I just got out of a very bad cough, the ones that wakes you up at night and at times keep you awake until early morning. Work had been hectic so I can’t take a break. Plus, I can’t spend my sick leave days this early. We only  have 6 days of sick leave every year and we’re just on the first few months of the year. After taking medication for 3-4 days, I thought there would never be an end to the incessant coughing. I’m finally better right now and ready to tackle other things, including blogging.

Or I thought so.

My sciatica pain (in the lower back) has come back. I’ve been exercising non-stop since January 1st and have been actually commendable (if I say so myself!) for sticking to my workout schedule, without skipping, without the excuses. Then on the last week of February, the end of my 60 days workout schedule, I broke my back. I am not sure if it was because of too much heavy weight or over exhaustion. Don’t you just hate it when you’re not anywhere your goal and your body already breaks down? It’s frustrating because we all know carrying too much body weight can cause lower back pains and then some exercising to hopefully reduce the weight, when not done properly can trigger back pain too.

I’ve been following the Les Mills Combat, a mixed martial arts routine for cardio because I love boxing, kickboxing and muay Thai and alongside, been doing Chalean Extreme, a resistance training program by Beach Body involving dumbbells.  (I lift heavy.)

I feel so defeated when this happens – it’s like taking one step forward and two steps back. The pain is sharp and agonizing and it doesn’t help that I mostly just sit for long stretches of time at my work. The pain bears down on me when I sit for even a few minutes. Last night, the pain was too much that I cried myself to sleep. I couldn’t bend, couldn’t crouch and every movement takes so much effort and heavy breathing to execute. Am I really just in my late 30? More like an 80 year old body.

I’ve done a few stretches to relieve sciatica pain. If you have them too, I found a great video that really helped me.

The pain comes and goes and I dread the feeling that it might really be time to visit the Osteo clinic soon (I go to the Osteopathic Health Center). The sessions are not covered by my insurance and is really not cheap. I used to frequent and Osteopathic Center in Japan before to “repair” my body. I love the feeling of like being born again, with absolutely no pain anywhere.

So, it’s Friday now and I’m awake early because I’m used to it. I always wake up early on my weekends to start exercise early and exercise longer since I don’t have to run to work. Unfortunately, it’s been a week since I haven’t exercised due to the bad cough and sciatica pain. I hate that my schedule is ruined and mostly, I fear of the DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) once I get back to doing it again. And I miss boxing. I miss kicking. I miss sweating. I miss the happy hormones I get from exercising.

That’s a little update about me for now. I’m going to transfer my laptop somewhere I could stand and work on something, like editing photos. Sitting too long and my back pain is at it again.

Hope you have a lovely weekend!