Healing Process: The Plan

In my last Fitness Check-in post I talked about starting a healing process for my wrists.
I want nothing more than to hit the gym and get stronger, bulk up, tone up, whatever you want to call it. I want my "cover of a fitness magazine" upper body back. Sadly, after several failed attempts over the years, it's time to grow up, put my big girl panties on and realize I'm not 16. I'm 27. I need to take things slow and allow my body to heal in it's own time. Gently.

I'm on the wait list for a neurologist. It could take months to get in, but it's at least in the works. I'm on nerve blockers that help ease nerve pain. The fact that they are working (for the most part) means we've nailed the culprit. Maybe not where, and maybe not the exact issue, but we've narrowed it down to nerves.

This is good news because now I can start healing and strengthening. Normally when I say strengthen I mean picking up weights or using the machines we have. This has always been the way I do it. And I've finally realized it only works for so long before I relapse in pain and can't do anything for weeks.
It's time to try a different method. Rather than strengthen the larger muscles to give stability to the smaller, I'm going to focus on the small first, until they are better equipped to handle what my larger muscles can.

I bought a set of 2lb and 3lb weights. I feel like such a sissy for using that much weight, but my body is I'm focusing on my forearms and grip strength for now. Testing the waters to see how they do. Can I still function at my job? Can I still lift glasses of water and take the lid of the peanut butter jar?

Every night I do 10 wrist extension and flexion exercises on each hand with a 2lb weight. I may not be sore the next day, but I can tell it's getting easier to do them. I'll up the reps to 15, then to 20 before I switch to 3lb weights down at 10 reps again. On top of this I've dug out my grip strengthener. It looks like the buttons on a trumpet. Each individual finger has a button to push down. I have the lightest weight I could find for the device.

It doesn't sound like a lot, and it's not, but I think it's all my wrists and forearms can handle for the time being. I'm hoping that by doing this, I get stronger and can start to focus on something a little bigger.