell to it.  It’s sort of refreshing, almost invigorating to ride in now.

The downside is that Power Stripe deodorant doesn’t melt evenly.  When I opened it up this morning, it was a hideous, twisted, melded mess that I was almost afraid to use.  I did anyway.  The alternative would have ended up being just as unpleasant.