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There are two kinds of people in this world
There are those people who like this kind of thing and there are those who like some other kind of thing. It has taken me far too long to realize this, but it is true. Deep tissue massage is one of those things. Mrs. Pessimist spends four hours a day in intensive exercise and loves deep tissue massage. She pays serious money for a massage therapist to come to our house twice a month for a deep tissue massage. Then she goes and runs for an hour or two!
Recently I have had some low-grade lower back pain. No signs of radiculopathy, but just stiffness and soreness when I move. I try to stretch and do exercises that strengthen my back but the soreness persists. So Mrs. Pessimist gave me a back massager for Christmas. It is a serious contraption that you strap on your back at the level of your back that needs attention and then it pounds on your sore muscles hard enough to make you cry.
After I tried it a few times, she asked me what I thought of it. I wisely said that it was very strong and she would love it. I didn’t tell her that when my muscles are sore I didn’t want anyone or anything to touch them much less pound on them.
So it came to pass that today after we spent the day undecorating for Christmas, Mrs. Pessimist sat down and tried out the new massager. She was in second heaven. I told her I would leave it plugged in on the chair in the den so she could use it whenever she wanted.
There are two kinds of people in this world. Sometimes we marry one of them.
Published in General
Ain’t that the truth!
I feel your pain.
Actually there are three types of people in this world. Those who can count, and those who can’t.
I suppose the “classics” would be,
There are two types of people in this world: people who think there are two types of people in this world, and everyone else.
and, of course:
There are 10 types of people in this world: people who understand binary, and those who don’t.
From the title I thought of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” my friend.
I hope it wasn’t a case of her buying a Christmas present that was for you, but really for her. Two kinds of people. Perhaps a large bottle of Advil with it for you.
Typically people get massages after the workout though. It’s actually good for blood flow and getting ride of muscle knots.
PS: I had some back problems flare up in middle age. I started using cable exercises in my workouts. Including torsional exercises that improved my back greatly. It’s more about keeping form and smooth controlled motion in the exercise instead of concentrating on weight or doing fast motions which seem to be common mistakes.
I have been doing slow controlled yoga, the opposite of hot yoga, and that has helped.