Thanksgiving Holidays

So I've taken the week off to be in Dallas, and it's been strange not zoning and crossfitting. Living off of mostly pie and stuffing this week, I don't feel too bad as long as I don't eat too much. I've been doing random sets of pushups and the occasional air squat. But the throbbing pain in my hip is killing any motivation to really work out. I might visit Crossfit Dallas tomorrow if I have time. I am really looking forward to recieving treatment on my hip, very excited.

A Heavy Snatch Workout

The Wod:

AMRAP in 20 min
3 snatch
6 pull up
12 box jump @24"

I decided to try going with the elite weight of 135# for the snatch, which was a little cocky of me because it's my one rep max. I did three reps warming up, and then I did one round. For the second round, however, I failed twice, so I backed down to 115#. I ended up getting 9.3 rounds in this time.

I really worked on using my arms to pull myself up to the bar in pull ups, this seemed to help a lot. ...Someday I will get a nice smooth kip like I had back in the blue room.

After one of my snatches my hip was on fire, like lots of pain shooting down my leg and wrapping around my hip. As bad as this sounds, I take it as a good sign because it felt muscular, not joint/bone. I called and left a message with the Rolfer, now I just have to wait for her to call me back.

Three rep Deadlift Max PR

So today I quickly hit 335, which is a paltry 20 pound increase over the last time we worked on three rep deadlifts. I could've hit heavier, but my core is still just too weak. Even with 335, I can feel that thorasic bend. I keep the core tension so nothing breaks, but I just really don't want to push it.

...During this workout Andrea cautioned against people pushing themselves to the point of injury. "Not everyday is a PR day", and if you don't have it in you, you don't have it in you.

However, as I look back at the past 7 days of workouts I've had PR's in the snatch, front squat, strict press, and now the deadlift. The gains seem to be slowing down, but I'm still achieving my goal of making everyday a PR day. I'm not disagreeing with Andrea's advice, I think it is dangerous to push beyond what you're capable of. But my point is if I make this stuff my main priority, if I zone/paleo religiously, attend crossfit every day, and focus on the movement it is possible for me to make everyday a PR day.

After talking to my DO about my tight hip capsules, he reccomends I see a Rolfer. Rolfing is hard to describe simply, but basically it's deep tissue massage, and if this works I will be a very, very happy man. If my tight hip capsules are slowing down my core progress like the shoulder tendonitis was slowing down my upper body progression, then fixing this would (Cue heroice music) herald a new era of gains of which the world has never seen before.

Alright, time to set up an appointment.

Strict Press 5 rep max with a 1 rep PR

So we worked on our 5 rep strict press max. I got up to 120, but then managed to bang out only 1 rep of 125. 125 is a four pound improvement over last time we did 1 rep max.

After that we did:
AMRAP
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 double unders.

Think I did 7.6 rounds. The DU's were tough, I think what makes it so difficult for me is they require mental focus. I have to really fight to concentrate on more than one. If I can figure out how to do 5 in a row, I will be very, very happy because that means I can do 100 in a row with practice. For right now though, I'll be happy with 2 in a row.

Front Squat 2 rep max with PR

So we got to Front squat. Haven't done them in a while, and my hip hadn't missed them at all. However, I got up to 2 reps of 215 and managed 1 rep of 220, which is a five pound improvement over last time. My legs are definitely strong enough to way heavier, but my core is still playing catch-up.

On a related note, I'm starting to finally feel like my inner Spartan is starting to show. I don't know if it's the slight changes I've made in lower-caloric zone meals, or if the shoulder tendonitis was holding me back, but for some reason I've noticed a significant leaning-out over the past couple of weeks. Very happy about this, as you can imagine.

Chipper with heavy C+J

Once through:

800m run
15 C+J @ 155
20 burbees
25 box jumps
25 KB swings @ 70
30 dips
30 pull ups
80 Double unders

Time was 37:13
I chose to do the double unders because I need to get used to doing them while fatigued. I'm starting to find a good rythem with one double, one single, but it's still shaky. Vibrams are the worst shoe for double unders, I keep finding the rope catching in between my toes and it takes a while to detach myself. The clean and jerks were heavy, but they were fun. My dip strength has gone down a bit from where it was pre-tendonitis, but I can not wait to get back to doing muscle ups.

Snatch 1 rep max PR

Today we worked on the overhead snatch. I tried really, really hard to not power snatch it. Previously my 1 rep max was 125, but I really think it was a power snatch. Today I treated it like a skill day, I wanted my 1 rep to be perfect.

I got up to 135, so it's a 10# PR, but I think I have a lot more in me. Was going to do the extra, but I had to hurry home. ...That and my quads are still not right from Murph.

Murph!

So Friday was Murph, and I going in I thought my last Murph time was 50:something, so why not add a weight vest? Well, appearently last time it was actually 69:51, not the best of times. However, my time today was only 10 minutes faster than last time, 80:23.

It's a little silly in that it took me twice as long as others, but one thing I noticed constantly is that no one else was doing real push ups. Like their chest would get to 2" off the ground, and then they'd go back up. I only commented on this once, but I figured it's not my place to really call out some one like that, so I kept it to myself through the workout. I did 200 real push ups, I never lowered the standard, and my shoulders are barking at me for it.

I tried combating mental fatigue with my own iPod. Chriss says that they take your mind off the exercise, but for me it helps me focus, prevents my mind from wandering to other places. I also wore my compression shirt to help with running in the cold (and strong wind!) and with endurance. I think having these were definitely good mental tools.

Pull ups were good, I was using my arms a little too much at first, so I started to really use my hips, and that helped and felt good. My hands were almost unmolested, but on the VERY LAST ROUND one callus tore (but not badly) and some skin on the palm of my hand was removed.

Squats were good, the pain in my hip feels more like weakness, but I don't think it is weakness because if it was it would've gotten a lot stronger months ago. I plan on opening up a flexible spending account and then seeing Dr. Bills with a game plan to get my hips nice and loose.

I feel awesome for doing this workout. ...I also feel incredibly sore.

FInally a wod for tall people

Two out of three exercises favored tall people here:

450m row, 30 box jump (24"), 15 Shoulder to overhead(85w, 135m);
360m Row, 24 box jump, 12 shoulder to overhead;
270m row, 18 box, 9 shoulder to overhead

Did this in 15:52, I used the Jerk to get it over head, and my left quad was on fire after the first round. I guess you know your'e doing something right when you're having problems with the Jerk because you're quads are screaming at you.

Vet's day Rest day

So I wanted to go to the workout yesterday, but lately I've been plagued by a sense of light-headedness. I felt it come and go over the past four days, but on Wednesday I just couldn't shake it. I felt fine if I just sit or stand, but when I changed height, like in standing up or sitting down, I got really light-headed. I tried doing a pushup or two but just couldn't handle it. Since the workout for Veteran's day involved both burpees and GHD's I simply couldn't do it.

On another note, my lats and serratus is super sore today, still from Monday's wod. Feels great, feels like I'm pushing myself and being re-introduced to Crossfit.

OHS 3 rep max

...Got up to 155, and then I only got 2 reps of 165 out. I thought this was an awesome breakthrough because my 1 rep max was 150, but I was totally wrong, 150 is my FIVE rep max. Oh well, it still made my goal of 175 a good goal. I simply had no core strength at the end to sustain me. I really like this lift, I feel like it's one that I can do more easily than others.

During this lift I could def feel some pain in my hip, seems like the Euflexxa is not doing very much. However, I plan to pay Dr. Bills a visit and see if he can get me onto the path of wellness. Stupid hip.

Nicole plus 4

So we did yet another variant of Nicole:

20 min AMRAP
Max Pull ups
400m run

I got 15, 10, 12, 12, 12, 12, 10 for a total of 83. This is a 14 point improvement over last time and I broke my PR on the fixed bar, if only by 3. I used the re-gripping technique I found a few months ago and that helped greatly. I still haven't mastered a rhythm on the fixed bar though, every once in a while I feel it and everything falls into place, but most of the time I find myself resetting while hanging on the bar, wasting valuable grip time.

I was very happy with the running, I seem to have found a faster sprint/pace with pose style. So glad to be back. Also, very glad to report that there is no discomfort in my shoulder. What. So. Ever.

Argh, trying to find a box in IL

So I left this morning to attend Crossfit Arlington Heights, about 20 minutes from Kristin's house in Barrington. However, I didn't write down the directions and forgot about one of the roads I needed to turn on. Instead of looking for Arlington Heights road, I was looking to turn on College. We didn't have a GPS with us, so there was no way to realize our mistake until after coming home and looking it up on Google maps again.

I was super, super excited to do the workout to, this is what they have posted:
AMRAP 20:00
12 Power snatch 65/45#
10 Pushups

It was as if Jerry had called them up and told them to work on snatches. Sadly, the next class they offer is at 7pm, and I have plans for then. I'm trying to make up the lack of activity by doing lots of pushups, but I should be at a point where something like not having a crossfit gym to attend doesn't get in the way of getting a good workout. ...Maybe I'll add some airsquats to the workout. I wish I had bought a jump rope, didn't get a chance to before the plane trip to Chi-town.

Update on my hip

[EDIT: finally figured out what was causing the tight hip capsules (tight muscles), as well as the cure: deep tissue massage as I explain here.]

[UPDATE: if you have tight hips or hip pain you should definitely check out this mobility blog, where you work on one stretch a day. Do the stretches and you will see the pain go away, did for me.]

[UPDATE 2: This is a great, great stretch for fixing a hip impingement:

]

So I've received two injections of Euflexxa into my hip. It's a pretty cool (if not painful) procedure where they guide a needle under flouroscopy into my hip capsule. Once the needle is in, they then inject the Euflexxa directly into the hip capsule. Euflexxa is some kind of real viscous solution, meant to help with some friction points. Last week I really felt like it was working. Of course, my level of activity was lower than usual.

Last week I saw Dr. Bills so he could work on some kinks in my back/right side of my neck. He asked if there was anything else and after a pause to think I told him about some tightness in the lower left side of my back, which Chriss seemed to think was my illiopsoas. After a bit of a feel Dr. Bills determined it was my quadratus lumborum, a muscle that connects the ribcage to the top of the pelvis. The discomfort I was experiencing was like a toned down version of the excrutiating pain I felt earlier this year where it felt like fire right on top of my left kidney. Dr. Bills was pretty amazed with how much tighter one side was than the other. Having the left "QL" as it's called be really tight makes sense, given that my pelvis used to be twisted so that the right side was forward and down while the left side was backwards and up. After Dr. Craddock re-aligned my pelvis, this would have lowered the upper-left tip of my pelvis, stretching out my left QL. After a little work on it, Dr. Bills had it right as rain. Five ailments down (Bursitis in my hip, tightness in my lower back, tedonitis in the left shoulder, weakness in the left ankle, and tennis elbow in my right arm), one final one (pain in my hip joint) to go.

I told Dr. Bills about the fact that I have tight hip capsules, and his eyes kind of lit up with recognition and said, "ok I know just what to do." Basically he twisted my leg right into what is painful because of the impingement, and I told him that. Apparently that's how this particular treatment works because he continued and then there was an audible, and very tactile, clunk. It didn't hurt, and it didn't feel any different, but Dr. Bill seemed very happy with this and said it was significant. The point of this was to break stuff up, much like how trigger point massage is to break up the scar tissue and help the muscle relax. I might have to start seeing Dr. Bills on a regular basis for this, I don't know. If it does end up looking like the best course of action I should take it will definitely be motivation to get in as much overtime as I can.

The second injection of Euflexxa was similar to the first one in regards that there was great difficulty getting the needle into the hip. Like the first injection, this also helped reveal some more information about what exactly is going on in my hip. The doctor doing the injection commented that my bones look great, but my hip capsule looks tight and shows signs of inflammation. The capsule usually looks nice and smooth, but in certain areas mine looks fuzzy and cloudy. Weather this is acute inflammation from Dr. Bill's adjustment (the good kind because the joint is healing) or chronic inflammation from Crossfit (which would be bad) I can't say, but I plan on asking Dr. Bill as well as Dr. Johnson.

I was scheduled for three injections of Euflexxa over the course of three weeks, but due to some wacky series of events that are too complex to really describe here one of the syringes was disposed of when it shouldn't have. Not sure why Dr. Johnson can't get me another syringe of Euflexxa, but now I'm going to just see how two injections work.

Regardless, the fact that my impingement may stem from too tight hip capsules rather than a malformation of my bones. This may mean that surgery won't be needed.

I will have to find out if there's a way to tell if the inflammation is acute or chronic, and if it's chronic perhaps I need to take a few weeks off from crossfit. The idea doesn't make me happy one bit, but because I have an idea of what to do that will be hip friendly, I'm not scared that I'll lose ALL that I've gained here.

In the mean time, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, because even through all these problems, I'm getting stronger and faster. I looked at myself the other day in a mirror, and I have to say I know I'm getting closer and closer to where I want to be. Can't wait to see how I do in the next Mid-Atlantic Hopper.

Catch up post, Back Squat 3 rep max

Well, Tuesday was a workout I got excited about:

Back Squat
3,3,3,3,3

I saw Patrick made it up to 275, and since that was my one rep max I figured I should make that my goal as well. I know I've done 250 five times, so I figured this wasn't an unreasonable goal.

However, there was a small part of me that was intimidated, and I don't know why. Perhaps it's still me getting used to the fact that I'm getting to be very strong. In any case, I got it up to 245 and really pushed to get that. It felt great, I could really feel my hamstrings engage (although it feels like I have trouble getting my glutes involved in back squats and deadlifts). However, when I tried 255 the bar just felt heavy, and when I lowered the weight I went down way too quickly. I ended up going down quickly and then just being stuck in a really low squat. I tried 255 a second time, but once I hit bottom I just didn't have the strength to get it back up. After racking the bar, Jerry commented that I was about three inches below parallel, and after an attempt like that it's hard to recover.

I'm super glad that I got to string two crossfit workouts together, given these past few weeks have been full of traveling and hip injections. I also feel that the fact that I tend to go well below parallel in squats might be an important clue in the mystery that is my hip pain. Perhaps if I didn't lower myself as much, I wouldn't experience as much pain? Regardless, it's been a long time since I've hit the back squat, so I'm not too surprised that I experienced some rust with technique and desentsitazation of lifting really heavy weights.

Snatch work (PR) and intensity

So today we worked on the snatch again. The Wod:

5 rounds )(
3 snatch
6 muscle up (6 lou burpees)
9 box jumps

Given that my 1 rep max was 120, I thought to go with 105, but during the warm up I thought to myself, "Why not?" and put it up to 125. I tried it once, and I got it. My original thought was to work on form and to make lighter weight and make each one a squat snatch, but then I just figured to power snatch it all and use heavier weight.

Near the end I really started to find my form with the full hip extension. The weight was actually very light in my hands, so I knew I had to really push myself with everything else. I tried doing a muscle up before the wod, and I've gotten closer than I have in a while, but still no dice, so I did the burpees. I ended up doing this in 11:22, so I'm very glad that I'm starting to find my form. Can't wait to see what my 1 rep max is.