Craig from TurbulanceTraining.com has a great instructional video on using dumbbells to help shape and define your back and shoulders.

In this video you will see Craig using a pretty heavy set of dumbbells, it is not necessary for you to do the same – it is important that you are comfortable so find a weight that works for you.

I had one of those restless sleeps last night that most of us have had in our lives. It’s the sort of sleep where you feel like you have spent most of the night awake, tossing and turning and unable to switch off.

I thought about many things last night, my life, family, friends, work, our dog (who had surgery that day), fitness and diet. I’m not sure what it is about restless sleep but I often find myself challenging thoughts as they pop into my head.
One such thought related to my health and just how quickly I had fallen off the *fitness* regime after suffering a calf tear and subsequent blood clot. I found myself questioning why I hadn’t been to the park recently to workout or why my exercise bike is still in our spare room.
Excuses and questions followed, my leg still hurts, what if I injure it again and so on.

For a split second I felt rising anguish over my lack of workouts and a real sense of fear that my health and weight would suffer as a result of this lack of motivation.
Then as quickly as it came, my anguish was challenged by a word that popped into my head. RESPECT.

Light bulb moment
I had lost respect for myself, for whatever reason my leg injury had got the better of me, emotionally and physically. I let it win and in the months it has taken to heal, I had lost respect for myself and my body.

When you make the choice not to exercise or to eat food that you know is not good for you, it’s a lack of respect you are showing to yourself. The only one hurt by it is you. And the more you disrespect yourself, the harder it is to make the change that you know is needed.

I love this type of training more than any other. Being outdoors and working out is, in my opinion the best way to keep in shape.

Craig has a great video on a body warmup and interval training.

It was a bit of a shock when I realized it has been almost a month since I last posted.

A couple of things have come up recently that took priority, the biggest being my health.
I had posted previously about my calf muscle injury that lead to a blood clot. Rather than improve, things got worse and resulted in a clot that extended the entire length of my lower leg. It has taken quite a long time to improve and I must say that I didn’t feel particularly well and was in a fair bit of pain during this time and as a result, I spent very little time on my computer.

Thankfully, I am feeling much better now and we have just returned back from a 2 week holiday which has been really wonderful.

So, a month has passed and finally a post is going up!

Getting back into a routine is going to be a challenge. I start tomorrow. Work first thing until 3.30, then a doctors appointment and a workout after that.
As for food, I have definitely indulged on holiday! I will go out on Wednesday and buy loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. I am keen to include more fish in my diet so will try and find some recipes that I might like. I am not a seafood lover so it is going to be a challenge.

The worst thing about getting back into a routine is taking the first step, once I’ve done that it will be a slow and gradual process but necessary to ensure no re-injury.

Kung Fu is an excellent way to not only change up your workout routine but also strengthen muscles and work on balance. This martial arts exercise class is a calorie scorcher, toning your entire lower body and teaching self defense!

To say that I am completely fed up with my recent calf muscle tear injury is somewhat of an understatement.

It went from being a tear to a small clot and now a clot that extends the entire length of my lower vein. The clot now extends up to a deep vein that goes to my lungs meaning I am now on a medication called Warfarin which is an anticoagulant. The downside of this drug is you have to be really careful what foods you eat as it can mess up your blood levels. For instance, vegetables containing Vitamin K need to be eaten less frequently than I would have liked. This is a shame because I love green leafy vegetables! Worse still, I am now on this medication for 6 months!

What really is frustrating about this entire saga is I have had little control over the outcomes to date.
When I initially tore the calf muscle I was well aware of the risk associated with lower leg injuries and DVT’s. I knew from family history that I was at a higher risk of getting a clot so did everything I could to limit the possibility of getting one.
When you tear a calf muscle it is extremely difficult to walk. Frankly, you look completely ridiculous when walking as your foot and leg are more of less frozen in one spot for a period of time. I sort of looked like a zombie at the start but a really old fragile zombie with a major limp.
But I walked every day and tried to move my leg every hour to limit the lack of mobility associated with blood clots.

My first ultra sound was clear of clots and this was 3 weeks after the injury so I was really happy with my progress. 2 days later I felt the pain and throbbing you can get when a clot starts.
An ultra sound confirmed a clot in the top of a vein in my lower leg but even though I had a family history of DVT’s, the ER doctors decided to go down the conservative route and not treat it. Instead they told me to get an ultra sound in 3 weeks time and it should be gone by then but did note a small risk the clot may end up in my lungs.

So this is where I want you to take note. You know when sometimes you get a feeling in your gut that what your being told isn’t quite right? You know the one, we all have them. It’s a sort of niggling feeling that leaves you a bit worried.
Well when you have that feeling, speak up. Say something. Don’t just sit there and be nice and do what the Doctors tell you. Ask the questions, request a second opinion and demand some action.
This is really important, especially when you are dealing with something that could potentially kill you.

I had this feeling and even though I felt really uncomfortable with their decision, I smiled and thanked them for their advice and went home.
My partner and family on the other hand were absolutely furious. Angry that the Doctors had taken this course of action and angry I hadn’t spoken up.
Again, family history on both sides are full of fatal DVT’s, strokes and amputations due to DVT complications.

It was on my families insistence that I called my local GP who immediately arranged for another ultra sound which showed that from the time I had seen the ER Doctors to now (5 days), my clot had increased, quickly and rather dangerously.

So here I am now, stuck on medication that I am all too familiar with – both my Nan and Aunty are now long term users of the product. 6 months of checkups starting with weekly blood tests and then monthly once my blood levels are where they need to be.
Having to keep an eye on the food, medication and activities I am involved with as they can all affect my blood levels. Being careful not to cut myself too badly as I can bleed for long periods, due to this medication.
And finally, I am now wearing a knee high compression stocking for 6 months every day. Summer is coming…oh my, what a look!

So the point of this post, take control of your health when you have control.
Sometimes we suffer injuries and complications that we have absolutely no control over. Fitness levels, family history or just plain bad luck can all be factors in this but when you seek medical advice, be proactive. You need to demand action, even if you feel uncomfortable doing it.
I am not sure what would have happened if my family hadn’t forced me to call my GP to seek a second opinion. I know from speaking to him that my clot would not have gone away on it’s own. And I know it is close to a vein that is deep and goes to my lungs. I know that clots in your lungs are not good, at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not feeling sorry for myself. I am very grateful to be stuck wearing my beige, knee high stocking and taking medication with blood tests for the next 6 months. I really am, the alternative may have been much worse.

One of the most ridiculous and surprising things about injuring my calf muscle has been the rising panic I am feeling about not exercising.

Not being able to be active and spending most of my day sitting on a couch or chair at work has done nothing to ease these feelings. It has made me realize just how much I enjoy being up, mobile and active.
I really miss my afternoon walks with my partner and our dog. I suspect my dog is also missing my company on his walk as he regularly stops to look back at me sitting on the park bench.

It has been almost two weeks since I heard that dreaded popping sound and what I thought was someone throwing a very hard ball at my leg. Today I finally get to have an ultra-sound to find out how bad the tear is and what muscle I have injured. I can then organize physio and work out a plan to get my leg back in shape.

To say that I am almost desperate to be exercising is an understatement. I really can’t imagine spending every day sitting on my couch and have had time to reflect and wonder how other people do it. Some, I realize simply can’t move much due to health issues that prohibit much activity. But I know there are many out there that simply spend most of their day and night sitting on their bum.
Office workers, drivers and others who have a job that involves mostly sitting down need to make a conscious effort to fit exercise in to their day.

For me, the rising panic isn’t that I may put on weight during this forced down time but more a niggling concern that my calf muscle may not be as strong as I thought and that perhaps in the future I may injure it again.

So for me the focus in the coming weeks will be to do everything I can to get my leg back in shape and finally get back on those afternoon walks with my family and the workouts I am missing so much!