Man I'm Weak

So I started doing a ton of hip and core strengthening exercises over the past few days. I'm really enjoying it, but one thing that is abudantly clear is that the right side of my core is strong as hell. Equally as clear is that my left side is embarassing. Its a really really really really really noticeable difference. One of the most obvious examples is doing planks. I can do a nice front plank, including the progressions (lifting one arm off the ground etc). However, when i do my side planks there is a huge discrepancy between the two sides. If i do a right plank, I can lift either leg off the ground and maintain the position for about 10 seconds or so before starting to fail. My left side is another story. When I started with these a few days ago, i couldn't even get a leg off the ground. Just the attempt would make me start to crumble. Today i forced myself to get the right leg off the ground. It was so incredibly difficult, and at the same time incredibly satisfying that I got it done.

Now that I've become aware of this imbalance, I've started to notice it in other activities. I had mentioned yesterday about the 4 way hip exercises. Now thats all i feel when i do the right side. Any lifting of my right leg and my pelvis starts to come off the floor. I'm really focusing on trying to get better and better at this.

On a side note, I have also noticed that my knee hurts less after doing these exercises than before. I am starting to wonder if it momentarily corrects the tracking in my patella. It makes sense because i'm doing just enough to get it where it should be, then my years of imbalances pull it back to the dark side. This is a similar concept to seeing a chiro. They put your pelvis back in alignment, but if you don't do the work to strengthen into that new posture, you go right back to your old habits. I MUST fix this problem if there is any chance of me running again. The good news is that it really motivates me.

One final note: I've been really doing a nice job with my eating now that i'm doing some form of workouts. I knew that would happen. Its so tough to convince yourself to get proper sleep and eat well when you can't train. Ironically its probably the time when you need to do these things the most! Go figure...