…I’m doing rehab at the Y, and just a little tends to do me in, I mean like 15 reps apiece on each of about 6 machines—but I’m up from 10. The good news is (I’m working most on the leg exercises, a little on the midriff) I started out with 20 lbs and am now up in weights, up to 30 or 40. But done in! I tell you, don’t fall behind on your exercise! It’s so hard to climb out of the pit, and worst, absolute worst of all, you start getting lower back pain from the collapse of what’s been preventing you from having lower back pain. The SI joint (sacroiliac: joint combining spine with pelvis) is one of those nasty bits of engineering we assaulted very inconsiderately when we decided to stop walking on our knuckles. Most of the ills of the human frame are due to misaligment of said joint (habitually standing swaybacked), or falling and jolting it, or twisting while carrying too heavy a weight, or several other injudicious moves we can make which tax that piece of engineering that really should have several more restraint tendons but doesn’t.

On the other hand, I’m gaining on it. I’ve gotten the better of a nasty hip pain that was keeping me awake at night (SI pain), and gotten more stamina, and more general strength. Guys may not understand this, but then again maybe you will: when you exercise and gain strength you find things you were finding heavy aren’t…so you’re not surprised when they aren’t.

Which is how I ended up at the store without my billfold in my purse—an object which weighs about 8-10 pounds; and the billfold probably puts another 3/4 pound on it. Didn’t detect that it was missing—as in, lying on the kitchen table; so I trek 3 miles to the store—and discover I have no billfold. I drive illegally back home, recover same, and trek back again to get my stuff for the pond…

But it’s better than finding the purse heavy, eh?
My program: inside leg extension, outside leg extension, backward leg push, torso twist, ab crunch, triceps curl; I started on the bikes, but discovered my back/hip pain getting worse, which means I wasn’t moving evenly or symmetrically, so I laid off that and went to the inside/outside which gets the SI evened up, then the others, and funny thing, the hip pain went away, so I think I’m onto a good track.