The Fairy Garden (1)

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Maybe get your pant seams reinforced, seems kind of expensive to keep ripping them.

I always feel so fortunate when I can spend quality time with family or friends.

Always nice to have those days when everything just seems to go right.

[npixelz]

That might help, if it was the seams that were ripping, but unfortunately it is not
Agreed!
Yeeee


Last night was also good! My parents had company over, and thankfully we have an extendable awning because it started to rain hard and they were outside! The food was delicious and we had apple crumble for dessert. I've made more progress on my pokedex, and have gotten to the point where trading is my ONLY option for the rest, so I've been surprise trading with some success!

[Lemon Cheesecake]

You sound like you have such a nice life, Npix.

We could use some rain over here, everything is so brown on the hillsides & the dryness is not good when there are fires.

[npixelz]

It has its ups and downs!
Oofers


Last night was not so good. I had really bad back pain for like 15 to 20 min 3 times at work, causing me to slow down, a nosebleed causing me to slow down, add to that the fact that I'm slower on my first day back in to work and the fact that I'm in an hour less than I used to be, and it equals to me only just managing to face aisles 1, 2, and 4, when I was asked to do 1, 2, 4, and 5, therefore my team lead was not happy and I'll probably be written up

[galled]

What happened to your back?

[npixelz]

Oh, I have a slight curve in my spine that often causes back pain, especially when I bend down. I'm supposed to sit up straight to help with it but I keep forgetting
But now I'm also going to start exercises like push ups and the like to hopefully strengthen it, with the added benefit of losing weight

I've decided to start with maybe 15 push ups and 15 sit ups any day I don't work, with some other exercises as well, I just need to figure out some good ones. I can't do jumping jacks properly, but I'm sure there are other things I could do

I'd actually appreciate some recommendations

[galled]

Sorry to hear about your back.

Let's start at the top:

--Use proper form in all motion should help eliminate triggers. Lift with your legs rather than your back and never twist while lifting anything. This applies to bending over too. You have to remain "square" legs directly under you, your shoulders inline with your hips, and try not to bend at the waist when your knees can do it.

--Work out any trigger points on your back using a foam roller, tennis ball, and/or massage. The idea is to stretch (lenghten your muscles and lubricate your facia) to get things working properly.

As for excercises--frequency is more important than level. Start light and increase reps before adding difficulty. I would start with modified push ups (on your knees, but working to keep proper form). Start with trying to do 5 and do them a few a few times a day. Shouldn't take more than 10 seconds. If you can do that, try increasing the number until you feel the burn and try to match that with your daily sessions (2-4 times a day should be enough). Once you can get to 15 or so, try standard push ups and start at a doable number and work your way up. 20 pushups is considered to be very good.

The neat thing about push ups are they'll work your core. I'm not sure how good sit ups are for your back. Planks and crunches are much better for you and will work your core.

Anyway, the over all goal to work towards an excellent excercise known as burpees. You'll be in pretty good shape If you can do a dozen or so burpees regularly and not be totally wiped out and sore.

HTH!

[npixelz]

Thanks for the tips!


Actually my mom also said to do on knee push ups, she said 2 every 2 hours but I forgot and did 5 every 2 hours. She also said 5 squats every 2 hours, 2 sit ups every 2 hours (but I don't know how to do it properly so she's going to show me tonight), and 20 of what I call "pseudo jumping jacks" (where instead of jumping it's one leg at a time, so 20 is actually 10 of each leg) every 2 hours


I did that and it made my back hurt but I suppose that's to be expected starting out





Anyhways, on the Pokemon side of things, I reached out to Reddit, Discord, and a Discord friend about help finishing the dex, and received messages from each

Two are able to do all four, so i just need to figure out when either are available

[galled]

Your mom is smart! I'm more and more impressed the more we learn about her.

Stick to the plan and you'll be on to regular push ups in a week.

Soreness will happen but will only last a few days. Just do as much as you can as soreness allows.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[npixelz]

She is indeed!
I hope so!
Yeah, that's to be expected, I just hope tonight when I go to work I won't have soreness issues slowing me down, considering I'm already probably getting written up
I shall!



Speaking of, last night I did 3 push-ups every 2 hours instead of 5 like before, but I still don't know how to do sit-ups properly. I woke up way too late and my mom was already asleep so she couldn't show me

But in terms of the Pokemon stuff the one friend and I agreed on Sunday, sometime after 11 Am, so things look promising

On another note, for the past three days I've found myself coughing a little, which I hope doesn't develop into anything more serious considering I can't afford to miss a day of work

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I have a slight curvature on my spine below my neck.
The physical therapist has me to stretches where I just raise my arms above my head where my finger tips are pointed to the ceiling ( or sky if you are outside). It seems silly but actually helps. Hold for about 10-20 seconds. Just do it every once in awhile.Let me know if it helps you.

[npixelz]

I could try that!

With pseudo jumping jacks I put my hands to the sky and then down again, while lifting one leg, then do the same but lift the other leg

It's kinda similar only without holding the position

[galled]

Google burpee. It's a squat thrust, and push up, and a jump with your hands up in the air. It's kind of a combo squat, push up and psuedo jumping jack. I consider this the most efficient exercise to combine all of those elements together. You don't need to do them fast, but of course doing them faster will increase the difficulty. If you've progressed to a single standard push up, you can do burpees.

[npixelz]

I tried the stretch (though only twice because I forgor every time cept the last two), and it felt like how I sometimes stretch when I've just woken up, in that it felt nice, so I think I'll add it as a permanent part of the routine!


Idk if I wanna incorporate any jumps, because I'm doing the routine while my family is asleep, so I don't wanna wake them up, but I might try it tonight to see

[Lemon Cheesecake]

That is thoughtful of you to think of your family!

There are many exercises & stretches that are low impact but that help big time... and it's nice when maybe doing 10 repetitions is enough.