I have been bothered by some mild sciatica for the past week, probably brought about by two days of long-distance driving during a recent family vacation.

I have sore spot on my right side close to the spine that sometimes sends jolts of pain when I walk. I've had it before and seen a doctor about it who confirmed it to be harmless although annoying.

Do anyone have some good examples of good stretches to do in this situation? Most of what I could find online targets the muscles slightly below where my pain is located and doesn't seen to reach the spot that hurts.

And now for the rant:

When using Google to find information, the results were full of SEO optimised links to physical therapists and chiropractors trying to sell me stuff. Among all the bullshit I managed to find a page about it on a public healthcare site where very little effort had been made to make the text pop up in search engines.

The text was written by a named specialist and cited sources. It said that there's little to do about mild sciatica besides keeping active, improving workplace ergonomics, taking OTC painkillers and waiting for it to go away by itself. It was honest about that most of the time it was impossible to explain exactly what mechanism causes the pain. It said that there's no documentated effect of heat or cold and explicitly advised against lumbar support bandages.

I then visited one of the commercial sites, hoping to find some stretches to do. And what was the first thing I saw? Without giving any sources they claimed that cold packs and lumbar support bandages are effective and tried selling them to me.

The individual private physiotherapist might be good at their job and able to help people but the profit motive incentives them to upsell people snake oil and quackery. This in turn makes everything they say less trustworthy. It might very well be that you can benefit from some product they are selling in some situations but you can never be sure whether they're advising you to use it because they want your money or because it is actually going to do you any good.

Meanwhile medical doctors, who almost all operate within a single payer public healthcare system around here are one of the most trusted professions since you know that the likelihood of them having ulterior motives is very low. (Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of problems with classism, racism, sexism and God-complexes in the medical profession but at least your GP is not trying to inspect your wallet)

I already run, but I would like to incorporate some total body strength training. Just to stay health and build enough strength to be able to stay fit and limber. I’ve got that “Homemade Muscle” book that seems to be what I’m looking for, but want to see if you all have any recommendations.

I’m also trying to figure if there’s some low cost equipment I should add that would help. Like those variable weight dumbells, I think I could afford those. But a full set a weight plates is well beyond what I can afford.

https://digital.la84.org/digital/api/collection/p17103coll10/id/66/page/0/inline/p17103coll10_66_0

honestly was looking for a jordan peterson equivilant of "clean your room" and workout sort of rhetoric - but coming from communists

something along the lines of theory/ logical thinking that would state how required it was to work out and develop discipline - this was all rhetoric spurred after reading roderic day

Like the title says I'm looking for a free (preferably open source) app yo track my gym progress.

Somewhere where I can add my weights. May be the app can remind when it's time to increase the weight (progressive overload).

it would also be cool if there is charts to monitor progress.

I think most days after I do OHP, I've felt like I got a crick in my neck, so I think I'm doing something wrong. Idk what though, any common mistakes in form or something that cause this?

Do you think the trireme of revolution can propel itself to victory? Nay! Without our daily diligence, our sweat and concerted labor, the ship of liberty will stagnate in the doldrums of liberalism!

Get on that rower and push yourself, for yourself and for all our futures!

And make sure to stretch! Stretch before! Stop 10 minutes in and stretch again!

I have no clue how reliable this is but I broke 60 VO2 max.

Not sure if this is the right place.

I'm looking for a foldable treadmill with a tablet stand. I hope it is sturdy enough that won't undo itself, and the motor just don't burnt out once pass the warranty. I have a budget of about £200. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

I've heard of Lose It and My Fitness Pal. Anyone have experience with them or other ones?

Edit: Sorry about the laggy response, my shifts have been longer lately.

Specifically when it comes to hypertrophy.

Feeling pretty good afterwards. AMA

what are some good meals i can eat cold that are high protein - low carb - no refined sugar? i already made some hummus for an occasional snack to eat with something, but my work doesn't have a microwave so i have no idea what to bring for dinner. any tips? TIA!!!

No idea where to start I'm so confused as to what to immediately cut out of my diet and what exercises for a beginner to start with?

What should I start eating?

I'm 6 foot or 6 foot 1 and 195 pounds with a dad bad right now that I want to at least turn into some muscle

Late night, slept in, etc

Feeling better, though with march and two death anniversaries coming up that will most likely change. Still sticking to the exercising though, it helps me clear my head an refocus things. Back to 30 minutes at 22ish strokes/min, otherwise that's all I have to report. Check on your loved ones and look after yourselves too

I didn't do any rowing yesterday because grief and depression are real bastards. The last few days have been rough, though I got in 20 minutes of rowing today.

Slept in today but when I (eventually) rolled out of bed I got right to my 30 minutes of rowing! It's looking like winter might actually make an appearance so biking to and from school might be off the table until it melts, but I'll gladly take that if I can savour an increasingly rare walk in the snow.

I'm really happy with sustaining 30 minutes a day, and it's looking like I'll be able to start biking more places thanks to climate change (no snow in February is freaking me out) but at least I can get some outside activity in before the wildfire smoke season starts up!

Sorry about the doomer vibe in this post but c'est la vie if you'll pardon my French

My bouldering gym got one of those cute little library boxes where you can take a book out and put a different one in it's place. Time to fill it with theory

30 minutes just keeps getting easier and going by faster. This is definitely the longest I've stuck to any exercise program and I'm feeling results!

Another day, another 30 minutes of rowing. Not much else to report, but I am happy with my streak of hitting 30 minutes each day!

Got to it a little earlier today, tried turning up the resistance and did 30 minutes without stopping! Feeling it in my legs but I think it was the right move, see y'all tomorrow!

I'm back at it with another 30 minutes of uninterrupted rowing! I deliberated over restarting the count vs just picking up where I left off, I decided I'll just continue where I left off since I'm the one doing these posts and I'm mad with power.

Also I did get some hiking in over the weekend and was lucky enough to see some cool birds including a hawk that flew right by me!