[thisissomething]

> This is often not obvious, because the muscle you need to reinforce / train are often not actually the one hurting.

As someone who has done physical therapy for different issues, this is spot on. Lower back issues were actually due to weak hamstrings, and ankle issues due to weak calves.

Doing daily mobility and strength exercises as part of my mourning routine improved my health as a whole. A couple months in, and all random aches, pains, and soreness that i'd feel upon waking up or during the day were simply gone. And it only takes me 30 minutes a day. It's a pretty awesome alternative to doom scrolling.

[nuancebydefault]

> mourning routine

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

/i

[thisissomething]

ahahahahh, good catch. small oopsie from a non-native speaker.

[theshackleford]

I wish it only took me 30 minutes a day.

[loloquwowndueo]

I’ll bite. Why does it take longer for you?

[theshackleford]

I just have a lot of things I have to do in my program, and I have to do them twice a day, every day. I thought it might be better not to do it every day, and asked that, but was told no by two separate physios and my care team and so twice a day every day it remains. I also do in person physio and pilates on top of this three days a week.

It's obviously good for me (what kind of exercise isnt I suppose) but id probably feel better if I was getting out of it what I wanted, which i'm not and i've now been told I probably never will. But I cant stop because even though im not getting what I want, if I stop, in the long run, i'm probably even worse off. (Though, isnt everyone really.)

Id far prefer to move over to something like a bodyweight fitness program on a three day a week rotation, but I just cant do it physically until I undergo further evaluation and likely surgery, and would not have the energy to fit it in on top of my current physio regieme even outside of that.

I didnt mean "I wish it was only 30 minutes" in that I hate doing it, i'm just tired and it takes a lot of my time. I think at 30 minutes a day, it would just feel a whole lot easier to fit into my life, as opposed to building my life around it. I need a minimum now of about 1h30m before work, and after. Which means everything else in my life has to bend to accomodate that.

I do miss sessions occasionally, but I try not too because i'm only cheating myself, nobody else. I have a spreadsheet I use to keep myself honest.

[ishtanbul]

I am in the same situation. Disc herniation, post surgery, doing pt every day and no material improvement in 3 years. Ive tried many pt programs. My time is under extreme pressure.

I need to stop sitting, and revert to a hunter gatherer movement pattern of walking, running and crouching. Unfortunately i live in nyc and my desk job may kill me.

If we can use AI+VR/AR to put an end to desk work, it will dramatically benefit billions of souls.

[theshackleford]

> I am in the same situation. Disc herniation, post surgery, doing pt every day and no material improvement in 3 years. Ive tried many pt programs. My time is under extreme pressure.

Ah, we’re in very similar situations. I’m sorry to hear of your struggles. I unfortunately know too well what you’re enduring. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

I had severe cervical myelopathy where my spine severely compressed my spinal cord, causing permanent damage. I underwent a cervical decompression and ACDF, but I’ll live with an incomplete spinal cord injury and its consequences for life.

On top of that, I have a herniated disc and Tarlov cysts in my lower lumbar spine. As if the cervical issues weren’t enough, I now fall randomly, making staying upright a constant challenge. The pain from both issues is so severe and relentless, I struggle to even explain it other than to note that it is "life altering."

I’m a few years out, and we’ve now discovered that my cervical spine is compressed again, along with nerves on the right side of my body. I started another physio program through my pain management team, but its not helping, more surgery is the only real solution. Still, I have to stick with physio because, as my medical team says, I need to be fitter than most people to manage my condition. Things are difficult enough that I don’t have the energy to question their guidance. What little energy I do have goes toward trying to stay employed.

> I need to stop sitting, and revert to a hunter gatherer movement pattern of walking, running and crouching.

I have a sit-stand desk and alternate between standing and sitting throughout the day for pain management. I’ll stand and pace for an hour, then sit for a while. It helps with pain in the moment, but I’m not sure it does much more than that.

[maeln]

Not the commenter, but AFAIK, people with some condition might have to put significantly more effort, at least at the beginning, to get equivalent result. The typical case would be for overweight/obese people. While mobility and strength always help, it won't counter balance all the strain that the extra weight put on your body. It will be more efficient to focus on getting lean first, and then focusing on strength/mobility. Although it is possible to do both (and maybe recommended ? But i am way out of my depth here).

[swiftcoder]

I don't think this is accurate.

Adjusting for equivalent level of activity, people carrying around a lot of extra weight tend to have commensurately more muscle from carrying that extra weight around (try wearing a 40kg weight vest day and night for a few weeks - you too will have to put on muscle just to get through the day).

It's generally considered to be a lot easier for an overweight person to get lean as a side-effect of getting strong, rather than the other way round.

[nemomarx]

a little regular exercise helps with weight loss, at least in anecdotal stuff. not that you can burn away a bad diet with exercise but the cardio and exertion help with the stress of dieting (lots of nice endorphins in a runners high!) and seem to aid metabolism a little.

doing a half hour at the gym 5 nights a week was like half of my weight loss routine basically.

[InitialLastName]

AIUI there are two other factors that are important with strength training and weight loss:

- Increased muscle mass raises your BMR, enabling the same weight loss rate at a higher caloric intake

- Strength training combats your body's tendency to burn muscle as well as fat when in a calorie deficit, focusing the weight loss on the body component you want to get rid of (the fat).