Shoulder Jail
A few months ago I hurt my lower back pretty badly.
In January, I went on a trip to Israel with my wife and two energetic little boys. My youngest, Rafi, is an amazing, curious and often dangerous four year old — as most four year old boys can be.
In Israel, the hikes, zoos, and multitudes of streets we walked around each presented their own unique challenges for me. Rafi would constantly be running away or hanging on the edge of a cliff or trying to harass a kangaroo (true story).
For these moments, an every day if not twice daily occurrence while there, I coined the term “shoulder jail”. Rafi loves going on my shoulders and I love not living in fear (Jewish anxiety runs deep); win win. Well, until I began to have so much back pain upon our return that I could barely get up in the morning.
My amazing wife suggested I try physical therapy or PT.
For someone who failed at the gym for basically his entire life — let’s call it a mix of yo-yo dieting, genes, lack of actual biological knowledge and bad motivation — PT is a serious revelation. I have fallen in love and now do the suggested exercises every day in between session.
Last week during a session, my therapist started using a foam roller on me and had me sit on this big plastic exercise ball. Afterwards, with phone in hand I had her help me choose the correct items on Amazon to add to my cart so I could start upping my stretch game at home.
The good news is these kinds of equipment come pretty cheap: $8 for the roller and $22 for the ball. The bad news, while for my weight and height it was assumed I should buy the 75 cm ball — my legs are actually kind or short.
Yesterday afternoon my ball arrived — in a small box and uninflated. For the entire rest of my work day (I’m an entrepreneur, so let’s use the term “day” fluidly here), I sat at my computer and foot pumped this giant ball to it’s proper height.
Hiss — pop. Inserted the plastic stopper. DONE!! :)
As I sat down, I immediately realized there is something amiss — my feet don’t sit properly on the ground. The ball is WAY too big for me.
What once could have led to a serious annoyance and let down put me in a good mood.
- I had a new story to tell — I love stories!
- I would get to do the pumping all over a gain — it’s fun, seriously :)
- I was inspired to try making a short video + blog post which I have been meaning to do.
The new 65 cm ball is now on its way — or most likely be here and inflate (based on when you are reading) and I’m now buff ;)
Please tell me in the comments what you think of the video and post. For bonus secret brownie points, you can like this post and follow me too ;)
I’ve been journaling a lot more lately with my new found love for pencils (more on this later) and have new posts about sales, confidence and more coming soon.
