Back in the Gym
If you have been following my personal blog, you know the last few months have been difficult. I have lost 2 friends to cancer (both under 50) and I have been dealing with severe nerve pain in my back and left arm caused by a bulged disk.
3 months into the nerve pain, I have finally felt some relief. I tried everything from acupuncture, cupping, chiropractic, traction, decompression and finally deep tissue laser. I think the totality of all these treatments had something to do with the pain receding.
The fallout from the nerve damage is that the muscles that were affected which were my entire left arm, left shoulder and left chest muscle have severely atrophied. Apparently if the nerves are not working properly and not sending signals to the muscles, then you lose that muscle and strength.
So my left arm has lost about 3 inches in diameter and when you wrap your hand around my bicep area is feels like mushy muscle and bone. I also hardly have the ability to form a muscle by flexing.
So now that the pain is under control, I felt it a good time to get back into the gym to try and rehab the muscle. It is incredible how weak my left arm is. I could barely get 10 reps with a 20 pound dumbbell where before I could do 50 pounds. My tricep is probably the worst. I could barely pull down a 5 pound plate with my left arm.
The good news, I think, is that 1 day a after working out my muscles are sore. I am assuming that means there is hope for rehabilitating the atrophied muscle.
This has been a very frustrating situation as I did not feel Kaiser provided me with any information to assist along the way. I had to do all my own independent research and the only good treatment and advice I received is when I spent my own money on doctors of my choice. All Kaiser wanted to do was give me pain meds, put an injection in my neck and then surgery.
Starting Yoga
I tried Yoga with my wife a few years ago. My wife is a huge Yoga person. I think she refers to herself as a Yogi. I did like Yoga, but I did not like the amount of time it took. I mean, you have to leave 30 minutes early to get there 15 minutes before the class so you can hopefully get a spot in the room at Yoga Works in Valencia. Then if you did get a spot, you were sure to be crowded by a late arrival who then squeezes between you and the person next to you. Then you have an hour and 15 minute class. All in the time commitment was almost 2 hours. Sorry, but some of us have a job and have to work.
I was told that Yoga would be helpful, but I did not want to go into a Yoga Studio. So my wife did some research and found that Yoga Works has an app with 1000 Yoga classes on video. We tried it for the first time last night and I loved it. I loved it because they have classes as short as 10 minutes. You could choose what type of class by difficulty and by type and length.
What i really liked is that I just had to roll out the Yoga mat on the floor of my living room, attach my Mac computer to the HDMI cable and hit play for it to show up on our TV. No setup, No driving and no 2 hour commitment. This, i can do!
Best Brunch In Santa Clarita
Two weeks ago we went out with my wife’s friends. They told us about a place called Bonefish Grill in Valencia at the Town Center Mall. We were aware of the restaurant, however had never been there. What was surprising is that they served brunch and my wife’s friends raved about it.
So we went and the brunch was absolutely amazing. For $20 you get endless drinks. The drinks include mimosas of several variations (Tropical Fruit, etc) as well as Bellini’s, Sangria’s and Champaign. Oh, yes, and you actually get food too! I am a huge lover of eggs Benedict and they have several types including one that is a surf and turf eggs benedict that has lobster and filet mignon in it. Yum!
I am afraid to recommend this place because I don’t want it to get crowded and spoil it for me. We have been there twice and like to sit in the bar and it is wide open seating. The service is amazing and they just keep bringing on the drinks and are not stingy at all.
This past Sunday, my daughter’s boyfriend flew in from Hawaii where he is going to college and we literally camped out at Bonefish Grill for 3 hours. We were there so long that we ordered lunch. As we all drove together, one by one, the kids slowly disappeared. First, my son Justin had a friend pick him up and left. Then our daughter and her boyfriend left. So it was just us for the last hour, after which we needed to take an Uber home as our daughter had taken our car.
So if you ever want to find me on a Sunday morning brunch, make sure to swing by Bonefish Grill in Valencia. At least until I discover another new brunch location.
