The Spirit Is Willing, But The Body...Sometimes Doesn't Cooperate

Today was less than the ideal day.

It was supposed to be Back and Biceps day. I think in one of my other posts I mentioned a forearm issue I have that crops up from time to time. A few years ago when my youngest son and I started working out a bit, I overdid it a little and started having some pain in both forearms. I thought it was just muscle soreness from starting a new exercise program, so I pushed through it, working out despite the pain.

Turns out there might have been something more at play than simple muscle soreness in my left forearm. I went for about a week where it hurt so bad I couldn't even hold a two-liter bottle and turn it up to pour. I wasn't able to do any sort of back or bicep work for a month (those exercises tend to put more stress on the forearm than some of the other body part work). I went another month before I could do any sort of light bicep work.

Since then the issue has flared up from time to time, never as bad as it was the first time, but I also try to back off whatever I'm doing that seems to be causing the problem. Because my left forearm has been bothering me a little lately, I had decided tonight I'd skip the bicep work and go a little lighter on the back work.

Just for tonight.

Only problem is, this afternoon my RIGHT forearm really, really starting hurting. I mean, it felt as if something had happened to it right there, while I was sitting at my desk. Even now, several hours later, it's tender and quite sore.

So guess what? No weight training today.

Having gone two relatively long and hard nights on the bike already this week, I hadn't intended to do any cardio tonight, but I was not going to skip all exercise today, so I went ahead and decided to do a cardio workout on the stationary bike.

It was hard -- my legs are tired from the past two nights, and I just didn't seem to have the energy to push hard. I got the workout done, and did okay in terms of total miles "covered" on the bike, as well as calories burned. But, it wasn't quite as intense a workout as I'd like. And, at times, I was sitting on the bike propping myself up one-handed because I couldn't put much weight on the right forearm.

I'm guessing, if I take it easy, it'll be okay in a few days, but this was a frustrating day from a workout perspective.

So here's the scoop for the day:

Workout
Cardio
Stationary Bike
45 minutes (35 minutes at level 5, the rest at level 4 during warm-up and cool-down).
15.5 miles
540 calories

Food for the day

Breakfast
Coffee (yes, wasn't that healthy)

Lunch
Boiled chicken thighs -- 4 ounces
Rice -- 1/2 cup
Oriental veggies -- 1/2 cup

Snack
Salad (Lettuce, olives, 2 ounces lean ham, 2 tablespoons fat-free dressing)

First Dinner
Spiral ham -- 4 ounces
Canned baked beans -- 1/2 cup

Second Dinner
Spaghetti noodles -- 1 serving
Spaghetti sauce -- 3/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese -- 1/2 cup

Totals
1,152 calories
31 grams fat
71 grams protein
That protein figure is really, really bad. I made the mistake of eating a high-carb, low-dinner on top of a relatively low-protein, higher-carb first dinner and lunch, along with skipping breakfast. In the gram scheme of things, being low on protein is hardly a major sin, but it's still a mistake.


Water 80 ounces
Diet soda -- 36 ounces