Videos of Me getting Prolotherapy

Alright, I know you're curious of what a prolotherapy treatment is like, so here are two videos from Wednesday.

One of the shoulder:



One of the hip:

Post sixth treatment

Well, Dr. Hauser agreed that we should try PRP.  Except for drawing of the blood it was the exact same as the last procedure.  After a six hour nap, it feels about the same as well, although my hip and neck feel a little fuller than usual.  I was told this was to be expected because the platelet rich plasma is thicker than sodium morrhuate and will feel a little more... pressure.

I showed Dr. Hauser how I now want to adjust my neck (it's different, hard to describe without a visual aid), and he said he might include my T1 now. ...Also commented on how I have a lot going wrong, called me high maintenance, ha!

... the nurse told me that my platelet rich plasma was the brightest, reddest PRP she has seen in her 12 years of working there.  Typically People's are dark, almost black.  I asked her what that means, and she said it means that my blood is highly oxygenated, which is a really, really good thing.  "Whatever you're doing," she said, "Keep on doing it."

I am hoping that this will be my last treatment, with the PRP enough to put me over the edge.  However, I am willing to have one more treatment, and if that doesn't work, I might just have to call it quits.  I don't know, but I can't keep pumping money into this forever.  Obviously I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, but I need to draw a line somewhere.

Prepping for possible hip sixth treatment

Early tomorrow morning I am going to see Dr. Hauser again.  I have a two questions for him:

1. He said PRP will be Plan B, when will Plan A end?  I have had five treatments of sodium morrhuate and I it feels like I've kind of hit a wall.  At least twice these past three weeks I've felt my hip catch, so I know the tear is still there, and I don't feel like my ROM without catching has really improved since like the third treatment. Also, I feel like my hip pain is about the same as it was before the fifth treatment.  Is now perhaps the time to start PRP?  I know that the injections are twice as expensive, but if it works it'll be cheaper in the end.
2. My neck is feeling a lot better, but there are still muscles that knot up.  Do my symptoms point to any other shoulder joint issue?

...That's it really, but both are pretty important questions.  These sessions aren't really my idea of a good time, but I look forward to them.  It means I'm getting healthier, closer to being able to do whatever I want and not have to deal with constant hip pain.

As progress slows down with my hip, I start to wonder if that really will ever become my reality.  But I have to be patient.  I have seen continued (albeit slowing) improvement in my hip, so there's no real reason to think that this will be as good as it gets for me.  I have to try to keep my wits about me tomorrow because I'm going to be without the fiancee to help talk to the Doc and I'll still be on vicodin and xanax.

Perhaps late tomorrow I'll be able to post his answers.

Neck/shoulder is feeling awesome

I've only had two treatments for my neck/shoulder, and I have to say it's feeling a whole lot better.  I haven't cracked my neck at all after the last treatment.  To be honest I don't know if I could crack my neck if I tried, the joint feels that much more stable.  I still find myself releasing all kinds of knots in my neck, so it's not 100%, but I don't feel that itch to crack my neck like I used to.  I also think my neck muscles are  tightening up because they are responding to another, different muscle that is tight and I just can't get that one source muscle to release, if that makes any sense. So hopefully when I see Bobby he can release that one muscle and boom I'm set. ...I can not stress how much of a role massage therapy has played in my recovery, I think it has really accelerated the process with prolotherapy.

I'll give you one guess as to
when I took this picture.

One of the biggest things is I can now wear my watch.  A couple years ago I bought myself a Breitling Super Avenger, which weighs a hefty 153.30g, and that's without the bracelet!  I love this watch, but I couldn't wear it because after a while the weight would pull on my neck and shoulder and make it worse, especially when I was dealing with the tendonitis in the shoulder. 


Now, I can wear the watch and it doesn't seem to set off my neck/shoulder.  I find myself wearing it all the time now, and it makes me happy.  So thank you Prolotherapy!

Spring is getting too awesome

Spring has sprung, I'm seeing all kinds of red robins and all the trees are in bloom.  The weather is beautiful, gorgeous even. And I'm starting to hate it.  The fiancee asked me today if I wanted to go for a run or a bike ride, and I had to say no.  "Can't," I said, "either requires too much of my hip," while gesturing to the part of my body that has bothered me for pretty much a decade now and is on the cusp of being completely healed.  It is so much better then what it was four months ago, but damn I wish I was healed and could get back in the game.

All I can do is wait.  Thankfully I've been taking dance lessons for our wedding dance and that has sated some of my appetite for using my body.  But while I'm learning all kinds of things that require concentration/coordination (Current favorite move, Tango rocks), I'm not doing anything that is pushing myself physically in an endurance sense. 

Well, not in any way that I'm used to.  I still swim twice a week and to be honest it's kicking my ass.  I'm attending the 9am class so I'm the only guy in a class full of moms who have just dropped off their kids to school.  Currently my threshold pace (brisk pace for 100m) is 1:40, and there are women there who have threshold pace's of 1:20.  I can't even do 100m for 1:20 once, and that's their "good" pace.  However, I'm able to swim 50m faster than anyone else (31 seconds). Still it's humbling because we don't swim 50m very often, so I'm usually last.

And I am able to do isolation exercises for my upper body.  I can still do bench press and bicep curls (gag).  Actually, I can even do certain leg isolation exercises.  About that, my fiancee's family has a membership with a gym that's tied into Good Shepard hospital, and they put me on their family plan last year.  So I have a membership at this gym that has ties to a hospital and is used to dealing with people recovering from injuries.  Seems like a great place to ask for help right?  Well, with membership comes your own free fitness assessment. 

So I met up with the guy, Mark, who when I told him I am recovering from a torn labrum knew instantly what I could and could not do.  When I talk to him, he actually knows more about what's going on than I do, and that's a first. I told him I couldn't do anything that used more than 20 degrees of flexion or external rotation, and he still came up with a plan to work my glutes and hip adductors/abductors.  I have to use hip machine, and I use these four excercises, just with a much, much more limited range of motion.

I have Mark working with Dr. Hauser to figure out an exercise plan to get the hip used to working out once the labrum has completely healed.  It feels pretty bad ass to have a group of people working so that I may get back in shape properly.

Ok, so as I've typed this I've realized I'm still getting in some cardio through swimming, I'm working on my kinesthetic awareness through dancing, and I am doing some strength training.  I really shouldn't be complaining. I guess I just still feel limited, I still can't do what I want to, and that is what really is really bothering me.  And now that the weather is becoming more pleasant, there is more that I want to do.  I can't run, I can't bike, I can't squat, I can't do kettlebell swings, I can't do kipping pull ups, I can't box jumps, can't row, can't basically do any of the movements that they do in crossfit.

So I guess while I wait for the labrum to finish healing I have to just keep doing what I'm doing and wait.  But damn I want this labrum to be healed and be able to go for a run.

"Eh" while it lasted.

So far it hasn't been a good experience, I know the first 24 hours are the toughest but I just don't feel like I need this in my life.  I eat a pretty damn healthy diet and I don't feel like I need a "restart'.  ...I have been drinking a LOT of juice so I'm probably the most hydrated I've been in a while.  In the evening the fiancee started feeling nauseous so we decided to stop and actually have some real food.

It was a nice try, but I just don't think anything good physically would come of it, and I don't feel like I need a cleanse to feel "enlightened".  Didn't even make it 24 hours, but to be honest I don't feel like this was a failure, now I can get back to living my life.

Trying out a cleanse. Bleh.

So today I’m starting a 48 hour cleanse.  God I feel just saying that revokes my man card.  My fiancée saw this Dr. Oz cleanse and wanted to do it, and being the supportive spouse to be I decided to give it a try.  I am so skeptical of this. First of all it’s by Dr. Oz, who is so full of crap if anyone ever needed to do a cleanse it’s him.  Second, I feel like it’s a bunch of hippie crap that does nothing but make you hungry and lose muscle.  However, I saw on facebook the other day that my old coach Jerry Hill is trying a three day cleanse, the kind where he does nothing but drink lemon, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup.  He mentioned he was doing it to give the digestive tract a break and to allow it to heal.  That makes sense to me, and this thing by Dr. Oz at least allows some consumption of protein.

I guess the reason why I’m most weary of it is because it’s change, and I don’t like change to my routine.  I very much enjoy eating the same thing every day.  It makes me fast at what I do because I know what I’m doing, and I’ve honed it down to healthy stuff.

So I’ve gotten over my initial bristling of the idea of doing a cleanse, and am trying it out.  I’ve always tried to be open minded and be willing to try anything at least once.  Hell it’s this willingness to go against the traditional that has allowed me to heal my torn labrum without surgery.

So today it begins.  With Quinoa and prunes.  Oooh boy oh boy.

Best Friend joins Crossfit

My best friend, and best man, Allan has decided he will join Crossfit Virtuosity and has signed up for the ramp on classes in May.  We still have the idea of me working out with him once my hip has healed, but I'm really glad he decided to take the plunge before I got there.  I would have some concern if he went to some random box, but I've been following virtuosity for years, and I know he's in good hands.

I really hope he takes to it, and really, really hope that he takes to the paleo diet.  The man's diet is a bit... lacking shall we say.  I know he wants to be 20 pounds lighter by my wedding, we'll have to see if three months of crossfit will do that for him.  The dude is a natural athlete, and I think he has the build to become a really, really, good crossfitter. Perhaps I will get him to write up his story for the world to share...

Adam's Gym, part one

So while I’m waiting for the day when I can get back to Crossfitting (which is starting to feel like waiting for the rapture), I’ve been using all this free time to start dreaming of my own box.  I don’t think I’ll ever open one up, it’s just not for me. But it’s a cool thought experiment and it keeps me entertained.  So what is Adam’s Dream Crossfit Gym like?  Well, I can tell you that I don’t really think about the equipment or the space, but I think about what the programming is like.  Programming is really what separates the boxes where people get hurt from the boxes where people get stronger.

So what’s in my programming?  I think it’s best to start off with what isn’t in it.  These moves will never show up in my WODs.  I’ll make special exceptions for those looking to compete, but even then the clients will be exposed to them like skill work and will rarely have them incorporated in conditioners.

1. Kipping pull ups: Essentially, they're nothing but trouble. If you really want to get better at kipping pullups try working on strict pull ups, like beast modal did.  Hell, kipping is one of the last things Drywall makes fun of.  You don't need it. Period. Unless you want your clients to get SLAP tears.
2. Sumo Deadlift High Pull (SDHP): Perhaps the second most dangerous exercise in crossfit.  It's ok if done with perfect form, but as soon as you get tired and form goes to crap (which it will), then you are asking for a supraspinatus impingement.  It's not needed, there are a lot better exercises out there.
3. High Rep Box Jumps: Again, there's a high risk of injury here.  Beast Modal brought it to my attention here. If you want to work the plyometric part of the box jump, just do double unders correctly.
4. High rep Oly lifts:  I probably won't have them at all in the conditioning section of a workout.  When you're doing a conditioner, form will degrade and when you do oly lifts with poor form you're asking for an injury.
5. Muscle ups: I'm kind of eh about keeping these out.  I do like them as a goal, Lord knows when I got my first one it was the happiest day of my life.

Another thing is introducing people to new movements, it will be gradual.  I see a lot of boxes just throw new client into the deep end and see if they swim.  Thing is, they’re definitely being set up to drown, so I’ve been coming up with ways to ease them into the water.

1. For one, I would follow nicki violetti’s on ramp program.  I’ve read over some of her stuff and philosophically we’re pretty much the same.  In a nut shell, the emphasis is on technique and not speed or weight.
2. For one, I’m not going to automatically sub in 3 or 4 reps of low-skill exercise for 1 rep of high skill exercise.. I’ve talked about this earlier, but when a new client comes in you don’t need to do even more stuff to kick their ass.  If they can’t do 10 single rope jumps in a row I’m sure as hell not making them do 150 of them when the WOD “Rx’d” prescribes 50 double unders.  In my gym you won’t even be allowed to even start doing double unders in WODs until you’re able to hit 100 single unders.  Boring?  Possibly, but I want to set up nice little attainable goals before you go for the big stuff.
3. Ring work is not going to be happen until you can show that you’ve mastered bar work.  I got this idea from this Grayskull’s post, I don’t care if we have bands to make you lighter, if you’re not used to doing dips of any sort I’m not going to overwork those shoulder stabilizers and get yourself hurt.  First thing’s first.  If you want to start doing ring dips, then you’re going to have to show me you can do 20 dips on the bars before you can try.

There are other things that I’ve been thinking about, but I think I’ll just keep this a running segment of “Adam’s Gym”.