I must have slept in a detrimental position yesterday 'cause my hip flexors feel tight. Tighter than when my IT band syndrome was at its worst. But my IT bands are fine.. well, for the most part, they definitely don't bother me much. Here's the thing about tendonitis/inflammation: it takes a long time to go away, and even when the muscles are stronger and more flexible, the burning sensation can still be felt for a while. The main difference is that the burning sensation occurs less frequently, and when it does occur, it's generally not as "hot" of a feeling. In other words, it doesn't bother me as much; doesn't hurt as much.

I'll rank muscle injuries from worst to least irritating:

1) lower back

2) patellar tendonitis

3) rotator cuff inflammation

4) IT band syndrome

5) triceps tendonitis

6) neck pain (from doing crunches incorrectly, pulling head forward)

This, of course, is all based on my experiences. The lower back must have been seriously weak and overstretched or something 'cause it took a long time to start feeling better, close to a year. It's pretty much OK as long as I'm not doing something wtih a patient. I don't wanna jinx myself. Patellar tendonitis sucks 'cause it doesn't go away, either, just like the back pain, and it's impossible to not bend your knees which makes it worse, especially when sitting - helps to have a lazy boy chair or a couch to keep the legs propped up, but it still sucks. The real reason why it's bad is that it also includes IT band symptoms, so the pain is felt right below and immediately on the outside of the knee. Anytime the knee is bent, the kneecap goes into the femur which does not feel good at all. Rotator cuffs, well, when I hurt it three years ago, I generally don't remember much about it except that it hurt to do exercises for 3 months, hurt to raise my arm above my shoulder. Then, I stopped, and it took another 3 months before it was decent, another 6 months before it was basically fine. 1 year for that. Supposedly, pushups and pullups are the two worst exercises to do with it which is why I couldnt' do pushups for a long time. I got triceps tendonitis twice which I don't remember much about it, either, except that it hurt to keep my elbow bent which is impossible to not do. And neck pain always goes away within a day or two. Although, I gotta say that any kind of vertebrae pain is probably the worst to deal with.

I'm determined, once why shoulders are better, to never get hurt again. I'm just gonna have to take it easier with working out, not push it too hard, accept any limitations I have, don't try to do heavier weights than I can handle, and focus on doing more reps (probably 10-12) rather than 5-8 which is probably suggested for only those people who have been working out for at least a year.