This only happens to strong people

My back is a bit better today. I can move around without cringing, at least. Still staying home from work, though. I have to lie down every half hour or so to avoid too much pain/strain.

Something I didn't mention in yesterday's post about the injury was something that Mike said. He's the HSES grad student who found and helped me. As I was getting my stuff together to leave hobble out the door, he said, "You know, these sorts of things only happen to strong people."

What a kind, wonderful, and inspiring thing to say. Because yeah, unfit people tweak their backs all the time. But they don't usually do it because they were at the end of their last set of 70% of bodyweight deadlift reps (if they're doing that and they're unfit, they deserve a good kick in the head along with the tweaked back).

When I told him about Mike's comment, mckitterick pointed out that it was also true that injuries like this are part and parcel of radical improvements to body strength. I suppose it's possible that someone could experience a lifetime of physical improvement and muscle building without ever injuring themselves, but I can't imagine that ever actually happening.

An active life is going to result in some injuries. It happens. I'm grateful to have the opportunity to injure myself on a heavy lift. I might be pretty immobile now, but I'm going to be active again. And soon.