am I out of shape after only a week off (sick)?

[coffeetime]

Dang, what a week. First I hurt myself a week ago today at yoga class, attempting and then deciding to immediately back away from Urdhva Dhanurasana, which I realized was beyond what my shoulders can take...too late. I was so sore the next morning, I could barely turn my head, and my left shoulder was kind of stuck in a weird position. Fortunately I had physical therapy Monday and the ultrasound heat thingy took most of the pain and stiffness away.

Then I got a particularly horrid virus that's going around my office, a bad cold where the symptoms are extreme pain in the sinuses and the back of the throat, and then repeated explosive sneezing that sets off shocks of pain in the aforementioned. I had to stay home from work for two days.

With all of this going on, I opted not to work out AT ALL other than walking slowly on the treadmill Sunday, before I developed cold symptoms. So, today I finally felt good enough to go back to the gym. I took it pretty slow, lifted slightly less than I worked with last time, etc. Then tonight I went out for dinner with some friends. It's a cool night (below freezing) and so I was shivering when I got back in the car to go home...and as I drove, I could feel my thigh adductors tensing up and spasming! Bad for driving in my stick shift car, and I had to sit with my legs apart, which was creepy since I was wearing a skirt and tights. (But yay, it was dark out so nobody else saw, and I had no passengers.) My legs feel weird now, like they might decide to do that again. I didn't work extra hard today and my leg work consisted only of walking lunges with only 10 lb dumbbells, straight-legged deadlifts with 25 lbs, heel raises and toe raises on the leg press machine, and just a few one-legged deadlifts with reach, with empty hands because I was feeling tired already. I do all of these regularly. Did I just lose that much strength after only a week off? Or what else happened here?

Comments

[0jack]

It sounds like shakes from tiredness to me. For some reason they start in my inner thighs and go up into my core. Alternately, if you slipped on the ice or the stairs at any point this week, even a little bobble, that could cause some weirdness/tension, it does for me.

[rydra_wong]

You wouldn't lose significant strength in a week, so I'd guess that it's most likely to be a combination of exercising when you're still drained from the virus, and then the shivering setting things off. Might also be worth looking at what you ate (or didn't) that day -- low blood sugar can make me very shaky.

Sometimes it doesn't take a lot to make muscles start trembling when they're stressed.

So it's unlikely you need to worry, and you should be back on form soon.

[faesdeynia]

From a medical standpoint: Your body burns protein like crazy when you're sick, and is more than happy to take it from your muscles if you're not eating enough. It takes a couple of weeks to recover from something like a cold, even though you don't have symptoms. You might feel fine, but that's because your body has lowered the virus count below what's required for you to have symptoms.

tl;dr - you're still recovering. Give yourself some time :-D

[coffeetime]

Yes, and I definitely wasn't thinking of all that. I just thought oh good, I'm not feeling sick, back to the gym.

Even walking on the treadmill today is ouchy. Didn't do it fast. Rowed a little also.

[lyorn]

Sounds to me as if you are not fully recovered yet. Give it time, your body is still working to get itself back on track.

I have observed that after only a week being actually sick, I am weak, slow and wheezing for about two weeks, while after a pause for laziness, vacation, or whatever, I see no loss in strength or speed after two weeks, and only very little after four.

[coffeetime]

I want to be better NOW. So annoying. More kale! It's always a good idea.