Strength Improving

Above are shots of the two species of Pochard we get in the UK. The top image is of the rarer Red-crested Pochard (drake), below him is an image of the male and female Red-crested Pochard, and finally, the bottom shot is of the smaller species, the Common Pochard (a drake). I had a lovely day this week, when the sun put in a rare appearance and I got up to the local reservoirs. These two ducks came up close to shore giving me a chance to get some decent photographs.

I enjoyed my gym session this week. I went on the Wednesday, which meant I'd had a full 7 days recovery since the session on the previous Tuesday. It seemed to make a significant difference. I didn't feel exhausted before I'd even started and I felt good through the whole work-out. I took it easy on the hip adduction/abduction/extension after the mild strains from last week. I also modified how I did the seated rows, so that I didn't extend my left arm all the way back on the pull stroke. This helped to prevent significant pain in my left shoulder. I actually came away from the gym feeling good rather than typically drained and wanting to sleep immediately.

I was worn out on Thursday and still pretty drained yesterday. I've also been needing to ice my left shoulder/arm/elbow. I think the press-ups have caused some mild tendonitis as its aching like anything through the arm and is esp painful at the elbow.

I'm looking forward to getting to the pool this week. I've probably written this in an earlier post, but my plan is to do two weeks in the gym, one week in the pool. It seems like the best way to avoid putting too much stress on my joints and to actually use the muscles I'm building in the gym as I go along. It also means I get some decent cardiovascular exercise as well, which feels good. Finally, the water really is very relaxing and relieving on my muscles etc.