Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Angie - "Drop that zero and get with the hero"
Okay, who can name that awful early 90's movie reference? See below for the answer.
Today's WOD at Oceanside CrossFit was "Angie":
100 pul-ups
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 squats
The smart people stuck with that. Those of us foolhardy enough to listen to Jeff were talked into an Angie spin-off WOD named "Angie's Abusive Husband":
25 Gorilla Dips (muscle-up with 3 ring dips)
25 Back Squats w/ 60Kg
25 GHD situps
25 Ring Handstand Push-ups
As I am just learning to do muscle-up and my handstands aren't there yet, I had to modify this workout a bit. Mine was something along the lines of jumping gorilla dips which I broke up into a set of 15 and then did my squats, 5 gorilla dips and the GHD sit-ups, and finally 5 gorilla dips and the handstand push-ups. The HSPU's I did using parallettes against the wall.
Even with the modifications this was a ridiculously hard workout. My time was 21:06. Jeff, the little monkey, did the whole thing, as prescribed, in just under 21:00. His gorilla dips were pretty impressive.
After the workout I worked on my muscle-ups a bit. I was able to hit 3 muscle-ups, individually, but my right shoulder is a bit tweaked for the effort. Maybe I should have been satisfied with just surviving the workout and left the muscle-ups for another day.
For those of you still contemplating the movie reference, here's the answer.
That's right, none other than Vanilla Ice, Ice, Baby. For those of you who actually knew the answer to that question: scary, very scary.
Yes, Angie's Abusive Husband is a jackass. Angie do yourself a favor and file for divorce!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Injury Profiles - Volume 1, Medial Epicondylitis
The pull-up bars are here, the pull-up bars are here! Hooray!
I know that we’re all very excited about the new pull-up bars in the gym, right? They’re very nice looking and certainly more accommodating than the old bars. Just ask Amy, who is soooo excited that she doesn’t have to drag over the 30” box to reach the bars.
This may also strike fear in the hearts of many, as well it should. I’m sure we are all experiencing just a bit of anxiety wondering what kind of torture Jeff and Laura are dreaming up with the new bars. We have gotten a small taste over the last couple of weeks, but rest assured there is more “fun” waiting for us from here on out. I can see it now:
17 Rounds for time
25 pull-ups
35 Ring Rows
50 Knees to Elbows
(Jeff, put down the pen. This was just a ludicrous example to illustrate a point, not a WOD recommendation)
We have been reacquainted with old friends, namely Helen, Cindy and J.T. I foresee some other old friends coming by soon in the near future to test our fitness – Fran, Murph and then there’s always Filthy Fifty.
While this is all very exciting, I think it’s important to put out one little word of caution. For most of us, this will be the first time we have done any significant bodyweight pulling exercises in several weeks. For the new people, this may be the first time you have ever done any bodyweight pulling exercises. Anytime you begin a brand new activity or return to an activity after a significant layoff, it’s critically important that you work your way into the activity gradually. Ignore this bit of advice and you are just asking for an injury.
Let’s take a few minutes to explore one of those possible injuries. Later, in another episode, we’ll look at other possible maladies that we expose ourselves to in our quest for “Elite Fitness”.
Medial epicondylitis, otherwise known as “golfer’s elbow” or “little league elbow” is a common elbow injury. In layman’s terms this injury is an inflammation/irritation of the tendons attaching to the medial epicondyle of the elbow. This injury is especially prevalent in sports and activities that have a strong grip requirement.
The medial epicondyle is the sharp, pointy, bump located on the medial side (inside) of the elbow. Stick your arm straight out in front of you with your palm turned up toward the ceiling, follow the inside of your arm down from your armpit toward your elbow and the first prominent bump you hit will be your medial epicondyle.
I know that we’re all very excited about the new pull-up bars in the gym, right? They’re very nice looking and certainly more accommodating than the old bars. Just ask Amy, who is soooo excited that she doesn’t have to drag over the 30” box to reach the bars.
This may also strike fear in the hearts of many, as well it should. I’m sure we are all experiencing just a bit of anxiety wondering what kind of torture Jeff and Laura are dreaming up with the new bars. We have gotten a small taste over the last couple of weeks, but rest assured there is more “fun” waiting for us from here on out. I can see it now:
17 Rounds for time
25 pull-ups
35 Ring Rows
50 Knees to Elbows
(Jeff, put down the pen. This was just a ludicrous example to illustrate a point, not a WOD recommendation)
We have been reacquainted with old friends, namely Helen, Cindy and J.T. I foresee some other old friends coming by soon in the near future to test our fitness – Fran, Murph and then there’s always Filthy Fifty.
While this is all very exciting, I think it’s important to put out one little word of caution. For most of us, this will be the first time we have done any significant bodyweight pulling exercises in several weeks. For the new people, this may be the first time you have ever done any bodyweight pulling exercises. Anytime you begin a brand new activity or return to an activity after a significant layoff, it’s critically important that you work your way into the activity gradually. Ignore this bit of advice and you are just asking for an injury.
Let’s take a few minutes to explore one of those possible injuries. Later, in another episode, we’ll look at other possible maladies that we expose ourselves to in our quest for “Elite Fitness”.
Medial epicondylitis, otherwise known as “golfer’s elbow” or “little league elbow” is a common elbow injury. In layman’s terms this injury is an inflammation/irritation of the tendons attaching to the medial epicondyle of the elbow. This injury is especially prevalent in sports and activities that have a strong grip requirement.
The medial epicondyle is the sharp, pointy, bump located on the medial side (inside) of the elbow. Stick your arm straight out in front of you with your palm turned up toward the ceiling, follow the inside of your arm down from your armpit toward your elbow and the first prominent bump you hit will be your medial epicondyle.
This “bump” is a common attachment point for several muscles that control your wrist and hand. Place your fingers on the soft tissues just past this bump and then make a tight fist. You will see and feel the muscles contract throughout the forearm and around the medial epicondyle. Now, keep that fist held tight and bend your wrist, pulling your hand up toward your elbow. You should see a lot more muscle action around the forearm and you should feel a lot more tension around the medial epicondyle. Now you understand why doing activities like pull-ups, knees-to-elbows, muscle-ups and ring rows can place a significant amount of stress on this important anatomical structure.
In the initial stages of medial epicondylitis you will likely experience a burning or aching sensation around the medial epicondyle during or immediately following heavy grip/pulling activities. If you ignore these early signs and push (or pull rather) through the pain, your symptoms will likely begin to linger for several hours after your workout and may begin to bother you with typical daily activities such as carrying a briefcase, pulling open a door or lifting a light item. If you press directly on the medial epicondyle it will probably quite tender to the touch. In more severe cases you may notice a small amount of swelling around the epicondyle and even some redness.
Recognizing the early signs and symptoms of medial epicondylitis and acting accordingly is the key to preventing this from becoming a long-term or severe injury. As soon as you begin to feel aching or burning around the medial epicondyle it’s time to take action. Just as when we first started our CrossFit journey, scaling and modifying activity is essential when dealing with an injury. Often times, just backing off for a few days and then gradually working back into it will be enough to allow the body to recover and begin the healing process. In addition to backing off, in the early stages it is also helpful to apply ice several times per day. A small bag of ice, or even frozen peas, applied to the medial epicondyle for 10 minutes will help reduce pain and prevent further inflammation.
Over the counter anti-inflammatories (aspirin, advil, motrin, ibuprofen, etc) can also be helpful in the early stages. Since I am not a physician, I can not prescribe or even suggest a prescription dose of anti-inflammatories, but it’s not hard to figure it out, just read the bottle. The key with taking anti-inflammatories is to take them regularly, as described on the bottle, for 7-10 days. If it’s feeling a lot better after a couple of days, it’s still advantageous to continue taking the meds for a full 7-10 days. It takes this long for the body to develop an actual anti-inflammatory response. In the first couple of days, the relief you are experiencing is likely due to decreasing activity and the analgesic (pain-relief) properties of the meds, the inflammation is probably still there.
Activity modification is the real key to success here. This is where the art of injury rehabilitation begins. It is important for you to remain as active as possible. Continue doing activities that involve gripping and pulling, but decrease the load or intensity so that you can accomplish these activities without significant pain. Try dead-hang pull-ups instead of kipping or ring rows instead of pull-ups. Scale your ring rows by backing up a couple of steps to decrease the resistance.
Applying stress to the healing tissues is essential to getting the scar that will form to align with the tissues in an appropriate manner. Without this stress the scar tissue can form a disorganized mass that can cause problems down the line. Stretching is another important element in the rehab process. When stretching be sure to stretch the muscles involved in wrist flexion, but also stretch the muscles on the opposite side of the forearm as well. (see pictures below. Note all stretches pictured are for the left elbow)
Over the counter anti-inflammatories (aspirin, advil, motrin, ibuprofen, etc) can also be helpful in the early stages. Since I am not a physician, I can not prescribe or even suggest a prescription dose of anti-inflammatories, but it’s not hard to figure it out, just read the bottle. The key with taking anti-inflammatories is to take them regularly, as described on the bottle, for 7-10 days. If it’s feeling a lot better after a couple of days, it’s still advantageous to continue taking the meds for a full 7-10 days. It takes this long for the body to develop an actual anti-inflammatory response. In the first couple of days, the relief you are experiencing is likely due to decreasing activity and the analgesic (pain-relief) properties of the meds, the inflammation is probably still there.
Activity modification is the real key to success here. This is where the art of injury rehabilitation begins. It is important for you to remain as active as possible. Continue doing activities that involve gripping and pulling, but decrease the load or intensity so that you can accomplish these activities without significant pain. Try dead-hang pull-ups instead of kipping or ring rows instead of pull-ups. Scale your ring rows by backing up a couple of steps to decrease the resistance.
Applying stress to the healing tissues is essential to getting the scar that will form to align with the tissues in an appropriate manner. Without this stress the scar tissue can form a disorganized mass that can cause problems down the line. Stretching is another important element in the rehab process. When stretching be sure to stretch the muscles involved in wrist flexion, but also stretch the muscles on the opposite side of the forearm as well. (see pictures below. Note all stretches pictured are for the left elbow)
These first 2 stretches target the wrist flexors which attach to the medial epicondyle. For the second stretch, notice that I add a little twist toward my pinky. This little twist really helps focus the stretch right along those flexors which run in a diagonal pattern up the forearm.
While it is obviously important to stretch the wrist flexors, it is equally as important to stretch the wrist extensors on the opposite side of the forearm. Overtight wrist extensors may have actually contributed to your problem. The wrist extensors attach to the lateral epicondyle on the opposite side of the elbow of the medial epicondyle. The second stretch is a little tricky, but it's a great stretch. Stick your left arm straight out in front of you and rotate so that your palm is facint out toward the left. Bring your right hand up from underneath and interlock your fingers together. Keeping the fingers locked together pull your wrist back which will pull your left wrist into flextion. You should feel a good stretch along the back of the forearm running diagonally toward your lateral epicondyle.
If you have been dealing with pain for a while, longer than a few weeks, then you are likely no longer dealing with an inflammatory situation. You have likely progressed on the next stage of injury, the chronic stage which is more appropriately termed tendinosis. At this stage, continuing anti-inflammatory strategies will not likely buy you long term relief. The damaged tissues have likely begun to heal, but have done so in an inappropriate manner. The key to long term recovery is to get the tissues to remodel and form appropriate scar tissue that aligns with the normal tissue. There is a good amount of research that supports the use of eccentric loading (think negatives) to facilitate this remodeling. To perform eccentric loading for the wrist flexors, you’ll want to use a fairly heavy weight. Extend your elbow completely with your palm facing up. Hold the weight in your hand and use the other hand to passively lift your hand and weight toward the ceiling. Once your wrist is fully flexed, slowly lower the weight using only the hand of the injured elbow. Your goal should be to perform 2 sets of 15 reps, 2 times per day. It is expected that during this exercise you should experience a fair amount of discomfort. As long as it is not severe or debilitating, it’s okay. It will get better with time. If you get to the point that you can perform the 2 sets of 15 reps without difficulty or pain then it is time to bump up the weight. This process will likely take several weeks, but you should see steady improvement in your pain level and strength. Ice after performing these activities for pain relief. Continue to modify your activities in the gym as appropriate.
Of course with a bit of prudence and good judgment this can hopefully all be avoided. Remember, the beauty of CrossFit is that it is SCALABLE. Just because you did all Rx pull-up bar exercises previously, doesn’t necessarily mean you should just assume that you can jump right back into them. A gradual progression is always the best policy. Push yourself but listen to your body.
Of course with a bit of prudence and good judgment this can hopefully all be avoided. Remember, the beauty of CrossFit is that it is SCALABLE. Just because you did all Rx pull-up bar exercises previously, doesn’t necessarily mean you should just assume that you can jump right back into them. A gradual progression is always the best policy. Push yourself but listen to your body.
Stay tuned for the next installment of pull-up bar injuries.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Chicken Pizza and a Cindy P.R.
There is no direct correlation implied here, just a coincidence that I happened to have leftover chicken pizza and scored a personal record (P.R.) on the WOD named Cindy on Thursday.
First, the recipe, which I got from Scott Hagnas on the Catalyst Athletics board. A few nights ago we made 3 cheese basil chicken pizzas. But “Pizza isn’t Zone-favorable.”, you might be saying. It can be, you just have to change your perspective a bit, as well as a few ingredients.
Crust
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Olive Oil
Pizza Topping
1 can marinara sauce
Ricotta Cheese
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan
Fresh Basil, chopped
Place the chicken breast in a plastic bag and pound flat. Don’t crazy or you’ll completely macerate the breast and it will be worthless. So, if you had a bad day at work, take a few deep cleansing breasts before commencing pounding. This is not a time to get your aggression out.
Coat a frying pan with olive oil and give the chicken breast a quick fry. Doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through because you will finish it off in the oven. Once the breast is browned on both sides transfer to a cookie sheet or flat baking pan. Top the breast with marinara followed by the ricotta cheese. Sprinkle fresh basil on top of the ricotta cheese. Next, cover the breast with the fresh mozzarella and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake the pizza on 375 degrees until cheese is melted then finish off with a couple minutes under the broiler to give the parmesan and mozzarella a chance to brown a little.
Once the cheese is melted and browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes and then enjoy. Obviously this is a rather high protein recipe and lacking in carbs, aside from the marinara. Add a big hearty salad and a good glass of red and you are golden. Depending on the size and content of your salad you may even have room for some fresh fruit for dessert. We didn’t really block this out in terms of the Zone diet, but your certainly could.
Now, for the Cindy P.R. – I woke up Thursday morning feeling a bit beat up. We had a tough workout on Tuesday, tackling the Hero WOD, J.T. That was a butt kicker, my shoulders were smoked after that. On Wednesday we hit another named, benchmark workout in Helen. Earlier that day I tried to do a couple of bar muscle-ups at work and kind of tweaked my shoulder. Even though Thursday is usually a CrossFit day for me, I was thinking that maybe I should take the day off.
When I checked the website and saw that we were doing Cindy (As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats), I was a bit disappointed that I would not be joining the workout. Then the smack talk started. Daniel posted on the board that he held the gym record at 23 rounds and then named me and another gym member in his comments. I saw this as a personal challenge and pretty much decided at that point that I was going to hit this workout, even if it wasn’t in my best judgement.
I checked out the shoulder by doing a few pull-ups and a set of push-ups. It didn’t feel too bad so then I knocked out 23 burpees, ½ of what I was supposed to do for the day. The shoulder was still feeling okay and a couple of hours later I did the other 23 burpees I owed for the day. At that point it was decided, I’m in and Daniel, I’m coming for you.
Got to the gym and started warming up, still feeling just a bit anxious about my shoulder. It wasn’t painful, but it was definitely noticeable during my warm-up. I did a few more pull-ups and it felt okay. I even knocked out a couple of muscle-ups on the rings and managed to hit 2 in a row, which I guess is also a P.R. for me.
Once we started the WOD I did continue to notice my shoulder for the first couple of rounds and then either the endorphins kicked in or I was too focused on the pain I was experiencing everywhere else in my body to notice my shoulder. I managed to knock out 25 rounds, which was a new gym record for all of about 30 minutes. Jeff jumped in and bested me by 1 round, nailing 26 rounds. Not sure if that stood as the record as we had to leave before everybody got a chance to complete the workout for the day. My previous performance on this WOD yielded 17 rounds, but that was done 2 days after running a marathon, so I may have been dealing with a little fatigue.
After the workout I noticed that my shoulder actually did not bother me anymore. Strange, I would have never guessed that would happen. As a physical therapist, I would probably have recommended against doing the workout, who knew that it would actually end up being therapeutic for me. Hmmmm….maybe I should rethink my approach to rehab…..
First, the recipe, which I got from Scott Hagnas on the Catalyst Athletics board. A few nights ago we made 3 cheese basil chicken pizzas. But “Pizza isn’t Zone-favorable.”, you might be saying. It can be, you just have to change your perspective a bit, as well as a few ingredients.
Crust
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Olive Oil
Pizza Topping
1 can marinara sauce
Ricotta Cheese
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan
Fresh Basil, chopped
Place the chicken breast in a plastic bag and pound flat. Don’t crazy or you’ll completely macerate the breast and it will be worthless. So, if you had a bad day at work, take a few deep cleansing breasts before commencing pounding. This is not a time to get your aggression out.
Coat a frying pan with olive oil and give the chicken breast a quick fry. Doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through because you will finish it off in the oven. Once the breast is browned on both sides transfer to a cookie sheet or flat baking pan. Top the breast with marinara followed by the ricotta cheese. Sprinkle fresh basil on top of the ricotta cheese. Next, cover the breast with the fresh mozzarella and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake the pizza on 375 degrees until cheese is melted then finish off with a couple minutes under the broiler to give the parmesan and mozzarella a chance to brown a little.
Once the cheese is melted and browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes and then enjoy. Obviously this is a rather high protein recipe and lacking in carbs, aside from the marinara. Add a big hearty salad and a good glass of red and you are golden. Depending on the size and content of your salad you may even have room for some fresh fruit for dessert. We didn’t really block this out in terms of the Zone diet, but your certainly could.
Now, for the Cindy P.R. – I woke up Thursday morning feeling a bit beat up. We had a tough workout on Tuesday, tackling the Hero WOD, J.T. That was a butt kicker, my shoulders were smoked after that. On Wednesday we hit another named, benchmark workout in Helen. Earlier that day I tried to do a couple of bar muscle-ups at work and kind of tweaked my shoulder. Even though Thursday is usually a CrossFit day for me, I was thinking that maybe I should take the day off.
When I checked the website and saw that we were doing Cindy (As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats), I was a bit disappointed that I would not be joining the workout. Then the smack talk started. Daniel posted on the board that he held the gym record at 23 rounds and then named me and another gym member in his comments. I saw this as a personal challenge and pretty much decided at that point that I was going to hit this workout, even if it wasn’t in my best judgement.
I checked out the shoulder by doing a few pull-ups and a set of push-ups. It didn’t feel too bad so then I knocked out 23 burpees, ½ of what I was supposed to do for the day. The shoulder was still feeling okay and a couple of hours later I did the other 23 burpees I owed for the day. At that point it was decided, I’m in and Daniel, I’m coming for you.
Got to the gym and started warming up, still feeling just a bit anxious about my shoulder. It wasn’t painful, but it was definitely noticeable during my warm-up. I did a few more pull-ups and it felt okay. I even knocked out a couple of muscle-ups on the rings and managed to hit 2 in a row, which I guess is also a P.R. for me.
Once we started the WOD I did continue to notice my shoulder for the first couple of rounds and then either the endorphins kicked in or I was too focused on the pain I was experiencing everywhere else in my body to notice my shoulder. I managed to knock out 25 rounds, which was a new gym record for all of about 30 minutes. Jeff jumped in and bested me by 1 round, nailing 26 rounds. Not sure if that stood as the record as we had to leave before everybody got a chance to complete the workout for the day. My previous performance on this WOD yielded 17 rounds, but that was done 2 days after running a marathon, so I may have been dealing with a little fatigue.
After the workout I noticed that my shoulder actually did not bother me anymore. Strange, I would have never guessed that would happen. As a physical therapist, I would probably have recommended against doing the workout, who knew that it would actually end up being therapeutic for me. Hmmmm….maybe I should rethink my approach to rehab…..
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Somebody get me off this thing!
Alternate title: Confessions of a Cyclical Carb Counter.
Over the past 6 weeks or so, I have been going back and forth between a series of really good nutrition days and then falling off the wagon face first. It all started with the vacation to NorCal, then I followed that with a trip to Indianapolis.
After the NorCal trip, Amy and I made a fairly conscious decision to try to go more Paleo and not so strict Zone. The non-dairy experiment didn't last long, but unfortunately we got really comfortable with skipping the weighing and measuring (WAM'ing) that goes along with the Zone. We tried to stick with the Zone parameters, but were just eyeballing it. Now that I'm back to WAM'ing, I can tell you that my eyeballs need to be recalibrated.
As is typical, during the week things went well. Of course, it was on the weekends that the wheels would come off the wagon. Let's see if I can recount some of the more egregious meals that I found myself consuming:
1. There was the Beach Bash that I already blogged about.
2. We got together 2 days later with some old friends from Guam at Leucadia Pizzeria. I knew that this would be a challenge. Basically, the gloves came off and it was a no holds barred contest pitting me, the heavy favorite, against a tag team duo of garlic bread and a smorgasbord of pizza. I won easily, decimating both without hardly breaking a sweat. I suffered for my efforts though. That big ball of dough sat in my gut and kept me awake until 1 a.m. I won the battle but lost the war.
3. The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom. We started it off right. I had a good breakfast and make a bunch of little egg bites, packed a bunch of fruit, a Clif Builder Bar and cheese sticks. that got us through until about 1pm. Then it was Cheesseburger and fries. We followed that up with dinner in which we shared a Pommes Frittes (yes, more fries), a Monte Cristo, Crab Salad Sandwich and Ratatoullie. What the hell the day is already shot, so we finished off the evening with a hearty helping of Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream.
4. This past weekend we went up to Long Beach for Amy's Uncle's 50th Birthday Party. I had made up my mind going in that I probably would cheat at the party. Started it off with pita chips and hummus and a small handful of tortilla chips and salsa. For dinner I skipped the potatoes and opted for a small portion of the chicken pasta and 2 1/2 super soft dinner rolls. It's a birthday party, so of course I had cake...uhhh...make that 2 1/2 pieces of cake. Oh yeah and I washed down dinner with a Sprite. Stellar!
So, where does that leave me. My weight this morning was 153.6, just 0.4 below what I started this whole experiment at. In all fairness, I'm not doing this to lose weight, so that's not a big deal to me. I do feel like I gained back a little of the belly fat that I had initially lost. As far as performance in the gym goes, I don't feel like I have suffered all that much. I'm still hitting the WOD's as hard as I can and for the most part I'm still posting consistently fast times. Today is Helen, so I'm curious to see how I'll compare to my last effort.
I am starting a whole new experiment though. This time I'm going sugar-free. No processed, refined sugar until Halloween. This means no cookies, ice cream or soda, obviously, but I'm also going to avoid honey, maple syrup and the really hard one, Clif Builder Bars. The only sugar I will consume will come from fruit. I say this, knowing that I already have 2 cheat days planned. I'm going to a birthday party this weekend and my own birthday is October 4th. I will have cake on those 2 days, but that's it. Other than that no sugar. The real hard part for me will be the Clif Bars. They are such an easy midday snack. Just means I will have to plan ahead from now on.
Wish me luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
