I’ve discussed spinal fusion rehab. And, I’ve touched a bit upon when the rehab can drift into the overdoing it category.
There truly is a fine line!
Here’s the message: DON’T OVERDO IT!
You want to, of course, challenge yourself a bit. However, you don’t want to go too hard in a way that results in injury or even excessive soreness (that will disrupt your exercise schedule.)
Additionally, I recently discussed overdoing it with the squats and the dizziness that ensued. If I fall over and hit my head I’m not helping anyone! Talk about a rehab setback!
During the very early part of my rehab—a few months out from surgery—when I was visiting professional physical therapists, it happened on two occasions that the physical therapist pushed me a little too hard. I’m not saying that with any blame or resentment!
I loved these therapists and truly appreciated their genuine concern! I think it’s almost unavoidable that you will, at least once, overdo it. Why? Because that’s how you discover what your boundaries and limits are… Both times when I overdid it with therapy, I got a Prednisone prescription from my spine surgeon and took a week off from therapy. Everything worked out okay!
(By the way, I do believe that occasionally taking a week off from exercise is a good thing for me, and I follow that practice, but that’s the topic for another post entirely.)
So, today at the gym, I said to myself…really, what I did was listened to my body…I think a book could be written about listening to your body!
But, I listened to my body, and the message I got was that today I was teetering on the verge of overdoing it. So, I simply shot some hoops for an hour. This hoop-shooting—the way I do it—is like a very leisurely and fun light cardio. I play music on my headphones and take it easy and enjoy.
Then I did 40 squats. 10 x 0 pounds, 10 x 10 lb kettlebell, 10 x 20 lb kettlebell, 10 x 30 lb kettlebell…then I said goodbye to everyone, hopped in my car and hit-up Costco.
This is an example—for me, at least—of how to NOT overdo it. That’s right: I feel confident in advising that if you’re rehabbing a back surgery: don’t overdo it! This approach allows me to have a six or seven-day-a-week exercise schedule.