Neck problems

Since I’ve had a few messages and comments of concerned readers I will explain where my neck pain is coming from. Last year I was involved in a car accident. I got t-boned by someone who ignored a red light. I ended up with bruised ribs, bruised hips and a neck injury. I consider myself very lucky to walk away with only those injuries. A split second later and things would have been completely different.

In the hospital they took x-rays and did a CT-scan because they thought I had broken my neck. Fortunately It turned out that I ‘only’ had a whiplash and loss of the curve in my neck as a result from the car accident. They did however find some other abnormalities in my neck like two fused discs, scoliosis and arthritis. Apparently I have been born with this (apart from the arthritis).

After the car accident I had to wear a cervical collar for a while to give my neck rest. Unfortunately the pain did not ease off as time went by. I gained more weight from not exercising and eating my frustrations away. Before the accident I went to the gym 5 or 6 times per week. When I started to visit the chiropractor things got a bit better and I decided to go back to the gym to make my neck and shoulder muscles a bit stronger.

In the beginning I didn’t feel too good after each gym visit, but I decided to push through it and as time progressed and I also started to visit the acupuncturist I started to feel much better again. The daily headaches disappeared and my neck could handle more and more.

Unfortunately the last couple of weeks things have been going downhill again. At first I didn’t know why it had made a turn for the worst, but now I know that it was severe stress. I am very good at ignoring the things that are bothering me. I always have the idea that I shouldn’t worry about things and just get on with it. The only problem was that my body was having none of it this time; the stress ran rampage in my body. Bad headaches, crappy neck pain and muscles as hard as steel.

Last Friday we had a very stressful day that was very important for our future. Unconsciously I was stressing more about it than I realized. When the day was over I was so incredible tired and felt like I could not even move. All the stress was coming out. Now that that day is behind us I feel so much better. The pain in my neck has eased off and the headaches are gone.

Exercise 30th of April

Yesterday I finally done a body combat class again. Body Combat is my favorite class and I really got into it. Unfortunately I had to pay the prize for it too. The rest of the day I’ve been laying in bed with bad pains in my neck and a massive headache. Today it feels as if I have cables of steel in my neck and shoulders instead of muscles, so I decided to take it easy. Tomorrow I won’t be able to go to the gym, because I have to go to the city for an important appointment.

Cardio

• 30 min. Treadmill - 6.0 km/h - incline 6%
• 60 min. Body Combat

Exercise 29th of April

The last few days have been really stressful. Mainly because I put a lot of pressure on myself to exercise. That is fine when I am feeling good, but when my neck is playing up like it is at the moment the pressure only causes extra stress. And extra stress in turn makes my neck pain and the headaches worse. It’s like a stupid circle I am in. I constantly have the feeling that I MUST exercise, that if I don’t exercise I will not lose any weight, that I am weak, worthless, etc. Those thoughts can haunt me all day long.

Last Thursday I’ve been to the chiropractor and yesterday I went to see the acupuncturist in the hope to relieve some pain. For the last months it has really helped me and relieved a lot of pain, but this time it’s almost as if it has no impact at all. Very frustrating!

Anyway, to make a long story short I have decided to stop putting myself under pressure to exercise. If I feel good in the morning I will go to the gym, but if I don’t feel good I will allow myself to stay home. It’s time to listen to my body and forcing myself to go or have haunting, guilty thoughts about not going is not going to do me any good.

This morning I felt not too bad, so I went to the gym. I did a warm-up, did my resistance training, but when I did my cardio I just felt crap. My heart rate was out of control and I felt like puking my guts out. So what did I do? I decide to push through it, even though I just made a deal with myself to start to listen to my body. But… I tried to push through it and couldn’t. So I decided to just do 10 minutes on the cross trainer, bike and treadmill, which equals to half an hour. Man, that sucked!

Cardio

• 10 min. Cross trainer - level 4 - 13 km/h
• 10 min. Bike - level 6 - 85/90 rpm
• 10 min. Treadmill - 6.0 km/h - incline 6%

Resistance

• 3x 15 reps Chest press - 25 kg
• 3x 15 reps Seated row - 25 kg
• 3x 15 reps Leg press (feet together) - 60 kg
• 3x 15 reps Hip Abduction - 40 kg
• 3x 15 reps Bicep curls - 4 kg
• 3x 15 reps Crunches