Stand Up Right

Overcoming back pain. Regaining mobility. Learning to stand up right.

An Unexpected Change of Pace, and of Pressure

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Some time ago I got to writing about my heartrate, and my blood pressure. Actually, I wrote a couple things. Anyway, long story short, I have a low resting heartrate, and mild systolic hypertension.

  • Which is a fancy way of saying that the lower number of my blood pressure reading is too high.
  • Which is another way of saying that the base load, by my heart, on my arteries, is too high.

All of which had my doctor moderately worried about my long-term health, because my age, diet and lifestyle indicated that my only risk factor for hypertension is genetics. Unfortunately, hypertension runs in my family; dad is on medication for it, and his mother took medication for it for her last 10 years.

Which brings me to yesterday.

1992

No, wait; let’s backtrack to 1992, when I graduated from Engineering. For anyone who is interested, Engineering is a fairly tough course of study, a little on the stressful side. And the year 1992 was also a little stressful, because I graduated right in the depths of a fairly nasty recession.

For perspective, on year after graduation, the class of 1992 had a job placement rate of about 50%, in all jobs, not just engineering. The numbers were even worse for the class of 1993. In short, it was a fairly stressful time in my life.

That summer, I remember having my BP taken at my annual checkup with my GP, and, yes, I do remember that appointment from 27 years ago. There are a number of reasons, but the pertinent one was that it was the first time a doctor told me I had elevated blood pressure.

I was 25 years old.

He also told me that I shouldn’t worry, because I was in terrific shape, with a low heartrate, and that probably explained the higher pressure.

Over the intervening 27 years, I’ve had a number of doctors and any number of BP tests, and they all told the same tale; low heartrate, moderately high BP.

Then, in December of last year, the number got worrisome enough for the doctor to order a more comprehensive BP test. We did that in January and the results were the same, low heartrate and elevated BP. Enough so that they wanted me back after 6 months for a follow up test.

Well, the Wuhan Bat Soup Flu meant that I did get in after 6 months, it turned out to be 8, but that’s not really important. What is important is that yesterday I had another Blood Pressure True done and the results were:

Totally normal, nothing there to cause any concern.

Wait, wut?

For 27 years I’ve had elevated blood pressure and now,

  • during a pandemic,
  • a week before my last ever trip to my parents’ cottage,
  • with the school year in the offing,
  • with the school year in doubt
  • in a summer where I’ve bitten off way more than I can chew
  • as I fall behind in my side projects
  • while my work is busier than ever before

My blood pressure is TOTALLY NORMAL.

I have lived with the knowledge that, as I age, I will inevitably be on blood pressure medication because of family history and the slow upward creep of my own BP. To find out now, in one of the more stressful summers of my life that this may not be the case is absolutely amazing.

But it does create a question. Why has my BP been high, for so long, and why has it dropped now? What is the big change in my life that has dropped it into normal, for the first time in my adult life?

Work

The only thing I can think is, it’s because of work. Not because it’s busier than ever, but because I’M NOT AT THE FRICKIN’ OFFICE.

  • No commute
  • No interruptions
  • None of the aggravations of other people
  • I’m in the comfort of my own home
  • I’m spending massive amounts of time with my boys

When I set out finally to create my course, I chose this topic as my basic course idea:

I help people learn to work at home, as efficiently as at the office, through a combination of ergonomics, time management and mindset.

I knew, months ago, that working remotely made me more efficient, and more productive. I never expected it to make me healthier.

The Persistence of Change

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A couple of days ago I was watching my boys playing in the park and a game that had elements of “blind man’s bluff” and “tag” ensued.

Like his old daddy, my oldest is a natural runner. He was also the oldest, and tallest, of the children involved in the game, so whenever it involved the “tag” aspects, he was, literally, untouchable.

As is natural among boys, his dominance of the game led to his getting a little big for his britches, and a conversation ensued in which I told him he still wasn’t faster than ol’ daddy.

My youngest expressed a certain skepticism about this claim. Also fairly natural, since when he and I are playing together I (of course) dial it back to his level so he can have fun.

Well, on our way home from the park, #3 was chasing #1 and I went into action. Sure enough, both were surprised to learn that, indeed, I am still faster than my oldest.

Okay, Andrew, you can outrun a 12 y/o, big deal.

True, it’s not a big deal to outrun a 12 y/o. What is a big deal is that I did it from sitting still, with no warm up or preparation of my muscles. What’s more, I did it without getting out of breath, and the day after I had absolutely no aches or pains from doing it.

I mentioned somewhere along the way that I’ve started running again regularly, something I gave up about 10 years ago because of osteoarthritis in my knees and hips. In the intervening decade I completely relearned how to move, exercise and stand.

The journey I took in learning these things have given me back my ability to go for a run. A month ago, when I began running again, the first few times were rough. My stride wasn’t there, my wind wasn’t there, and when I was done my right knee ached.

But, after a week or two, the stride came back, the wind came back, and with the help of a cheap, neoprene running brace, my knee no longer hurts.

I can’t run like I did when I was 30 years younger, and 30 pounds lighter, but I can still run. And, once again, the changes I implemented in my body, and my movement, have rippled through all aspects of my life.

And, once again, those changes persist.

All of this came from a story about chasing my 12 y/o, but it illustrates a point I have made, over and over, and over again.

The changes you implement persist.

The longer you practice those changes, the more they become a part of your life, the longer they persist.

Any Example Teaches a Lesson, For Good or Ill

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Last week for Wellness Thursday I got to thinking about vacations, and exercise, and remembering to bring your knee braces and glucosamine. There was no great lesson to be learned, just another data point supporting my theory that vigorous, regular exercise is the heart of a healthy lifestyle.

Man running along the shore line
Running on the beach

Oddly enough, today is providing another data point, only it’s doing it in reverse.

Be an Example

Many, many moons ago, I had a karate teacher tell me that he never had a student who failed to teach him more than he ever taught the student. I’ve been an instructor of this and that, on and off, for many years, and that statement is flat bullhooey. A teacher gets lots of students who teach him nothing.

Concomitantly, a student can have an instructor who teaches him nothing, provided the student is not a teacher himself.

As a teacher, whatever learning situation I find myself in, I look to learn more than just the subject matter. I look to learn more about teaching, and here we come to the nub of it. No instructor is so bad that he can’t teach you anything at all, even if by way of the negative.

For instance, as long ago as those karate days of the late 80s, early 90s, I had an instructor who played favourites, in both directions. You could be his pet and get everything, or you could live in his doghouse, and get nothing. This was an absolutely priceless lesson for my karate teaching years.

I had my favourites (every teacher does), but nobody knew who they were. Hell, one time I was asked why I didn’t like Mike (yes that’s his real name, but there were about 5 Mikes in the club at the time, so I’m not giving anything away). Why didn’t I like Mike? Actually, Mike happened to be one of my favourites.

If you want to be a good teacher, have your favourites, but don’t let anyone know.

Lesson learned

As recently as last month I signed up for a one week podcasting course with one of the top names in the business. Man the guy was amazing, he had the uncanny ability to pack 30, maybe even 45 minutes, of knowledge into a 2-1/2 hour webinar. Plus, every time he opened his mouth he made this absolutely revolting “tch” noise.

Did I mention he’s a 7 figure podcasting guru? If I hadn’t dropped $5 on the course, I’d have quit after 5 minutes of, “Tch. Blah, blah blah. Tch. Blah, blah, blah. Tch. Blah, blah, something useful, blah. Tch.” Ad nauseum.

No, seriously, the constant repetition of that disgusting, tch’ing, lip smacking, gum sucking noise was making me physically ill. I had to quit watching the live webinars and listen to the recordings in small chunks, so I wouldn’t punch my monitor.

Where the hell was I?

Oh, yeah, on serving as a bad example. If you ever get into broadcasting, don’t be that guy. Have a good mic, with good filters to suppress the “P-Pops” and similar noises. Discipline yourself to remove extraneous noise, and if you’re going to teach, get to the frickin’ point.

Anyway, this is supposed to be a story about health and wellness, not a rant about idiots poisoning their own wells. Suffice to say, we’ve all had plenty of poor examples to learn from, so learn from them.

A Busy Week

It’s been a busy week casa StandUpRight. I’m back from vacation, work is crazy, the boys need herding, the house needs to be kept up, meals need to be made, yada, yada, yada.

On top of that, weather, life and family factors have intervened to interrupt my workout schedule, so I haven’t had a good sweat in almost a week. I can feel the stress and overwhelm building, and I know I’m having a harder time dealing with all the stuff that life is wont to throw my way.

If last week’s vacation was a data point on the benefits of exercise at the core of a healthy lifestyle, then this week is the opposite. I’m not sweating out the stress, so I’m not sleeping as well, and my coping mechanisms are strained.

Good thing I’ve got the weekend coming up. That kayak isn’t going to paddle itself, and even if it did, what good would that do me? I need to push hard and burn some calories, before this week of bad example has a chance to turn even worse.

So there you have it, a week of good, hard, healthy exercise with great outcomes, followed by a week of sloth with lousy outcomes. Which path are you going to choose? Because the choice truly is yours.

You Can’t Run From Life, But You Can Run For Life

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Last week for Wellness Thursday I got to thinking about sweat, exercise and endorphins. Long story short, exercise releases endorphins, hormones which interact with our brains to reduce feelings of pain, and to create a positive feeling throughout the body. It’s colloquially known as “runner’s high” and is a feeling of euphoria, similar to the feeling created by morphine.

Well, I’m “on vacation” this week, and I’m getting a short, intense course on endorphins.

Ahhh, vacation, a time to slow down, rest, reflect and recharge. Maybe a time to catch up on your reading and your writing. Perhaps you’re developing a pilot course in Mirasee’s “Launch My Course“ program, and you’re a few weeks behind because you lost all of June to a deep, black depression. You can use your vacation time to catch up.

Yes, when you have vacation you have an extra 8, maybe 10 hours a day to get the backlog on your “to do” list under control. Unless, of course, you have 3 kids. Then you are, as I wrote “on vacation.”

“On vacation” is a much different time from vacation. “On vacation” is when you’re organizing and doing stuff with your family, and trying to cram your to do list into an even smaller window than during work time. This might explain why your company forced you to take a week off because you haven’t yet touched any of your 2019 vacation days. Work is less stressful than vacation is.

Now that my wife is working, for the first time since the birth of our first child, my vacation is also her vacation. And she wants to do something, to experience something, new. Every. Damned. Day. Slow down, chill, relax and recharge while I get caught up on a few things? Oh, Hell no. Gotta pack every waking moment with…something.

Fortunately, my wife is also a fitness nut. It was she, who first go me into yoga. Come to it, you can blame her for my daily ramblings, because if she hadn’t dragged me into that yoga class, way back in 2006, I would never have found myself on the path that led me here.

Thanks Honey, from my several readers.

As I was saying, my lovely and long suffering bride is also a fitness nut. She decided that we must rise every morning and run. And with the exception of today, we did. We started small, 3.4 km, and ramped up. First to 4.5 km and then to 7.4 km, which is our standard, daily run. We’re no longer adding distance, but rather working pace.

And I’ve learned a few things.

  • Being a foot taller gives a great advantage in pacing, but since we’re not racing, that is actually a bad thing. I’m jogging far too slowly for my joints. It’s too fast for a walk, but to slow to properly pace myself, and my knees, hip and back are taking a pounding.
  • Don’t forget your freaking glucosamine. My right knee is letting me know, in no uncertain terms, that it is unhappy. My exercise survival kit includes glucosamine, and I forgot to bring it.
  • Don’t forget your bloody knee braces. I don’t know which I miss more, the glucosamine or the braces. I could probably go a week without one or the other, but not both.
  • It’s oddly enjoyable to run with someone. I have always run alone, and running this week with my wife has been a revelation. For the first time, pretty much ever, I’m enjoying having company on my runs.
  • Runner’s high requires a much higher output than I can get with my wife; she’s too short to keep the pace I need. So I break free for the last ½ km and really open up the pace, and that is good for the endorphin kick.
  • Crappy cottage beds are not really conducive to a good night’s sleep, and a good night’s sleep is much better for running than a crappy night’s sleep.
  • Getting your sweat on from running with your bride, rather than doing Bikram Yoga with your bride is different, and yet the same. It’s a very different workout, but the point is to be exercising hard, and doing it together. All the benefits of hard exercise? I’m still getting them.

I don’t know if there’s a great, deep, abiding lesson to be learned here. Just another story to illustrate my conviction that hard, regular exercise is at the core of a healthy lifestyle, healthy relationships, and a healthy life.

You Know that Exercise Is Good for You. It Just so Happens that the Reverse is Also True

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Last week I realized it was time to lighten the mood a little. Things had gotten a little dark with my bout with depression and since I was feeling better, I was able to natter on about the good stuff.

One of my main themes has been the beneficial side effects to regular, vigorous exercise. When I set out to correct my posture, I embarked on a multi year journey of tough, often painful exercise, primarily yoga. As time went by, the exercises got easier and along with improved posture, I noticed:

  • Less back pain
  • Fewer headaches
  • My migraines were almost eliminated
  • More energy
  • Better sleep
  • Better diet
  • Lowered stress
  • Better relationships
  • Improved work

In short, all aspects of my life got better.

Well, this bout with depression has given me a real time lesson in the reverse effects. For the best part of three week I was barely functional;

  • Snappish with the kids
  • Sleeping poorly
  • Eating poorly
  • No energy
  • Multiple headaches
  • My posture got bad again
  • Less efficient at work

I even lost 8 lbs. I haven’t weighed this little in years, and those 8 lbs were my body reserves.

I don’t know 100% for sure it’s connected, but when I was younger and thinner, I had serious nosebleed problems. I haven’t had one, at least not a serious one, in years. It’s been so long, I don’t really remember the last time I had a bad nosebleed.

Until Tuesday night.

After I went to bed, as I was dozing off, I rubbed my itchy nose. And felt a little trickle begin. A little trickle that turned into a steady stream. A steady stream, which took 15 minutes to stop. Which was repeated on Wednesday.

I don’t know what the relationship between platelet production, stress, nutrition, weight loss, etc. is, but I know this, when I lost my ability to work out hard every day, a whole lot of stuff in my life, stuff I take for granted to be good, began falling apart.

So exercise.

Exercise hard, and exercise regularly. Your whole life will be better for it, and worse for not doing it.

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