Don’t Be a Blockhead
Photo starring: Charlie Burke
Happy Friday all! After five months, I’m sure you’ve realized by now that every Friday I write about health and wellness related topics. Some are on the more serious side, but mostly I like to keep things light going into the weekend. On that note, last week I wrote a playful article about our dog Arcadia having squirrel syndrome and how that could be used to our advantage by being creative with our workouts. I would be remiss not to talk about our other dog this week, but the direction of my message will go somewhere much different this week.
About 7 years ago when Mike was still at 2/75, I went to the animal shelter one day in Tacoma to look at a bloodhound. Why a bloodhound? The only justification I had was that we wanted to adopt a dog and this particular dog’s profile picture was handsome. When I got to the shelter to spend some time with him, it was like the ol’ ‘bait and switch’ tactic. Great looking dog in the photos, but in person he was absolutely cray cray. Mike can attest that I’m quite adamant about getting what I want after I set my mind to something and so I was not leaving there without a dog. This is where our block-head lab Charlie comes in.
Charlie was this one-year-old 90lb black lab stud; young, vibrant, and motivated by food and adventure just like his owner Mike. Ha! Fast forward 7 years, Charlie has some hip issues that are slowing him down. He moves about as if it’s more of an annoyance to him and so he just ignores it. He still leaps halfway across our pool to retrieve the ball, attempts to jump up into my lifted jeep and tries to keep up with Arcadia’s squirrel syndrome by running after everything non-stop. He falls on his ass most every time and then limps the rest of the day… You get the point. Charlie is a blockhead, something I think many of us can relate to.
When I used to compete, I messed up my shoulder pretty good where my doctor told me that I needed to stop training for a few months. Impossible! How do you get ready for a competition and not work your shoulders? Instead, I was able to talk the doctor into a series of cortisone injections until I got through training and onto the stage months later. I look at that now and realize how stupid that was, but I wasn’t a quitter and I sure as hell wasn’t going to show any weakness. So, I continued to train. Just like Charlie, I too am a bit of a blockhead.
Here's the thing, whatever physical issue some of us may be experiencing, we can’t totally ignore it by going full throttle like Charlie does, but we also can’t allow the issue(s) to become an excuse to do nothing at all. The happy-medium here is to identify whatever issue you have and come up with some creative ways to address it without making it worse. For instance, I work out twice a day, every day, but I switch up the workouts based on how my body feels. Today, my right hip for whatever reason is killing me, so yoga and kayaking is my prescribed workout of the day. I’m not charging hard today but will still do something to get that heart rate up and those endorphins flowing.
Going into the weekend, I encourage you to find some alternative activities/exercises if you’re experiencing some ‘adversities’ in the body. Just remember that it is important not to completely ignore them as they will not go away on their own. There is a lot of good information out there that can also be extremely overwhelming. So if you get stuck, I encourage you to reach out to us with your questions. We’re always here to help you and of course, are ‘Always in Pursuit’ of a better quality of life. Cheers to all and make it a great weekend!
~Sarah
