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.
Friday, November 6, 2009
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:
]
[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.
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.
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.
Monday, November 2, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Tabata Sell out and too many rest days
So for only my second workout of the week I got to do Tabata Sell out. I managed to get a score of 304, think the work on the push ups is starting to pay off. I'm now getting in 6-8 sets of 20 pu's a day.
I started off with push ups due to the large 1230 class. Started out on push ups instead. Got like 23 the first set, but died after that, should've paced myself a little more. The ab-mats easy at a 1 second-a-sit-up pace, but I was finding it very difficult to push through to a faster pace. The squats were interesting in that this was the first squatting I've done post Euflexxa injection. I could still feel some pain, but it's been reduced. Given that I'm to get three injections over the course of three weeks, this is a positive sign. I tried my kip, but today my core wasn't as tight as it usually is, so I'm a little bummed that I sacrificed form for intensity, but I wanted intensity today.
Was totally gassed after squats, had very, very little left in the tank for pull ups. I conjured up the Hopper experience, how if I had been able to finish those last five toes to bar I would've placed so much higher. That helped me some, and I was able to bang them out two at a time. While standing on the ground I just stared up at the bar and told myself to take one deep breath and jump back on there. I didn't want to end this workout with any doubt that I laid it all on the floor.
I think I was a success in that regard, because after wards I couldn't really stand (my quads and lungs were killing me). As you see in this picture, even after a minute or so rest I really wasn't up for standing.
With pull ups I noticed the improper mechanic with my left shoulder showed up again, and worked on being symmetrical, am VERY happy that I've responded so well to the massage therapy, I've almost forgotten what the shoulder pain felt like. Definitely feeling positive concerning my physical ailments, seems like everything is falling into place for me to be able to do this pain free. Well, at least free of the bad-injury kind of pain.
I'm trying not to be frustrated that I've taken so many days off. I had to take Fri/sat/sun off because I was on the road the whole time, and I had to take Wednesday off because of the Euflexxa injection. But if I had figured out how to wake up earlier on Tuesday I could've made it to a morning class, and if I had done a better job of scheduling at work I would've been able to attend the 12:30 class instead of having to forgo crossfit for the sake of shower curtain shopping. Now I'm going to have to miss tomorrow's class because I the missus and I need to go dresser shopping in the morning, not to mention I'll be out of town for the later half of next week, and I'll have the second Euflexxa injection to deal with as well.
It's not that I feel like I'm getting fat or lazy (I'm getting better and better at push ups and still keeping with the zone), and it's not like I need my crossfit itch scratched. What's bothering me with all these misses is I'm not getting stronger. If I want to improve, I have to put the time in. I've never missed a crossfit class for the reason of "eh I didn't feel like it" I've always been out of town or on doctor's orders not to workout a day here or a day there. I've been pretty damn consistent, and every day I try to give it my all because I'm never going to get this day back, so I only have one chance to make it count; and I want it to count. I want to continue this progression I've started, becoming stronger and faster than ever before. I want to master all of the crossfit movements, and I can't do that if I'm not putting the time in. This is where I need to walk the walk and just not talk the talk. ...I think tomorrow I'll make sure to have a detour to Sports Authority so that I can get a jump rope. That way I can work on double-unders no matter what time it is or where I'm at.
This crossfit-master dream of mine is obtainable. One thing I've learned is that no dream of mine, or anyone else's is out of reach. Heck, there was even a point in time where I held a CFOT record on the whiteboard. But for me to achieve this dream I will have to continue to make it a main focus in my life. Only through dedication will I really be able to get where I want to be. It all comes down to choice and priorities, and if Crossfit really is as important as I make it out to be, then I need to make the proper choices and priorities. If you're not going forward your going backwards, and whenever I miss a couple days of crossfit I fear that I'm starting to head in the wrong direction. The only thing that can stop me from getting to where I want to is myself, and I don't plan for that to be an issue any time soon.
I started off with push ups due to the large 1230 class. Started out on push ups instead. Got like 23 the first set, but died after that, should've paced myself a little more. The ab-mats easy at a 1 second-a-sit-up pace, but I was finding it very difficult to push through to a faster pace. The squats were interesting in that this was the first squatting I've done post Euflexxa injection. I could still feel some pain, but it's been reduced. Given that I'm to get three injections over the course of three weeks, this is a positive sign. I tried my kip, but today my core wasn't as tight as it usually is, so I'm a little bummed that I sacrificed form for intensity, but I wanted intensity today.
Was totally gassed after squats, had very, very little left in the tank for pull ups. I conjured up the Hopper experience, how if I had been able to finish those last five toes to bar I would've placed so much higher. That helped me some, and I was able to bang them out two at a time. While standing on the ground I just stared up at the bar and told myself to take one deep breath and jump back on there. I didn't want to end this workout with any doubt that I laid it all on the floor.
I think I was a success in that regard, because after wards I couldn't really stand (my quads and lungs were killing me). As you see in this picture, even after a minute or so rest I really wasn't up for standing.
With pull ups I noticed the improper mechanic with my left shoulder showed up again, and worked on being symmetrical, am VERY happy that I've responded so well to the massage therapy, I've almost forgotten what the shoulder pain felt like. Definitely feeling positive concerning my physical ailments, seems like everything is falling into place for me to be able to do this pain free. Well, at least free of the bad-injury kind of pain.
I'm trying not to be frustrated that I've taken so many days off. I had to take Fri/sat/sun off because I was on the road the whole time, and I had to take Wednesday off because of the Euflexxa injection. But if I had figured out how to wake up earlier on Tuesday I could've made it to a morning class, and if I had done a better job of scheduling at work I would've been able to attend the 12:30 class instead of having to forgo crossfit for the sake of shower curtain shopping. Now I'm going to have to miss tomorrow's class because I the missus and I need to go dresser shopping in the morning, not to mention I'll be out of town for the later half of next week, and I'll have the second Euflexxa injection to deal with as well.
It's not that I feel like I'm getting fat or lazy (I'm getting better and better at push ups and still keeping with the zone), and it's not like I need my crossfit itch scratched. What's bothering me with all these misses is I'm not getting stronger. If I want to improve, I have to put the time in. I've never missed a crossfit class for the reason of "eh I didn't feel like it" I've always been out of town or on doctor's orders not to workout a day here or a day there. I've been pretty damn consistent, and every day I try to give it my all because I'm never going to get this day back, so I only have one chance to make it count; and I want it to count. I want to continue this progression I've started, becoming stronger and faster than ever before. I want to master all of the crossfit movements, and I can't do that if I'm not putting the time in. This is where I need to walk the walk and just not talk the talk. ...I think tomorrow I'll make sure to have a detour to Sports Authority so that I can get a jump rope. That way I can work on double-unders no matter what time it is or where I'm at.
This crossfit-master dream of mine is obtainable. One thing I've learned is that no dream of mine, or anyone else's is out of reach. Heck, there was even a point in time where I held a CFOT record on the whiteboard. But for me to achieve this dream I will have to continue to make it a main focus in my life. Only through dedication will I really be able to get where I want to be. It all comes down to choice and priorities, and if Crossfit really is as important as I make it out to be, then I need to make the proper choices and priorities. If you're not going forward your going backwards, and whenever I miss a couple days of crossfit I fear that I'm starting to head in the wrong direction. The only thing that can stop me from getting to where I want to is myself, and I don't plan for that to be an issue any time soon.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Euflexxa injection and moving
So on Tuesday I got an injection of Euflexxa into my hip joint. Took the docs a couple of attempts to finally get the needle into the capsule, once they did I swear they were going to chest bump, lead aprons and all.
Had to take two days off from crossfit, still doing pushups though. I've gone from doing sets of ten to sets of twenty, I can really start to feel how a pushup is supposed to feel, establishing a stronger neural pathway to the pecs.
Today I had to forgo Crossfit to shop for shower curtains and pack/move with the gf, felt like Frank the Tank's tank in Old School, "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."
Hopefully will be back in the box tomorrow. My hip muscles are a little tender from the injection but the joint itself is pain free. I almost dare to hope this treatment could render me asymptomatic of the FAI, which would be awesome.
Had to take two days off from crossfit, still doing pushups though. I've gone from doing sets of ten to sets of twenty, I can really start to feel how a pushup is supposed to feel, establishing a stronger neural pathway to the pecs.
Today I had to forgo Crossfit to shop for shower curtains and pack/move with the gf, felt like Frank the Tank's tank in Old School, "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time."
Hopefully will be back in the box tomorrow. My hip muscles are a little tender from the injection but the joint itself is pain free. I almost dare to hope this treatment could render me asymptomatic of the FAI, which would be awesome.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Snatch, pullups, and running
So the drive from Chicago to DC didn't really leave me any time to workout, but I think rest and self massage were what was needed to work the kink out of my neck/back. I was itching to get back to crossfit, and I'm glad I did:
15 pullups, 9 snatch (115#), 400m run
12 pu's, 12 snatch, 400m run
9 pu's, 15 snatch, 400m run
Time 23:57. I attempted to do chest to the bar pull ups, but after about three I started having trouble, and with memories of the last time I attempted chest to bar, I figured I should just do regular pu's. I don't know if I just didn't have the strength, or if I don't have the technique down (I still attempted to get my chest to the bar with each one, and even though I could get the height, I couldn't bring my body close enough to the bar to touch.
The snatch was pretty solid, Andrea told me to lean back more so I didn't have to re-bend the knees as much (if at all) and that seemed to work. I'm having a bit of difficulty catching the bar in active shoulder, but I had no problem diving under the bar, and the speed strength is what I really want to work on. I was fearful of hurting my back on attemptind touch and go, so that slowed down my pace considerably. I think next time I will try it because resetting the bar does eat up a lot of time.
I still need to figure out how to improve my speed with pose style running. I try to lean forward, but my lower back really tightens up and starts to feel pain. After the wod I worked with Chriss to see what muscle is really really tight. Turns out it is the illiopsoas on my left side, which makes sense because the illiopsoas on my right side also tends to be really tight but on the front. I plan to start stretching and seeing if that helps at all.
15 pullups, 9 snatch (115#), 400m run
12 pu's, 12 snatch, 400m run
9 pu's, 15 snatch, 400m run
Time 23:57. I attempted to do chest to the bar pull ups, but after about three I started having trouble, and with memories of the last time I attempted chest to bar, I figured I should just do regular pu's. I don't know if I just didn't have the strength, or if I don't have the technique down (I still attempted to get my chest to the bar with each one, and even though I could get the height, I couldn't bring my body close enough to the bar to touch.
The snatch was pretty solid, Andrea told me to lean back more so I didn't have to re-bend the knees as much (if at all) and that seemed to work. I'm having a bit of difficulty catching the bar in active shoulder, but I had no problem diving under the bar, and the speed strength is what I really want to work on. I was fearful of hurting my back on attemptind touch and go, so that slowed down my pace considerably. I think next time I will try it because resetting the bar does eat up a lot of time.
I still need to figure out how to improve my speed with pose style running. I try to lean forward, but my lower back really tightens up and starts to feel pain. After the wod I worked with Chriss to see what muscle is really really tight. Turns out it is the illiopsoas on my left side, which makes sense because the illiopsoas on my right side also tends to be really tight but on the front. I plan to start stretching and seeing if that helps at all.
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