Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and I’m writing about fitness. Say what you will about the Ukrainian government, the Ukrainian people didn’t do anything to bring on this war. It feels weird to do anything but talk about that war. I would play The Simpsons clip about Russia really being the USSR but that’s too close to Putin’s wet dream.

You ever have one of those weeks where you aren’t injured but some stuff is bothering you enough for it to be concern? Me too. This past week it was a weird stiffness/pain on the outside of one knee and a sharp pain in one shoulder but only in one plane of motion. I don’t know where any of this came from. Nothing odd or bad happened during a workout. Yard work was light. I’m a desk jockey at work. I’m starting to think getting old isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Anyway, the conundrum is what to do in situations like this. My belief is to stay active if at all possible. One idea that has firmly penetrated the rocks in my head is doing something is better than doing nothing. This assumes you don’t have a bona fide injury.

So, this week had some unusual adjustments in order to keep going. Circular motion didn’t bother my shoulder so jumping rope was in. Doing a split step while jumping bothered my knee so traditional jumping it was. Running was okay if I kept it kind of short. Something being better than nothing, that’s what I did.

The gym was a bit of an adventure. I was very tentative starting most exercises tentative. Nearly all leg work went out the window. I was not willing to take a chance with my knee. Upper body meant testing the motion with light weights. If it didn’t bother my shoulder, then I went for my normal weight and paid attention for any twinge. Not a great week, but better than sitting on my ass.

There’s a wide range of activity among Glibfitters. What do you do to stay in the game when you know you have to take it down a notch?

This week’s music.