Supple ninja tissue and a rekindled fire

So as I've been waiting (passivity) for my shoulder to heal up, I've found it difficult to get motivated.  My hip has taken longer to heal and I've felt like my entire body was shut down; if I couldn't do it all then I could do nothing--strange phenomenon.  Motivation through an injury has been a recurrent issue for me.  I've learned how to stifle burnout and boredom and fend off their evil ways, but the mental issue of realizing that I'm not indestructible is tough for me to get over, for whatever reason. 

With that said, I have rekindled an interest in bio-mechanics.  How does my body work?  How is it supposed to work?  What are the optimum angles for movements?  How do I increase muscle density?  VO2 max?  Anaerobic threshold?  PC muscle power and endurance?  The list continues ad nauseum. 

I think I've started to stoke the embers for my love of running, but that is a slow process.  It hurts so damn bad getting back into it (I've only run sporadically in the last three weeks...a mixture of frustration (various issues, including the shoulder and eye surgery), lack of short term goal, and BOREDOM.

Let me just state that (excuse my language) THIS FUCKING TOWN IS UGLY AND BORING AS SHIT TO RUN THROUGH.  There's no cool buildings, trees, weird/crazy/interesting pedestrians to run past, trails, mountains, creeks...just shitty sidewalk after shitty sidewalk, housing development after housing development.  I think I could stand the suburbs if there was any shred of originality, if anything at all looked different.  But it doesn't.  Block after block it's the same old nauseating-big house-BMW-manicured lawn-boob job-toupee bullshit.  I would rather run on a treadmill...how sad is that?

Heard enough of my bitching?  Good, me too.

My WOD (no, I do not do Crossfit.  However, they do use a handy acronym and stealeth it, shall I):

Press: 95x5
          95x5
          105x5
          105x5
          115x5

S-Bar bicep curls: 5x12 @ 50 lbs.

Bent over rows:  115x5
                           115x15
                           135x15
                           155x10
                           175x10
             This was my first time doing these and I really liked them.  They seemed to hammer my entire upper back as well as stroke my recovering ego.

I then went and trained some BJJ, the sweet love of my life and my reason for existence.  I will refrain from going into that training here...maybe I'll start a jits blog?  Probably not, I can hardly keep up with this one.

Back to Crossfit.  There are some things about CF that I consider foolish, however, some aspects are genius.  Take my super-duper-uber-friend, Kelly Starrett.  He's a physical therapist who specializes in athletes and helping them mobilize and fix their soft tissue dysfunctions.  He has a blog where he posts videos, daily, and how to do this.  For free.

Welcome to the world of pain.

Here are the three I did today and I could feel a difference in my stride.  Here's the article.

Check these out.  If you have any issues with your body right now I can assure you that he has an answer somewhere.  His website is listed in my links to the right hand side of this page.


Until next time, train hard.

A shitty run and some thoughts about motivation

Ran 3.5 miles very, very slowly.

Running is a love hate relationship and I'm head over heels in hate.  Sometimes, I really do love running though, and I wonder why that is. 

Where does motivation come from?  Why does it ebb and flow?

I read a really great quote once from the Mendes brothers that went something like, "Inspiration is overrated, just get out there and do the work."  It seems you don't have to be motivated, you don't have to like it, but you do have to do it.

The irony of my situation today was that I didn't want to go on a run because I felt a strong feeling of discontent, that I needed to set something straight, that I wasn't going where I wanted to go, that BLAHPASHG9(*^(^##q feeling.  However, I ran anyway, and mid run I figured it out.

Inaction = discontent

When we want something but don't act upon our desires (instead choose the passive way), we feel inept, depleted, empty--and look for something external to fill that void: TV, books, youtube, "yes" people, excuses, etc.  Anything that will give us external validation, anything that will tell us we're doing great, we're the bee's knees, we are Achilles reincarnate...all because we have a strong discontent inside ourselves because we did not act upon our dreams, we are unfulfilled so we seek outside support to rid our guilt and save our destructive egos (yeah, this is what I think about when I run...weird eh?).

The impulse for comfort is so strong sometimes, but it seems we must be Spartan and shun this desire for it gets us nowhere.

November 25th

Shoulder feels a lot better, but I'm still being tentative on it.  I did some rehab for it today as I outlined in my previous post.

Low Seattle to Miami's @ 7.5 lbs.
High Seattle to Miami's @ 12.5 lbs.
Bitch Slaps @ 12.5 lbs.
Back Hands @ 10 lbs.
45/45s @ 10 lbs.
Lat rows @ 12.5 lbs.

I went through this twice as a circuit and my shoulders felt great.  I'll definitely be doing this more often, probably after lifting sessions a few times a week.

I also did a "monster complex" with is a mix between monster walks, farmer's walks and calf raises.  I did three laps around the gym of monster walk straight to 15 calf raises with 30 DBs.  I feel this is a great workout as it seems to simulate carrying the IBS to a degree.

I finished with some light barbell squats but my hip flexor is still bothering me.  I'm going to put a lacrosse ball into that tissue later tonight to try and loosen it up some.

God, it feels good to be back.

Staying Positive.

So I spoke to a chiropractor friend of mine today about my shoulder (from Thursday, which is still giving me problems) and he told me it's probably a small tear and to take at least two weeks off.

Damn.

I guess this is a sign that I was training hard but not smart...I've never been good at the latter, to be honest.

Five days of PT in a row probably wasn't a good idea considering how much weight and maximum efforts I was doing...shut up, hind-sight.

When my shoulder and hip heal up I'm thinking this:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Full Body + Medium Effort Run

Wednesday: Push/Pull/Core + Tempo/Interval Run

Thursday: Easy Run + Lower Body

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Push/Pull/Core + Easy Run

Sunday: Push/Pull/Core + Long Run

This will give me three full days of rest for my upper body, two full days and an active rest day for my legs (Saturday).  This sounds good to me, if you have an opinion then please comment.

Hurting my shoulder has opened my eyes to the fact that, regardless of my slight megalomania, I am NOT superhuman.  I am a biological creature that is prone to breakdown and structural imbalance.  However, I am a thinking creature and a problem solver so these breakdowns or imbalances are treatable.  The question I must ask myself now is, where are my weaknesses and how to I eliminate them?

I think the way to answer this is to see what the most common injuries are in BUD/S, the type of exercises that I'm doing and what specifically can I do to address the issues.

The most common injuries/problems that occur in BUD/S are:

• Stress fractures from running
• ITB syndrome from soft sand running
• Rotator Cuff Injuries
• Shoulder Labrum injuries (overhead training with the logs and boats)
• Neck Injuries

So in general, the problems break down largely into two areas: legs (hips, knees, ankles/shins) and the shoulder girdle.  I have plenty of ways to strengthen my neck, which I should absolutely do due to the demands of the boat carries, but I digress.

Prehab for the legs should include:

• foam rolling and stretching everyday, especially the calf and achilles
• run in properly fitting footwear
• strengthen muscles around the shin
• strengthen the lateral hip muscles
• run on unstable terrain
• warm up and cool down
• supplement with calcium and vitamin c

Prehab for the shoulders should include:

• loosen things up with lacrosse ball every now and again
• stretch the pecs and lats
• warm up and cool down
• Rotator cuff strengthening work (listed below and in the videos)
• Lots of overhead work with arms in front of the ears!

Lat stretches
prayer stretch
fetus yoga
Pec stretches
corner stretch
Rotator cuff/Shoulder stability stuff
internal rotation NW to SE (from outside the body)
external rotation: NW to SE (from across the body...should be felt in back of shoulder)
arm at the side position (bitch slap): keep shoulder blades open
arm at side (back hand bitch slap)
straight arm shoulder lift: 45 degrees dont go too high
cable rows: contract between shoulder blades
straight arm lat press
Turkish get-ups
bicep douche curls
ball Y's and T's
Leg stuff
monster walks
calf raises
lateral cable rows
pistol squats on bosu ball
balance trainer


My shoulder is feeling much better right now, but earlier today it felt pretty terrible.  One of my clients gave me a sling and it's helped to limit my movement and not allow me to search for the painful angles (stupid, I know).  Ibuprofen has helped a TON.  The inflammation I think was causing my shoulder to impinge upon itself, pinching the nerve or bursa sac or tear.  Heat has also helped a ton, but ice at this point makes it feel worse and tight.

Rest + Ice/Heat + Anti-Inflammatory = An impatient athlete, but a humbled and determined athlete.

My mind kept going back to the internal dialogue of, "this is bullshit, I'm so fucking pissed off, why does this always happen, here's another damn hurdle, blah, blah, blah."  Victim type stuff.  But I kept forcing myself to think positive, to control my internal environment and to adapt to the event.  "This is just another test of will, this time will pass and I'll be smarter and stronger, this is a  learning experience meant to teach me self control and it's an opportunity to settle some things, read some books, hang out with my dog and enjoy the holiday with my family...I'll be back in no time and will completely forget all these frustrated emotions, and I'll create more intelligent programs for myself."

Maybe it's my fault that you didn't see that my failures gave

me strength; that my pain gave me motivation.                        

              -Michael Jordan

Adapt, Improvise, Overcome.

I read an interesting article about how SEAL training tries to instill the qualities of asymmetrical thinking.  Having the ability to adapt to a new stimulus, improvise a solution, and overcome a problem is obviously key to mission success.  It also applies to everyday life as well.

I came to a road block in my journey to become a SEAL about a month ago when my eye sight disqualified me for the SEAL Challenge contract.  Adapt?  This is an opportunity to finish school, get in the best shape, get my mind in order, get my finances in order, see my sister graduate from college, etc.  It is a blessing in disguise.  Improvise?  How will I get this surgery done?  I'm still saving money and trying to find a co-signer but truly, it is embarrassing to ask, but it must be done.  Overcome?  Get the surgery, tie up the loose ends, build momentum and kill the PST, ASVAB, and C-SORT when it comes time.

Like it always does, the morning will come and the sun will rise.


Adapt, Improvise, Overcome.

Hooyah.

Taking a week off...

So I've been pushing myself hard for around eight weeks, with progressively heavier weights and rep loads and training too many days in a row.  This has ultimately led to a strained hip flexor (left side) and strained rotator cuff (right shoulder).  I'm going to take a back off week, do some light runs to keep the legs loose, and stretch and ice my shoulder and hip flexor to get them back in tip top to get back at it and kick ass next week.

Besides the rehab, I'll be trying to tie up some loose ends while I have the time.  I'm int he middle of three books right now and I'd like to widdle that down to one and finish one at a time.  I love reading but I have literature induced super ADD. 

I've also noticed that one of my biggest flaws is distractions and procrastination.  I made a list of all the things that clutter my time:

• Hitting the damn snooze button...just fucking get up!

• Getting up and lolly-gagging on doing not much of anything.  Start each day with action and get into a routine.  Walk Bruiser.  Feed Bruiser.  Feed yourself.  Plan out the day.  Go to the gym.  Get.  Shit.  Done.
• The internet should be a tool, not a past time...get off of Facebook.
• Prioritize.  Run first, go the gym first, then rest.
• What does TV do for you?  Exactly.  Unless it's something that enriches your life and educates you (not solely entertain) then it may be worth it...if there's nothing left to do.

This all ties in to the concept of delayed gratification.  Delayed gratification=prioritization.  Fulfillment/Comfort.

Overall, I'm trying to get "squared away."  I want this and I need to be as much a SEAL as I can be in my brain and actions before I ever get a pin on my chest.  Refinement is the key, clear away the clutter and get rid of what is unnecessary.

Hooyah, bitches.

November 15th

Dead Lift: 135x10
                  225x5
                  335x3
                  345x3
                  355x3
                  365x3
                  375x3

5x5 weighted pullups @ 30 lbs.

100 pushups in two sets...75 in two minutes and then a set of 25.  i strained my right delt on this and called it short.  Rest tomorrow.