I had a disc injury about two years ago, so this is fresh for me. I've always been pretty active and consider myself to be in really good shape, but I started running longer distances leading up to a marathon and bad things happened. I think my hamstrings tightened up, which pulled on other things, and it all came to a head during a golf swing where I could hear an audible crack. Pain was 9/10 and I couldn't stand up straight for a solid month.
After 12 months of trying many things, including 6 months of PT, I believe the following things to be true:
- Walking is better than sitting because it gets things moving
- Ice as soon as possible if you have a flare-up
- Strength core/training is essential. I have always been in good shape from a cardio perspective, but never lifted weights. Now I have 12 weight-lifting exercises that I do 2 sets of 20 at the gym twice per week. Also, I do 40 lunges on a Roman chair at home every day, which my physical therapist told me is the single most important exercise.
It's a lot of work and it takes a lot of time, but I seem to recover faster if I have a flare-up, and they're not as severe. Also, I feel like I'm in better shape overall. It's nice to have some muscle instead of being a noodly-ass dude who can run a long way.
I use it only for cooking, but for cooking I absolutely love it. It generates surprisingly good recipes, and I don't have to read a 5000 word story on how someone found and fell in love with the turnip to get them.
Looks like the study was performed on a liquid, so I guess definitely don't microwave soup. Wonder if the effect is the same with a food that doesn't have as much contact with the container. Anyway, like many commenting here, microwaving food with plastic fallen in the "it just seems wrong" category for me, so it's business as usual.
Absolutely! I have a Litespeed T1SL, and I'm very happy with it. I've heard great things about Moots bikes as well, but they're about twice the price and they don't make a rim brake model. The main reasons I went with the Litespeed were the rim brakes (I can fix mechanical components myself), and the fact that you can peel off the decals, so the bike looks like fairly generic, minus a badge behind the seatpost and one on the stem tube.
I ride a titanium bike with rim brakes. It was custom made, and relatively expensive ($5,000 USD), but it is the only bike I ride, and it will last my entire lifetime, and more (it will require occasional component upgrades, just like any other bike). Plus, the ride quality is superb. I've found that, as with most things, investing in quality over quantity is the way to go. My bike may have been slightly 'less green' to manufacture, but I only need one, ever.
After 12 months of trying many things, including 6 months of PT, I believe the following things to be true: - Walking is better than sitting because it gets things moving - Ice as soon as possible if you have a flare-up - Strength core/training is essential. I have always been in good shape from a cardio perspective, but never lifted weights. Now I have 12 weight-lifting exercises that I do 2 sets of 20 at the gym twice per week. Also, I do 40 lunges on a Roman chair at home every day, which my physical therapist told me is the single most important exercise.
It's a lot of work and it takes a lot of time, but I seem to recover faster if I have a flare-up, and they're not as severe. Also, I feel like I'm in better shape overall. It's nice to have some muscle instead of being a noodly-ass dude who can run a long way.