No. I don’t. Not anymore. To motivate myself to workout right now is hard but today I did and I am damn proud of myself for doing it and enjoying it, even though I cannot consider it lifting especially as a trainer would describe it. It is rather boring to say the least but I am just prepping myself for the boringness of rehab in January when all I am going to want to do is play in the snow like my 5-12 year old self. Gosh, I remember when my mother had to force me to come inside after a big snow storm. The igloos my two big brothers and I built were phenomenal. We had a very long driveway and thanks to my father and his plow, all that snow ended up in massive piles in front of our house. I’d come into the house chattering from the cold to a nice warm fire and a cup of hot cocoa that only my mother could make taste so good. Ah memories. Too bad they sold that house. Silly parents.

Anyways back to the point…So my workout consists of a warm up for about 45 minutes and by warm up I mean: I foam roll every part of my lower body focusing on my gluteus maximus, minimus and medius or simply my ass, a quad stretch, hip flexor stretch and adductor stretch also known as frog in yoga…basically straddling the floor, something I REALLY won’t be able to do post surgery. I then move on to my hip mobility exercises. This is where I just get so ******* bored that most of the time I just give up, so I won’t bore you with the details.

Now from here I am used to my inner meat head rearing it’s head. My nickname actually used to be meat. Really, it did. My workouts consisted of heavy squats and dead lifts, heavy lunges, heavy kettle bell swings, chest press, rows, etc; basically heavy everything and I LOVED it. Most of us go to the gym to get our frustrations and anger out, our pent up energy, to think or stop thinking as it may be, or to simply get an endorphin high either from your workout or from flirting with the hot guy or girl strutting their stuff around the gym. My guess is it’s more the hotties than the actual workout based on what I’ve seen over the last 3 years.

My workouts now consist of all body weight and minimal cardio. Simply minimal everything that makes the hip joint rotate about it’s little axis. Basically I never get my frustrations, anger or energy out and there have been a lot of frustrations lately. However, it is nice to people watch and see who hits on who and what people choose to do for a workout. Oh the things I see that keep me entertained.

Today was different though, partially because there was no one to really stare at and partially because I decided to work through the pain and irritation in my hip and do a full workout. I REALLY pushed myself today…or at least pushed myself as much as the hip could stand. Either way I did exercises I have been afraid of for fear of what my hip might say to me the 2 days following. I leg pressed very light (that was a blow to the ego), did hip lifts, RDLs, single leg hip lifts, lateral band walks, and clams…lots of clams. I even had the pleasure of actually sweating, but just a little. I did a brief upper body workout faster than a serious Crossfitter doing an AMRAP and it felt gooooood. Boy do I miss Crossfit. Ugh. How many more months until I can go back?

Seriously not my typical workout but it got me going. Two hours later after my client M-dog….

…I decided to hit up the stair stepper for a 30 minute climb. Now the stair stepper is REALLY where I got my sweat on and it felt better than a hot shower and a nice glass of red wine after a particularly obnoxious day. Yes, I am drinking wine as I write this although my day was much less than obnoxious. Have I mentioned that I love not dieting??? Today was steak fajita day by the way. Mmmmmm.

Needless to say I left the gym feeling accomplished. 4 thumbs up. THAT is rare.

It is the first time in a long time I actually felt like my workout was worth it. I got out some frustrations and did some thinking, something I clearly never do…yeah right. Just ask my dad when I call him to analyze every little thing about the meaning of the current happenings of my life. Poor guy.

So I know that my hip will be screaming at me tomorrow; it’s actually already starting to have a bit of a tantrum which is making it hard to get off the couch without feeling like I tore the labrum more. Good thing I can’t make it any worse. It’s simply now about maintaining as much strength as possible while minimizing pain but I figure I am on anti-inflammatories for a week because of my chest inflammation so I may as well take advantage and just rotate the heck out of that ball and socket joint.

All in all, today was a great day. I stayed more positive in my workout than normal and I quite enjoyed it, knowing that it will make post op that much easier as I know that’s where the real struggle will be. Oh by the way, anyone want to be my little helper from January 13-28th? I’ll be on crutches, taking a cab to work everyday, training clients and struggling to go grocery shopping, do my laundry, play in the snow and get up and down 4 flights of tiny stairs in the North End of Boston. I will pay in home cooked food!

Shoot me a message on Facebook if you’re interested.

PS. Moral of the accomplishment of my day…change your attitude, change your focus, change your mind and drink red wine. After all, it IS good for your heart.