Training for X: Recent Episodes
Brock Gion
This podcast is all about training for something that matters to you. Right now my X is to dunk a basketball. I'm in the process of improving my vert and keeping a weekly training log. Sharing my progress, my plateaus, and anything I learn along the way.
Passive recovery today. One thing to note, audio might sound little different. I had to pack up my gear tonight. Actually going to be headed out tomorrow to go West. Lining up a week long trip to go cross country skiiing, some hiking. Not high intensity activity, but good movement. Purposely going to be out of the gym. Do a little bit of deloading, and get in Nature and soak it up. Excited to be in the mountains. Other thing today that was really interesting, that I wasn't expecting, I had an opportunity to get my first vaccine dose of the Pfizer shot. So definitely going to pay attention to how I feel. I don't anticipate any weird effects. I haven't had anything with other shots I've done in years prior. Who knows, I'll take it day by day and check in tomorrow.
39th training session. Overall felt great. RPE 7. Today was a lot of whole body movements. Doing a lot of jumping. For example, did hex bar jumps. You're just holding a hex bar, driving straight up, going for height. Land it, reset your feet, then do that again. Did a lot of other movements that are simple, but very good for jumping higher. For example, did max height jumps. Take a 2 or 3 step approach. You really drive, use a penultimate step, try to get up quick and hang. Overall felt great today to get back to some of that movement. I don't really have to taper back that much. Curious to see how my body recovers. Throughout this week it's held up pretty well. Only troublesome spot is probably that left hip or lower back. I'll pay attention to that. Going into next week, I'm not going to be training in the gym. That should be a nice deloading week, get some recovery, and then check in and see how I feel on Monday and go from there.
Got in the pool today for 25 minutes over my lunchbreak. Similar to Tuesday, tread water for 5 minutes, then swam a few laps up and down. Put on the acquajogger belt, ran a few laps back and forth, then finished with a front crawl. I do notice, when I do the front crawl. My shoulders are good, my legs are good, the strength isn't an issue. My technique must be lacking a little, because after doing 1 or 2 laps I feel winded. And I know that I don't have the endurance of a swimmer or the capacity to breathe like that, but it would be nice to go like at least 2 laps without having to stop. Maybe that's a good challenge for 2021. Swim 3 consecutive laps on a front crawl. Anyway, for tomorrow's workout, expecting a pretty good intensity again. My hip has continued to give me a little pain. I actually went in for a check-in with the chiropractor yesterday and they pointed out my TFL area is something that can use some work. I'm sure a lot of muscles can use work. I'm going to be taking a lacrosse ball, doing some gentle stretching on the TFL, then hopefully see if I can loosen that up a little bit. So as I continue to jump and do more weights in the gym, things don't get super tight on me.
38th training session in the gym. RPE 7 or even an 8. Second circuit is where I started to feel it. Did a lot of jumping movements today. Felt really good overall. Only had one movement that was bothersome with my hip. More about the depth of the squat that I was doing with the weight. Adjusted it to where I was going a little higher and it was fine. Some of the movements I did today. Kettlebell elevated squats on 12 or 14" boxes. Then I did that where I added a jumping movement to it. That was really interesting. I haven't done that before. It was a wide leg jump and you have to counter the movement going down and explode back up. Did a few other things, where, what got me at the very end was doing a single arm push up. I can't do it completely, especially on my left hand side, it's a little weaker than my right. Took a wide leg stance, go down, and push back up. Tendency is your hips don't come with you if you're not strong enough, so you kind of pop your butt up in the air and it doesn't look very good. I was able to rep those out pretty well on my 1st set, but after going through on the 3rd time that really pushed up the intensity of finishing out my workout. Overall great day today. Feeling good. We'll see how I recover tomorrow.
Got in the pool for 20 minutes over lunch. Really nice, able to warmup with treading water for 5 minutes. Then took the kickboard and did 2 laps of flutterkicks up and down. Felt pretty warm. Took the aquajogger belt and actually did some light running and a few sprint sessions in the water. When I say sprint, I'm talking 10-15 seconds. That felt great. Finished with doing a breaststroke for a few laps. Overall can tell being in the water the resistance is really nice. It's challenging, but doesn't have any pain associated with it when it comes to my hips, back, or my shoulders. Feels good to continue to be in the water. Looking at tomorrow, get back in the gym, anticipating this week will be more intensity, especially with the impact. Curious to see how my body is prepared for that. So far, so good. I'll check in tomorrow.
37th training session in the gym. Overall RPE 5 or 6. Did some movements with weights. Power cleans from the blocks. Another thing I really enjoyed was getting back to doing some light jumping. Hurdle hops. Set of 6 going on my right leg, then go right back around and do it with my left leg. First circuit, did that 4 times through. Then second circuit finished with some good movements that were more upper body focused. Really want to work on my thoracic spine strength and mobility. For example, did a movement where you go underneath the bar and you're pulling your chest up to it. Then just doing pull-ups and things like that. Overall a good day. I can still tell with my left hip, especially in that left side where it wraps around, having some persistent pain. So I don't want to push that any further. After it was warmed up it felt pretty good. I'll continue to pay attention to it throughout the week and see how it goes.
36th training session in the gym. Rate of perceived effort a 7, maybe even an 8. What bumped up the intensity was doing single leg step ups with a weighted barbell. The type of barbell is a safety barbell. It has padding, and wraps around your shoulders. So there's a little more movement to it, and you hold it with your hands. The movement that I did with my legs, was one leg at a time stepping up onto the box and then the opposite leg you're driving your knee up to parallel, to where your knee would be at least waist height. Doing that motion really enforces the idea that your body has to move as a unit, and stay stable in your core. I did 3 cycles through on it and on the 3rd set I could tell I was fatiguing a little bit, but I was keeping my form really well. That's why you have a trainer to spot and to see. Tonight as I'm recording this, I can tell I pushed as far as I'd want to go, especially with how I've been progressing back into movements. Another nice thing about today's workout, I actually did jumping. Just double-legged bunny hops over hurdles. Emphasis was being on explosive. Then did some light pulls from the rack. Really feels like a precursor to a good month for March. It's a lot like I was doing in December. Really want to make sure as I ramp this up I match it with the right recovery. Feeling good right now. Definitely going to sleep well tonight. Then check back in on Monday.
Did some light active recovery at home today. Looking forward to getting back into the pool. Might have the opportunity to use their training pool. Instead of it being actual lap swim, I could get to where I'd be in a shallow depth area where it's 3 feet progressing to 5, then I could do some movements with my hips. And some things that maybe I'd do on dryland in the water, and challenge myself a little that way. Looking at yesterday, I did get into the chiropractor as a checkup. Everything continues to feel better. Always pair it, so far, where I get the adjustment and therapy and ice my back. I did the psoas muscle again. I'll call it a psoas muscle release. It went better, especially on my right side it wasn't as intense or painful. I wasn't gasping. The area on the my left front hip, there's a muscle that's wrapping around. I'm sure this stuff is all connected, so not sure what to call it. That muscle was tender on the psoas exercise when we were pushing down on it and moving my leg. It's encouraging to see the progress despite some of the pain and setbacks that I've had in the last month, month and a half. Really looking forward tomorrow to take a little extra time to warm up, jump around a bit, see how I do.
35th training session in the gym. Definitely a leg day, no doubt about it. Started with some movements on the agility ladder, then progressed that by taking bands that went around my ankles that acted as resistance. Really hard to stay coordinated in your movements when you have that jerking motion on your legs as you're running through. I got used to it. Third time through I was sweating. Wouldn't be surprised if I'm feeling it a little bit tomorrow in my legs. Did another movement that was just a simple deadlift with a hex bar on an elevated surface. I wasn't going all the way down to the ground. Just paying attention to how my back felt. That movement, you really have to stay activated and strong, felt like my legs were really getting good work. That was nice. Then probably my favorite movement was doing a kettlebell walk overhead. Took a bar, and then had bands tied to kettlebells where I had to balance as I walked. Definitely a shoulder stability movement. I did some marching over tiny little hurdles as I was doing that. Overall felt like I hit a lot of good areas today. Probably more stimulating in the fact of being coordinated in what I was doing, then actually pushing heavy weights or things like that. Feels nice to get back to some more movement on the turf. Think on Friday, when I get back in the gym, I'll do some light plyometrics and see how things feel.
Did a little light recovery at home today. Took 15 minutes to work on mobility with my hips and lower back. Really just took my time with the foam roller, worked a few different angles, stretched out. Not a lot to talk about there. Looking at tomorrow, get back in the gym for my 35th training session and I'm starting to turn the corner a little bit. With my back, I certainly feel it, and I know that for every area that opens up it leads to another one that's tight. I'm battling with some of those imbalances, but overall I can tell I'm getting back to better movement. I think tomorrow we're going to do some drills on the agility ladder, add some resistance to the movements, and just start trying to challenge the intensity of my workout where I'm not doing all out explosive movements. But I'm definitely doing something where I'm not just maintaining. Excited to get back at it and I'll check in tomorrow.
34th training session. Pretty fun today. Rate of perceived effort around a 6 or 7. Pushed a little bit. Most of it had to with my shoulders, with my core and stability. Favorite movement of mine was doing basically like a push up. But suspended on bands, so you're not on the ground. If you can imagine, you're putting a big stretchy band in between the rack and do pushups on that. My trainer had another band connected to that, that he was shaking as I would go down and up. For as much as it worked the shoulders, it probably worked my core even more because what I found is if I got off balance my shoulders were fine because I was holding onto the band. But my core is what was really shaky. It took a set to get used to it. I did 15 reps, and 4 cycles of it. I was pressing it out, and keeping that stability throughout the whole movement. Then I did another one that was a single leg hyper. I wasn't doing it explosively or anything like that. Really focusing on pulling my shoulders back so my hands were behind my back. Then using all my posterior chain muscles to go down and up. I just did what was comfortable. It was a good day today. I continue to feel better week over week. Going back to January when I had sprained my back. We'll see what this week holds, but hopefully I can get back to some light jumping.
33rd training session in the gym this morning. It was awesome, being on the turf, able to move around a lot. My back continues to feel pretty good. I still, whatever is going on in my left hip, I feel that, so I want to really respect and not push it. But it seems when I warm up it improves. And even after I'm cooled down it feels pretty good. Just want to do the right things to make sure that heals properly as I continue to train. Getting to today's workout, did all the movements on the turf. Just a circuit of 5 different movements. Lot of it involved, did more lunging today than I did all year. Mostly bodyweight. Did have a light medball that was like 12 lbs. I was doing overhead presses as I was lunging. And doing some twisting as I was lunging. Then I progressed into taking the ball and bending down slowly to do a hamstring stretch. I don't know what to call it. There's a name for it in yoga. The half moon pose I think? You're on one leg, titling forward, and hinging at the hips. That felt fine, no issues there. I also did a sled push with marching knee drive. That's a hard movement. If you fatigue, can tell things start to give. My body right now feels pretty strong, looking forward to seeing how I recover this weekend, and next week getting back in the gym.
Just did some light stretching today. Wanted to go swimming tonight, but found out all the lanes were full. If you do the night swim you have to reserve a lane online and all of that. By the time I got to it, it was too late. So early bird gets the worm. Good reminder. Do it in the morning. I prefer that. This morning I had the intent of going, but when I woke up I was pretty tired. Decided to sleep a little extra and that felt great. Energy level right now is good. I can tell I'm a little sore from Wednesday. Not in a bad way. It's been a lot of repetition with core movement, shoulder openers, hip openers. I say it like it's boring because sometimes it is, but it's starting to feel better which is awesome. Despite some of the setbacks I've had with the pain in my lower back, and even coming around, I'll call it the psoas muscle. My chiropractor pointed that out, too. Collectively things are improving. Excited tomorrow to continue to test the waters and hopefully next week get into a rhythm where I can get the pacing back into a little more intensity.
32nd training session in the gym. First time being back in the gym in about 10 days. Paid attention in the warm up, talked to my trainer, caught up a little bit. What we focused on today was progressing back into what I was doing in December. Just with a lot lighter weights and less repetition. And we did the agility ladder today. That was fun. I haven't done agility movements in a while. We did probably 20 minutes combined of agility and movements on the turf. Then, as for weights, the two exercises that I did that were weighted. One was a Bulgarian split squat. Instead of putting your foot on a bench behind you, I had it on these bands. Worked some of the stabilization there. The other movement that I did was straight pulls out of the rack. The height was a little higher. With my back positioning I was really making sure my core was braced and positioned right so I that I wasn't overreaching or straining. That felt good. Right now getting a lot of good signals to keep progressing. Scheduled for Friday to get back in the gym. Tomorrow see if I can make it to the pool.
Went swimming this morning. Same as usual. Got about 10 laps in. In the water for about 25 minutes. After the water, felt really good. Hips are feeling better than yesterday, so that's nice. And tonight I'll be getting to be around 9. So should clock in a good 8.5 hours of sleep and be back in the gym. I'm still going to progress bit by bit. Not going to be doing intense jumping tomorrow. If anything I'll be doing some of what I did would have been 8 days ago now, or even longer. A lot of core movements and a few rotational things in the mix, too.
Feeling alright. Last week was not what I expected. I wanted to get out and go skiing but that did not happen. Welcome to puppyhood 101. When you think you've got a week and you can go, you're met with a double ear infection and eye infection. And you can't leave your dog hanging. Spent a lot of time last week at home. This weekend was really long. Subzero weather. -20, -30 with wind chill. Didn't do any real activities outside. Feeling excited to get back moving. Tomorrow morning I'm going to get in the pool to go swimming. It'll be a nice fresh start. I've been kind of getting the habit of going over lunch, but I prefer the mornings. Going to get back in that routine. Then looking at Wednesday I'll be back in the gym. Just taking stock of how I feel. My left lower hip is still tender. Hopefully the water will help some of that. My left lower back, I go back to January 1st how painful that was, that's improved a ton. I feel like I'm on the right track but want to accelerate this more. Tonight I took 15 minutes to do some gentle stretching and yoga. I just use that down dog app, set the time to 15 minutes. Pick hamstring openers or shoulder openers and combine them. Feeling good and ready for a good week.
Did some light stretching tonight. Nothing fancy. Just doing child's pose and transitioning to cat/cow. Just taking stock of how I feel. I'd say the most noticeable discomfort is still in my back, and lower back, front of the hip. It is getting better. Maybe it is just some of the after effects of going to the chiropractor and doing that therapy. I wouldn't think so, but these are some muscles that are a little more ignored in the day to day. So when they do get attention, maybe it wakes things up a bit. Looking at next week, I'll see where I land. If things go according to plan might be out West. A lot of things are dependent on how stuff goes this weekend. I'll check in on Monday and go from there.
Did some light foam rolling today with some light stretching. 10 hours of sleep, that felt good. Haven't been waking up to an alarm, just letting myself rest. It's been awesome. Really just paying attention to how I feel in my back. Felt really nice after my session yesterday doing some of the therapy. Getting on the foam roller I can tell that it's tender. Don't want to push it too much. I can probably ice it again and do a hot cold shower just to get some blood flow moving through. Overall, we'll see what tomorrow holds, don't have anything planned in the gym and keeping it pretty light this week.
Went to the chiropractor today. Found out what the psoas muscle feels like. Wow. Never really have had work done directly on that, but had my adjustment and did therapy and light massage afterward. Explained how the sensation that I feel is less in my lower back and more wrapping around the front of my left hip. Got the doctor's order to do a little work on the psoas. Really had to breathe through it. I was on my back, knees were up, and just sliding my foot out as the person was pressing and pushing into the psoas. Like right on your hip joint. It's such an intense feeling. Definitely not something that you could do yourself. Really nice. I iced my back afterward. Took my time today just in recovery. Haven't done any stretching today aside from what I did at the chiropractor with my back and a few pressups. Tomorrow I think I'll take a good hour or half an hour chunk just to do some light movement. Really continue to focus on my spine this week and recovery. With the weather right now, haven't been able to go out West yet and it's brutually cold. I don't think it'll be above 0 degrees for the next few days. Might limit some of what I can do outside. I've got a puppy. I can go to Lowe's and walk around and exercise that way.
It was a great day today. I didn't have to wake up for work which is always nice. Have been letting myself sleep. I've noticed I've been sleeping pretty long hours. Like the 9-10 hour range. It feels good when I wake up. I'm feeling awake and not super groggy. Today I went swimming for half an hour in the water. Body overall is feeling good. I can tell my hip, my back, and that area, like my midriff has always kind of been there. Sometimes it ebbs and flows. I've got a chiropractor appointment tomorrow which will be nice. Really want to take this week and give myself the right amount of time and the right environment to ease into doing some things. When I get back in the gym, right now I think that'll be next week Wednesday (about a week from today), really want to be at a point that I can be doing some light jogging and light jumping. Really progressing back into training to dunk a basketball. It's a very holistic approach that I'm taking. I don't want to wreck myself in the pursuit of jumping higher, but at the same time this is exciting to have that break and rest that I know I need. Not going to set the alarm clock this week. That's probably the best feeling. I'll continue to check in this week and see how things go.
My workout today was rally! Lol, did a rally class with my puppy. He's about 7 months old now. We've been doing this once a week. Today was the last session of the class and then you can sign up for another 6 weeks. Enjoying my vacation right now. I don't have any work for all of this week. Took some time off. Haven't been able to lock down on when or how I'll get out west to go out skiiing hopefully. Talked with my wife tonight and it sounds like maybe later in the week it might work for both of us or I might do a little solo adventure. We'll see about that. Tuning into how my body feels. Really, really tight in my left hip. I know I mentioned that last Friday. I'll do what I have been doing. Holding some pigeon poses. Just doing gentle stretches. Nothing hard. I think a lot of is a result of a lot of sitting for extended amounts of time. When I say extended it can be 1 to 3 hours. I do try to break it up with some movement. I just noticed if I'm sedentary, surprise surprise, right things get stiff. My back feels pretty stiff right now, too. Really want to pump up some of the playful exercise this week but not do it in a way where my body is punished.
Got in the gym for my 31st training session. Really enjoyed it this morning. The first circuit hit the ground running. Not literally, but for me things in the last month have been slow progressions. I felt like my trainer today pushed it just a little bit to see how I responded. Overall I don't feel a lot of soreness or tenderness in my back. If anything, my left hip is still a little uncomfortable. Really want to make sure that I continue to stretch and give it the recovery and rest that it needs. Getting back to the workout, in the gym this morning I did plank holds. But added more challenging stabilization to it. You'd lift one leg, or one arm, or alternate and hold for 30 seconds. Probably my favorite part was near the end. I did pull ups. Instead of doing a normal pull up, I lifted my legs tried to get it to an L sit. I could hold my legs that well going down and up without it getting a little suspect with my bodyweight rocking. So I lifted my knees up and was doing that. By the third set I hit the wall of like, 2 reps out really good, 3 rep up going up just stopped. Midway through, wasn't going up or going down. Called it on that. Did one other movement after that. Felt like a really nice finish. Next week not going to be in the gym at all. Going out, headed out West to play in the mountains and play a little. Hoping to get out and go cross country skiiing. Take some time to deload a little bit and take a well deserved rest. Hopefully mid February get back in the gym, as long as things keep progressing with my back and hips, and overall energy levels, hoping I can get back to jumping.
Went swimming for my lunch break today. Got there at a good time. 30 minutes in the water. Took 10 minutes as a nice thorough warmup. Actually, instead of doing just treading water, I was only using my legs, then only my shoulders. Really nice to be able to use my muscles in different ways in the water. I put on the acqujogger belt. Did 5 or 6 laps. Did some sidestrokes. The pool is such a no brainer. I don't think I've finished in a pool session feeling like I shouldn't be there. It's really nice to have that as an option. Looking at tomorrow. I'll get in the hoping. Hoping with my schedule. I think next week I'll be out all next week. Going to be doing some travelling. Then hopefully by the time that I come back into the gym and get back into training my back, and even my hip should have enough rest where things have maybe settled down a little bit. I'll be doing some stuff when I'm travelling, too. Trying to plan for a skiiing trip, or do some hiking. Things like that.
Got in the gym for my 30th training session. Felt really nice today. A lot of variety on the movements. Did a lot of rotational core strength. Paired that with doing shoulder movements. A lot of whole body exercises and a little bit of agility. Overall today when I finished paid attention to how I felt. I can tell my hips are still tight, especially on the left side. As far as the pain in my back, that's improving everyday, so it is still there. I don't want to push that too fast or add weight too soon. Tomorrow the plan is get in the pool. Give myself a good half an hour to loosen up. Really enjoyed having the props of wearing a belt and using a kickboard to focus on different movements while I'm in the in water. Then Friday get back in the gym.
Went swimming over my lunch break for a good 35 minutes. Felt really nice to get in the pool. Last week it didn't work out on Tuesday or Thursday, so to have a full half an hour I was able to get 10 laps in. Brought my props with me. Had a kickboard, acquajogger belt, and did a variety of movements. With my back, paid attention to how it felt when I was working on the turns. And overall it's continued to improve week over week. Actually at the point where tomorrow getting back in the gym I'll probably do a little light plyometric. Think skipping over a hurdle, something like that to see how it feels. Feels good to moving again and getting a little more activity. Looking forward to a good week.
29th training session in the gym. Hard to believe January is already gone. Happened fast, but I'm not looking back. Was a good month to recover. Looking at February I'm excited to get back moving in the gym and hopefully jumping again. Right now today big emphasis on shoulders and core. Did a lot of movements that really challenged me. You have to be balanced, be on point. Did a bulgarian split squat using a TRX strap. Started out doing that with bodyweight. Handled that really well. So I did take a weight, 35lb plate, kept it close to the chest as I was squatting up and down. It's more the balance and stabilization that challenges me on that. Not so much the weight. By the time I got done, I called the rate of perceived effort a 6. Broke a nice sweat. Really looking forward to this week. With Wednesday and Friday I'll stay in routine and get to the gym. Tomorrow hopefully get to the pool over my lunch break. The only sensation that I have right now that's uncomfortable is in my left hip. It's almost a dull ache or stinging. Hoping I can continue to progress and not feel that pain. I've been doing a little extra gentle stretching at night. Restorative yoga. Hoping I'm using the right approach here. Excited to get in the water tomorrow and keep going.
28th training session in the gym. Pretty fun today. Able to move around a bit better. First circuit required some jumping. Not an all out jump or anything close to it. But just getting off the box so I was just doing a single leg step up box jump. You're just driving and the momentum carries you up. You land, repeat it, do it with the other leg. The exercise I really enjoyed today was the slosh pipe. I've never done it before. It's a PVC pipe filled up with water. Probably weighed like 50 lbs. You bear hug it to your chest. You're balancing it in the crack of your elbows and biceps and forearms. You walk with it. As you're walking, if it gets off balance, the tendency is to squeeze harder but it doesn't help you much. You really have to learn how to use your core. That one was a doozy. After I got done with all my movements today felt pretty good. I can tell my left hip, there's a slight sore feeling. Not a stinging sensation, but it is something I'm taking note of. Just kind of an uncomfortable feeling. I don't want to push it. This weekend I'm going to continue to rest up. Next week Monday get back in the gym. Kind of on schedule right now I think for February I'll be able to get back to some plyometric movements and see how it goes.
Did restorative yoga today. Instead of going to the pool, decided to stay at home, take my time. Yesterday actually got new flooring installed in the basement. So that was really nice. Great to put the mat on a flat floor now. Before it was just like this cold, gray cement. Now it's an actual finished floor. Something soothing, comforting, and inviting about that. With my routine I downloaded an app called down dog yoga. You punch in what you want. So I just put 5 minutes, restorative yoga, with emphasis on hip stretches, really enjoyed it. Nothing new in the sense I've done these sorts of things before. But having that guided format flows well. By the end of it you finish with shavasana. I don't know if that's how you say it. You're on your back, relaxing, letting go. That was really nice. I look at today as more passive recovery. With how I feel, I'm sore in the arm from a tetanus shot the other day. I can tell, I don't know if I'm dehydrated, but I didn't have a strong headache but a dull, achy feeling. I felt good taking it easy today and looking forward to getting good rest tonight. Tomorrow get in the gym.
27th training session in the gym. Went really well with my trainer. Wanted to know how my back was feeling. Told him it continues to progress. Tried some movements today to test the waters. I did jump roping for 1 minute. Not a heavy jump rope. But lightly going up and down. Seeing how the impact felt and no issues there. Did another movement where it was just taking a 10 lb medball and throwing that into the ground with enough force it'd come back up, you catch it, and throw it down again. You're not leaving your feet. You're just extending up and down, up and down. That was probably the most aggressive movement, and I felt a little activation on my back. We'll see tomorrow how it feels. Overall it went really well. Call it a rate of perceived effort of around 5. Got into the chiropractor afterward. Did my last official treatment. So it was 6 treatments since the beginning of the new year. Really that's felt really good too. I did a therapy exercise that surprised me. It was a deadbug on the foamroller. On the one side, I could do it. It was really challenging. But on the other side, it was like uggh. I don't know how to do this. My body doesn't want to move like that. It was basically like imagine doing the deadbug, but you lift both your arms up. You can only be balanced with your feet, your hips, and your core. And you're marching where you're lifting one leg up and alternating. I think it was when my left leg was down, trying to lift my right leg up. That was really difficult. So I'm going to tune in on that, work those smaller movements. Then as I progress, hopefully next week be at a point where I'm back in the gym doing some light movement and light jumping.
Another day of passive recovery. Initially wanted to get in the pool tonight, but by the time I was going to get there it'd only be 10 minutes in the water. So, just decided to switch it, do a light massage on my back. Did what I did yesterday. With prone press ups, dead bug on the foam roller. When I'm talking dead bug, not sure if that's the right name for it, but you're on the foam roller, you're stabilizing, lift one leg up and raise the opposite arm at the same time. Then you're just putting that down. Alternate and do that ten times or so. Something that was interesting today is took my physical. Just an annual wellness check-in. I say annual, but it's probably been three years since I've done that. And part of it was getting my tetanus shot. See if I'm sore from that at all. Felt fine going into my arm and I haven't felt it yet. But who knows when I wake up. Then also was able to do a screening with my blood. Get some of the lipids. It was cool. I got the results tonight. Everything checked out fine from what I could tell. I did bring up the concern if I'm eating more of a plant-based diet, and not as heavy into meats or dairy, are there any deficiencies that I have to watch for. She wasn't a nutritionist, but probably wasn't her job. Just said pay attention to your fatigue. It can be common that people have iron deficiencies if they go from eating a lot of red meat and they don't eat any at all. At this point, feeling pretty good, going to get rested up and in the gym tomorrow morning.
Passive recovery today. Originally scheduled to go in the gym, but I called in this morning. I found out with work I was a little overcommitted. Wanted to make sure I got things done this morning. That felt good. This weekend was rough with my sleep schedule. Got to bed really late. That never helps following the next day. Tonight looking forward to getting good rest. Tomorrow I may or may not have time to the pool. I've got a physical annual exam over my lunch break. Wednesday for sure looking to get back in the gym. Really resting up with my back. My chiropractor appointment also got rescheduled to Wednesday. Only thing I did today was light prone pressups with a glute activation, then I rolled around did this deadbug movement. Just for my lower back on a foam roller.
26th training session in the gym. Broke a good sweat in the warmup. Talked to my trainer let him know my back continues to feel better each day. That's encouraging. Feels like I'm doing the right things and able to progress in the gym in a way where it's not really a setback, but just taking it slower and a more holistic approach to what I want to get out of this. Today was a lot of core movement. Did one circuit of five different movements. All heavy hitters where there was some weight and resistance when I was moving. I wasn't twisting with the weight or jumping with the weight. For example, one of the movements was imagine having a sled and then a rope tied to the sled on the turf. And you're pulling the sled toward your chest and squeezing at your shoulder blades. That was something I did. Another movement was a core exercise where I was pulling the sled by doing side shuffling, and holding my arms out in front of me and keeping tension on the rope throughout. That was pretty challenging. I didn't expect it to engage my core the way it did. The real kicker if you ever want to get your abs fired up, I just took a physio ball and my trainer called it stir the pot. You put your forearms on the physio ball and do light circles in the plank position. You do that for fifteen seconds, switch direction, another fifteen seconds, and go a full set of those. After the third set of those I was really engaged and holding on the best I could with my core but could tell that was my limit. So feeling pretty good right now. Going into next week I have my chiropractor appointment on Monday, and looking forward to hopefully getting the thumbs up to getting back to a little more intensity come February.
Went swimming today. Got in the pool for 15 minutes. Really nice. Brought an Acquajogger belt with me. Foam belt that wraps around your waist and allows you to move in the water. Keeps you afloat. For my routine did 4 laps. Each lap, half of the lap was doing a light jog, and then on the way back for the second half of the lap I'd flip on my back and just float. What felt really nice on my lower back was when I was in the water and the belt was pushing upward. Just a nice gentle upward lift. In Yoga they stress the importance of not crunching down on your spine or forcing, but allowing gravity to ground you and lift from that. It was a really good sensation and I'm glad I had that belt. Moving forward, when I get in the water, I'll try to mix that in a little more. Tomorrow I'll get in the gym. Looking forward to a good circuit. Very similar to Wednesday. Maybe a little more upper body emphasis to get my shoulders moving. Really work on the stability in my spine. Going into next week I should finish my final treatment at the chiropractor. Then hopefully rolling into February get to a point where I can be doing some light jogging and maybe a little light jumping and plyometric movements.
25th training session in the gym. Went really well. Warmup was smooth. Didn't have any issues with my back. Talked to my trainer right at the beginning. We're both feeling come February I'll be in a position to do more movement. Get back to jumping. Hopefully reaching similar intensity where like in December I can do max height jumps and push for growth. Right now, where I'm at, two more appointments with the chiropractor and when I get cleared then a lot of it's on me. I've enjoyed this phase of getting back to the basics. One of the movements that I did today involved a lot of core stabilization. Think you've got a TRX strap, it's hanging down, you put one foot back like a Bulgarian split squat, you squat down. Then on the way up, you're going up to get your foot off the ground a little. And it's just a little hop. That was really challenging. I had it paired with other movements, so I was sweating. That one made me work. To progress through it, I had two wooden dowels to keep my balance if I slipped at all. By the end of it I was comfortable going up and down with my body weight. Looking forward to tomorrow, just getting in the pool. Friday I'll finish with another workout similar to what I did today. Then Monday of next week will be my last official treatment at the chiropractor. Looking forward to staying the course and improving with my back.
Went swimming today. Took 20 minutes over my lunch break. Usual routine of 5 minutes of treading water, then swimming laps. Did have a prop with me to mix it up a little bit. Had a kickboard I was able to use to do some flutter kicks and light, light dolphin kicks to see how my back felt. Really just used as a way to loosen up my back. When I say dolphin kick, it's not a full on like what swimmer's are doing. It's just a little wave motion in the water and moving in my midriff. Overall it felt pretty good. I do like the progress that's coming along. My pain right now with my back is maybe a 3 out of 10. Going back to New Years where it was a 7 or 8, it's nice to know that what I'm doing seems to be helping. It's progressing in the right direction. Tomorrow I'll get in the gym, have another chiropractor appointment, then check in after that.
Keeping this short and sweet. Just a little light massage on my lower back and passive rest. Walked around a little today. I can tell I'm continuing to move better. It's certainly still painful. Took a little slip on the ice. I didn't fall down. As I twisted and turned I winced in pain, like ooo, don't want to push it too far. Tomorrow I'll get in the pool. Excited to move around in the water for a good half an hour. Then Wednesday get in the gym.
24th training session in the gym. Went really well today. Call the rate of perceived effort close to a 7. All things considered, given the fact I'm still recovering from my back it's nice to have that intensity in different ways. One of the more challenging movements that I did today. I don't know how to describe it other than calling it a medicine ball crawl. Imagine you have a big medicine ball, or physio ball, I don't know what they're named. You walk yourself out to where you in a plank position. You're going step by step with your hands out in front of you. And then you're rolling on your shins. Doing this bear crawl movement. Did that for 30 yards and wow. What a great way to work the stabilization of the core. It's a subtle movement, but it engages your whole body. Today's workout, the movements that I did, all of them were whole body bodyweight movements. Think pull-ups, dips. By the end of it I felt really good. Glad that I get to look forward to the weekend. Today was my 24th session. Kind of a good stepping stone, going back to November 2020 when I first started this. Wanted to get 24 sessions in and see how I felt. I can say I want to keep going. I know next week Monday is going to be a holiday with Martin Luther King day. I'm not going to be in the gym. Wednesday will be the next day that I'm back there. I'll try to check in on Monday if I'm around, then Tuesday plan on going in the pool.
Got in the pool to go swimming today. Really nice. Took half an hour. 5 minutes of treading water. Did 10 laps. First five breaststroke, next five laps were doing combinations. Mostly just backfloat. Really paid attention to the angle of my hips in the water. Naturally more comfortable to rotate my hips out as opposed to in. With my back, kind of experimenting with how it feels in different positions especially in relation to my pelvis and hips. In the water it was relatively pain free. The only sharp jab that I would feel is if I twisted wrong and put pressure on the lower back. So for example, if I'm laying on my back, and let gravity pull my legs to the side with my knees bent, if that's too sudden or too hard that's really still tender. On a pain scale, I'd call it a 7 or 8 that jabbing. Really want to make sure my muscles continue to relax and I work on that range of motion progressively and not force it. Tomorrow I'll get back in the gym. Most of what I've done this week is pretty simple. That will probably the theme the next week and half. Doing a lot of the same motions and adding a little variation. A lot of it is in the hips and mid riff section. I just want to continue to respect the recovery that's taken place, but not move too fast here. Looking forward to a good workout in the morning and enjoy the weekend.
23rd training session in the gym. Right away my trainer wanted to know how Monday's workout was feeling. It was fine. Everyday I feel a sharp pain in my back if I bend a certain way, but I almost have to try for it. So it's good things are improving in that area. I'm not that limited in the movements I can do. We did 2 circuits, each circuit was 3-4 movements, just repping through things and progressing on the difficulty. Focusing more on the balance and stabilization of these movements. For example, I did a bodyweight squat on a balance beam, then added a dumbbell to the one side to challenge my balance in a different way. After I finished, I had a chiropractor appointment again today. It was encouraging to see that from my chiropractor's point of view things are progressing well enough to where probably after next week I'll reassess where I'm at. I could very well be entering into February and be progressing into jumping and running. Not holding back as much. Overall I don't want to let my guard down. I'm still hurting. My back is tender enough I feel it if I move in certain way. Want to continue to respect that. Tomorrow I'll get in the pool and keep on going.
Went swimming over my lunch break. Short session. 5 laps. Comparing to last week when I was in the pool the mobility in my spine is improving. I can tell on the turns I have a little more flexibility there. After going to the chiropractor yesterday, kind of confirms things are lining up. I do have a lot of little knots along my spine in the muscles. Really have to continue to work on that. Get to a place where my spine is pliable. The term my chiropractor used is having a "bouncy spine". So if you push on the muscle, it gives a little, and it bounces back and it's hydrated. What you don't want is a dead spot where you push and it's just a hard, ropey area that doesn't respond. Looking at tomorrow I'll get in the gym for my 23rd training session. On the schedule for Friday in the gym as well. Going to continue doing what I've been doing. Playing it safe and keeping the intensity with the movements I'm doing, but not challenging myself in any way with weights or jumping or running quite yet.
22nd training session in the gym. Talked to my trainer about my lower back. He asked how it's feeling. Right now I'm on a treatment plan with the chiropractor. I'll do six total treatments over the next two weeks. Couple that with therapy. Then when I'm in the gym I'm going to keep progressing on movements that I'm comfortable with as long as they don't induce any pain or soreness that feels wrong. It's kind of a nice step back, but I feel like I'm still progressing in other areas. Having a trainer right now is really, really valuable. Having the motivation of someone that cares enough to work through some of that challenge. I know if I was doing this solo it'd be easy to justify I'm going to pause, I don't what to do because I'm in pain. I noticed doing the treatments and sticking at it, I'm feeling better. I'm moving better. It's encouraging to know what I've experienced in my back so far isn't some irreversible thing that is going to be a chronic injury. It really is the result of being a little out of balance. Getting to today's workout. I had two circuits. First circuit was four movements, four times through. Second circuit was two movements, two times through. The doozie was a spanish squat. Not sure why it's called that. You wrap a band around your legs and then that's wrapped around a pole and you sit down like you're on an imaginary chair. Then I was pulsing. Felt like forever. Probably like 30 seconds. That really got the heart going. I had a point in the workout I had to stop, catch my breath, kneel down. It was a combination of not eating enough. Not getting enough rest. I told my trainer I can't go anymore right now, I need to pause. It's funny, he had a little can of apple juice and I drank that. Got back up and felt better. In my mind I was like oh, maybe I'm done. But we kept going and I was fine. That was nice to have that trust with my trainer for him to know I was experiencing that, but not getting freaked out or alarmed by a little fatigue. Well, maybe a lot of fatigue. Tomorrow I'll get in the pool and get a lot of good movement in the water. Have a check-in with the chiropractor on Wednesday and go to the gym.
Got in the gym for my 21st training session. Felt really nice to do the warmup. No running or jumping. Just a light jog and broke a sweat - just doing shoulder circles and lunges. For the circuits, did 2 circuits. Some of the movements were bench press, glute bridges on a slide board. I held one leg out straight, then the other one is sliding down to the ground. I paid attention to how my body felt throughout all the movements. The rate of perceived effort was a 3 or 4 today. Followed up with my chiropractor. Recommended approach is to get 6 treatments over the next 2 weeks. Then see how it feels. I think if I do this right by the end of the month I can play this safe and be back to a point where I'm jumping and get more of that mobility in my spine. Until then, I'm going to take this day over day. Looking forward to the weekend. Going to rest up. Tomorrow I'll do some targeted recovery. Sunday I don't have anything planned. Monday getting back in the gym and continuing to do the movements that feel good right now, but making sure I'm not overly eager to get weights on or anything like that.
Got in the pool today. It was really nice. Went over my lunch break and swam 5 laps. Super short, just 10-15 minutes in the water. Felt like the right amount. Didn't push for any type of intensity. Rate of perceived effort like a 1 or 2. Really nice to move around in the water. Tonight took some time to do what I was told by the chiropractor which is prone press-ups. If you have any background in yoga, I'd describe it as sphinx pose. You've got your forearms underneath you. You're not pressing up. You're just holding that. Moving along your spine. It's a subtle motion, but definitely isolated to the back. After that I put my head down and laying on my stomach did glute activation where you're lifting your back leg up and doing that for 15 reps each side. After I got done I iced it. Things are feeling better. Going to get in with the chiropractor tomorrow and keep at this. With getting in the gym tomorrow same thing. Going to be a light, light active recovery. Really want to emphasize doing the movements in a way that promotes healing and mobility. When I look after tomorrow and check in with how I feel, I'll ask the chiropractor for what the recommended path is for how to progress. I'm leaning toward maybe the next two weeks not really scaling up or doing any type of intensity that would require twisting or bending, but progressively getting back to this.
20th session in the gym. Talked to my trainer right away. Let him know my back is improving, but not to the point that I'm going to do any type of running, jumping, or weight lifting this week. Did a repeat of last week Wednesday. All bodyweight movements. Placed a big emphasis on doing hip, glute activation, and bodyweight lunges. By the time I was done I was in the gym for an hour. Broke a light sweat. Call it a rate of perceived effort of 3 or 4. Felt good. Like my body was primed and moving better. When I did go to the chiropractor two hours later got a full assessment. Ruled out nerve damage right away which is really nice. Always a good relief for me. I just don't know with the spine you hear horror stories. Like, I heard, this is a side tangent, there's this weird thing that can happen to people when they go surfing for the first time. They become partially paralyzed because they're shoulder motion from swimming in the water pinches a nerve. Anyway, I don't want to mess with nerves. It really is important to me to have an expert look at it. The takeaway for me was my QL muscle, the quadratus lumborum, is this deep muscle that runs across your lower back. For me, it's all roped up. It's tight, really restricting a lot a movement. Made an adjustment today. Going to be back to the chiropractor on Friday, then follow up with a Monday check-in. Theme this week is continue to recovery. Tomorrow I'll describe a little more what I was given as basically homework to make sure I'm getting more mobility in my spine. Looking forward to resting this week and staying on a path of recovery.
Swam in the pool for 25 minutes. Felt really good on the back. Continuing to improve, but it's still painful. Been taking iphuprohen, doing some light icing, soaking it in the bathtub a little bit, and mixing in stretching. As a whole, this last week I've really limited myself to not doing any sort of running or jumping or heavy weight-bearing exercise. Sticking with light movements. Tomorrow I have my chiropractor appointment. That'll be nice to get a full assessment. Not only of my lower back, but also for my spine and see how things are aligning. Looking at my training session tomorrow in the gym, I'll do a light warmup. Not going to push for anything. I'll talk with my trainer and guessing if we do something it'd be along the lines of what it was like last week. Just stretch out my hip flexors, torso, and light movements to see how things feel. Finish with a little bit of glute activation to get things firing and staying engaged. Even though, like I said, I'm not going to be lifting any weights or doing any high intensity movements. I'll check in tomorrow and excited to see the results.
Theme for today is recovery. Didn't go to the gym. Instead put the emphasis on my lower back. Actually scheduled an appointment for Wednesday morning to get in with a chiropractor. Just want more of an objective assessment of what I'm dealing with. The pain has improved a little bit, but it's still there if I move in a specific way. Some things that I did today: bathtub soak, stretched out for about 20 minutes combinations of pigeon pose and light torso bends, and then finishing with some icing throughout the day. 20 minute sessions. Making sure I'm moving in ways that aren't painful. It's interesting with a puppy. I did notice walking a dog on the leash is actually a really difficult thing to do when your back is tender. He doesn't pull too hard, but he's over 30lbs now. So if he does see something that gives a good tug. I can tell I was bracing. Combine that with the ice. It's weird how simple things like that get you to be unsteady. Where as a week ago didn't think anything of it. Again, on Wednesday, I'm going to get in, get an actual assessment of what's going on here. I'm actually scheduled to go in the gym on Wednesday. Anticipating if I do anything at all it will be a light active recovery. Nothing that would be high impact or putting a lot of pressure on the joints, jumping, or anything like that.
Bringing in the New Year! Taking it super easy with my lower back. It is improving, but not to the point I'd even go for a light jog. It's very tender still. Kept me up last night a little bit when I was sleeping. Trying to continue to do the movements that feel good, but not overdoing it. The extent of today for recovery was soaking in the bathtub doing an epson salt. Then taking 20-25 minutes to stretch out. Doing a light gentle movement. I call it the pigeon pose. It's like a runner's routine where you've got your knees at 90 degrees, and you're flipping over and working different angles. The other thing today that I enjoyed a lot was bringing the new year with some new food! I tried a recipe. I went through a course about plant-based eating and curious about how I can incorporate that into my approach for meeting nutriotional needs. Came across this recipe called tempeh brown rice buddha bowl. Looks good, but I'd never tried tempeh. It can always be a little interesting when you're baking something and you don't know what it will taste like at the end. Like I said in my podcast yesterday, I think the theme going into this year will be food. I'm using a tool called Cronometer to track and keep a daily log on my intake and what I eat. I'm going to use that to highlight some of the good things I'm discovering through experimenting a little. I'll check in tomorrow. Actually check in on Monday. Tomorrow is Saturday. Guessing by Monday will be more of the same. Not going to be in the gym. Just doing the best I can with what I have right now and that's a lot of patience.
New Year's Eve. Knocking on the door of 2021. Today was super simple. Didn't do a lot. Soaked in the tub for 15 minutes. Left lower back is really, really tender still. A lot of pain if I'm moving wrong. Really want to respect the fact that probably what I'm dealing with is a sprain and this is going to take some time. It's interesting to note, I took an hour yesterday to do some baseline research around this, I came across an interesting set of videos on YouTube through the University of Wisconsin Madison. They talk about a holistic approach to recovery with back pain. They give you a framework for how to classify and diagnose this for what are you feeling. I would classify this as an acute injury brought on by Monday's workout. Certainly had some discomfort and tightness there, two weeks into my training, so that would have been back in November. It's that same area. It's not the same type of pain. This is a lot more painful. It helped me understand this isn't a chronic injury. I don't think this is anything to shy away from. But I'm certainly hurt. I'm not going to push through this sort of pain to try and get gains early on. Looking overall at the big takeaway from their videos. They gave the metaphor there's three legs to the stool of recovery. And that's external, internal, and reconditioning. External would be things like what I'm doing. Taking a bath, soaking, massage, taking non-steroid anti inflammatories. The internal piece, which is one they often point out is often neglected, is using emotional awareness and cognitive behavior therapy as a way to bring mindfulness to your recovery. I think that's cool they acknowledge that mind-body connection. Validate it is just as important as the external factors. The third leg to the stool is re-conditioning. Anytime you're hurt or injured you have to carry yourself in a different way. That causes atrophy of your muscles. You need to recondition your body to have more resilience against having another injury. You have to do it in the right way. Physical therapy, exercise therapy, or doing something at home like yoga would be helpful in the right way. I'm going to really embrace that approach initially, at least for this first week. This isn't where I wanted to land for 2020. But I can say given the fact that everything that's happened up to this point has gotten me this far, I feel like I'm headed in the right direction. I'm completely new to all of this still. So looking forward to actually really diving in next year and getting more in-depth with what I'm dealing with and going through as far as my plateaus and progress. It's going to hopefully be a good 2021 and talk to you then.
19th training session in the gym. It was short-lived. Did the warm-up, could tell my back was still tender. Told my trainer right away that I wanted to make sure I was warm and ease into things. We took a little extra time. The first movement I did was a max height jump. I did a few warm up jumps. Then we actually were going to do it with a weighted vest. I did three jumps with a weighted vest. On the third jump, jumping as high as I could, going off of two feet toward the rim, when I landed I could tell that my back didn't spasm, but didn't feel good. I looked at my trainer and said I'm not comfortable going at this intensity. We restructured today to do a very active, specific recovery around getting my glutes firing. Making sure I'm not flaring up my lower back or trying to do movements where I wasn't comfortable. Gave me homework for the next week. With Friday being a holiday for New Years, I won't be in the gym. Next week Monday I might be out of town, so not going to have that day in the gym. I'll have a full week here to target recovery. I feel like I've pushed pretty hard and grown. I can tell my strength is coming, but I don't want to lose the ability to be limber. With my back I don't want to mess around with it. It was painful enough today where after I was done, 2 hours it set in, I was struggling to bend over and take off my shoes. Just simple stuff. To me that's a signal. It's a healthy signal for the body to communicate that. I want to honor the fact if I'm not ready I have the advantage of not being forced into competition. Going to enjoy 2020 sitting on my butt tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll check in. Want to flip the script here and dive more into things outside of the gym. I think this week will be a great example. What do you do when physically you may not be able to train? But you still want to progress and add to the progress throughout the course of trying to dunk a basketball.
Yesterday was my 18th training session in the gym. Overall went really well. Emphasis on doing more explosive based movements. A lot of pulling, cleans, and finishing with jumping movements. Really enjoyed the end where I did single legged and double legged jumps straight onto a plyo box. It was a stackable foam plyo box. I think the height for the single leg standing was 24". You're standing there, flat footed, doing a little countermovement down then exploding up. Pulling your legs to the top of the box and driving through and sticking the landing. By the end of it, when I progressed to doing two legs, I was jumping around 34". That felt good. And that was high. But then I was able to finish on my last set doing 1 step into it. Think you have your right foot planted in front of you, left foot back, you're just bringing one step into the jump and going straight up and using your arms. I was able to get near 40". Keep in mind, I'm pulling my legs up to get that high. I'm not clearing 40". It was a lot of fun. Overall I could tell my body after I was done with that, especially in my lower left back, was super tender. I'm still dealing with that today. I got in the pool for a good half an hour and swam around. That was good. Tomorrow I'll have to taper back a little bit. At least on the movements that trigger any sort of pain in my back or in that general area. Just trying to respect the fact it's good to progress through some of these platues and understand my body is going to have discomfort. But I don't want to push to the point where I'm regressing because my body is trying to protect itself when you're doing too much too soon. Yesterdays workout was the limit of what I can do currently. I can tell my limit is going up, so that's always encouraging. I'll check in tomorrow after training and see how it goes.
Merry Christmas! Got outside, did two walks today. Probably a mile and a half. It was really nice weather. I'll keep this short. Check in on Monday when I'm back in the gym.
Christmas Eve. Nice and frosty. Went outside today. There wasn't a lot of wind. Actually there wasn't any wind where I went. Mayeb the temperature was hovering around 5 degrees F. I was dressed right. Went for a nice walk. Jogged a little on the trail. Maybe did a little over a mile. Super refreshing. Always like being outdoors and moving outside. Then I came back inside, stretched out my hips a bit, and continuing to work on my psoas muscle with that prop. Overall feeling good. Tomorrow will be more of the same. Tonight I'm doing this early so I can go celebrate the holidays with my family. Going into next week I'll get back in the gym. Then do a wrap of 2020 and see where I'm at 6 weeks into training.
Pretty light active recovery day. Spent a lot of time inside. It was really cold outside with high winds so didn't go on any walks. Tonight I did take 15 minutes to stretch out my hips. Continuing to use the psoas muscle release tool where I go on my stomach and breathe into it. I have noticed, after a week into this of doing it 5 minutes every night, I'm much more comfortable on it. I can't say the sensation feels good. It's not that painful. It's just like working into a muscle and getting it to where it's pliable. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so if I do check in it'll be earlier. Then Christmas Day we'll see. I'll just continue doing more the same. If the weather turns, hopefully I can get outside and do some activity out there.
For recovery I went outside. Normally I go to the pool, and I did go to the pool, but their hours were modified where they're not going to be open until next week Monday. So I ended up being outside today and went to a park with my puppy. We did a trail together. Maybe a little over a mile. It was snow covered. Going up and down slight hills and slopes. A lot of fun. It was right at sunset and so it actually got dark on our way back and we were jogging in the moonlight. It's not that cold yet. Maybe 30 degrees out. So wearing a coat and jogging I was practically sweating at the end. It was good. Tonight I'll take some time to do some stretching. I've got that prop for my psoas muscle. Using that at night for 5 minutes a night to try and breath into that and release it a little. I don't know if it works or not. I just know it feels good right now so I'll keep using it if it feels fine. Looking at the rest of the week. I won't be in the gym tomorrow because of blizzard conditions in the morning. Then looking at Friday being Christmas everything is closed. The soonest I'll be back in the gym is next week Monday. Really these next few days going to enjoy a deloading phase and really what I like to do. The things I do outside of the gym are really enjoyable to me. Baking food, doing light activities, hanging out. Those are all part of training as well. Looking forward to an extended rest. Still try to check in. Tomorrow for sure. We'll see with Christmas eve and Christmas day. Be primed and ready for next week
17th training session in the gym. A lot of fun this morning. French contrast training. Looked it up on wikipedia under "complex training". The whole idea is you're integrating both strength and plyometrics in the same set. Today I was doing a progression of jumping movements. By the end of it I was using the assistance of bands where as I was jumping up it was pulling me higher. It was a lot of fun. I didn't realize it as I was going through, but tonight it set in and I'm tired. I can tell my legs are at a point where I'm glad to have a recovery day tomorrow. I'm on the schedule to get in the gym on Wednesday. Then take Friday off with it being Christmas Day. See if the pools are open tomorrow.
16th training session in the gym. Went really well. Good warmup. Try to keep it around that 10 minute mark. Just break a good sweat. Make sure you're feeling good and prepped for the movements that you're doing. Even though I don't always know what I'm doing, there's a heavy emphasis on doing the jogs and making sure my legs are ready to work. First circuit that I did started with pulls in the rack. Think like a power clean snatch grip. It's wide. You're going straight up and driving for power and speed. Weight didn't get too heavy. Maybe 145lbs or something like that for 5 reps. Then the second movement in the first circuit was doing Russian box jumps. Not sure why it's called that. It's just a lateral movement. Similar to bounding that I did on Wednesday. Except you're on these boxes that are angled at a 45 degree and jumping laterally. You're going for height and distance. Have to keep it in check so that when you land you can rebound and stay explosive. Third movement that I did was taking a med ball, 25 lbs, being about 10 feet away from the wall and launching that into the wall. Using your hips and arm and driving all the way through. Second circuit was doing a kettle bell movement where I was doing a single arm lunge and then pressing the kettle bell up. I've never really done that. Super challenging. Not sure what weight it was. Think it was 20 kilograms. I'm more familiar with pounds. It was heavy enough to be challenging. Then finished with mixing in some upper body movements. Doing pushups on a slide board and chin-ups. Great workout. Feel really good this week. Like I was alluding to on Wednesday, starting to target recovery around my psoas muscle. I can explain some of that next week and see how that progresses. Going to enjoy the weekend and be back on Monday.
Went swimming for 30 minutes. Overall felt really good to be moving in the water. Haven't changed up my routine much there as far as when I'm in the water. 5 minutes of treading, then the rest is swimming laps. The rate of perceived effort is a 3-4. It's not a heavy hitter, swimming all out. It's just a relaxing, stimulating, get the heart rate going, muscles moving, blood pumping and call it good. Getting back to what I was discussing yesterday. I'm going to start doing more targeted recovery on specific areas that I feel are locked up. Right now I can tell I have a lot of good strength and things are coming along nicely with 5 weeks in the gym. But I'm also carrying some of the tension that's coming from lifting weights and doing these things. I picked up a tool. It's to help release the psoas muscle. I don't know my anatomy that well. For all I'm concerned, it's all in the hips. The shoulders and the hips, that's my biggest emphasis. Then making sure I have a healthy spine. Really just starts with your body moving well and not adding unnecessary friction or pressure to joints when you're out of position. I start with my hips and ask how does that feel. Right now I feel like there's areas that can use improvement. I'm going to start doing basic stuff at night. Doing a simple pigeon pose for 1-2 minutes. Doing deep breathing. Getting into the routine of doing more maintenance. I'm not pushing hard for flexibility. Just really want to start that process because 5 weeks from now, hopefully as I continue to progress, I feel more strength come along without more tension. Maybe that's idealistic. I think it's possible. I'm going to give it a try. Tomorrow I'll check in after I get done in the gym. Looking forward to a good weekend.
15th training session in the gym. Overall went really well. A lot of explosive based movements. Think power cleans, mixed in med ball tosses. You have a 20lb med ball. You're just squatting down a little and driving straight up and launching that straight above you as high as you can. Mixed in single leg bounds. Alternating legs. Driving for distance and height. Have to find that balance between not overreaching and stretching too far, and not jumping straight up, but truly doing a bound. Like a deer bounding over a fence. Overall a fun workout. Tomorrow I'll get in the pool. Get some light movement going. Then Friday looking to finish this week on a strong note. My body right now, since I started training, I try to step on the scale, keep a food log, and do some basic checks to make sure that I'm meeting my needs outside of the gym. In just a month of training put on about 6-7 lbs. Some of that is fluctuation. I can tell I'm feeling pretty strong and good right now. Not too tight. Certainly want to continue working on loosening up and staying limber. Even tomorrow might do some targeted hip exercises and try to activity work at it. For as hard as I'm going in the gym, I'm taking that same intensity and approach to allowing my body to have the right environment to heal. I'll check in tomorrow after I go swimming.
Feeling pretty good. Able to get in the pool tonight for 15 minutes. Started with a nice, easy warmup of treading water. Then went right into a breaststroke. Just did 2-3 laps and that was it. Interesting thing was, because I went at night, they have swimming lessons in one pool and in another pool have a high dive. I got to see two of these guys jumping off the high dive. Then a coach instructing them on their form as they're going off. Super interesting to me because I've never even thought of jumping off a diving board. I'm not a swimmer or trained in that at all. Seeing how their approach really affected their get off and ability to go straight up and go straight down into the water was kind of neat. Thing that I took away, just briefly watching it, as the coach really pointed out...as you're getting ready for the jump that's the thing everyone pays attention to. It's actually the lead in steps that determine how well you're going to be positioned. He was really emphasizing when you're on a single leg and you're putting that load on that single leg, you have to stay structurally intact from your head to your toes and your core is what keeps you together. If your leg breaks at all, or you break at the hip, and you lose that angle or lose that stability, on a diving board especially you kind of veer off and drift on your jump. Translating that to jumping on land. You can definitely feel when you get a good get off vs. a one footed jump where it feels flat. So maybe apply that tomorrow and pay more attention to how it feels leading into a jump and on the landing. Looking forward to a good nights rest and get after it tomorrow.
14th session in the gym. Overall feeling good. This morning I still felt the effects of Friday. On Saturday and Sunday did a nice job of letting myself sleep. A lot of passive recovery, but not a lot of targeted recovery. I'm going to have change that moving forward. I can tell there's some lingering things. Most of it being around my core. My supporting muscles along my spine are tight. Not an overly tight where I can't move. When I warm up it's pretty good. Want to make sure as I progress through my training I can stay limber and acrobatic as I move. The goal for me is not to be like heavy hitting, bulked up on muscle. Sure I can jump really high, but I can't move really well. So I'm doing the pool work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but actually mixing in a structured routine around some muscle pliability and mobility. Getting that range of motion where everyday I'm chipping away at it. Today was really nice. The movements lined up with things I've done in prior weeks. Every workout is a little different in the variations that we're doing. Today the thing that was different was instead of doing an isometric hold for 6 seconds where you're holding the weight, I was doing a 6 second lowering phase. So 6 seconds on the eccentric, bursting out of that, then going to the next rep. Tomorrow will be the pool and Wednesday back in the gym.
13 training session in the gym. Overall feel like my body is responding well. Emphasis is on moderate weights with good form. Introducing some new movements. Did a hanging power snatch today. Don't think I've ever done that before. It's not completely foreign to me. You're moving the weight with your hips and shrugging and doing the cleaning motion. You have a wide grip. Really need to make sure your shoulders are in place. Not throwing the weight around. It's a pretty precise, powerful movement. I had the weight at 85 and did 4 sets of 5-6 reps. That was just one movement as part of the circuit. Really enjoyed that. Mixed in some jumping. Finished the workout with a light circuit. 2 times through of weighted pull ups and weighted dips. Really feel like my entire body is being challenged right now. When I wake up, it's not just sore in one specific spot. It really is this overall good fatigue from challenging myself on a lot of things at once. Looking forward to a good weekend and on Monday get back in the gym.
Went swimming. 5 minutes of treading water. Swam 5 laps of the breastroke and mixed in some backfloats with a backstroke. After 20 minutes feels good. Always nice to get the heart flowing, but not overdoing it. The purpose of these Tuesday and Thursday gym sessions is to get the body moving. I'm not pushing in anyway. Tomorrow, looking forward to that workout. Going to bed early. Getting a good 9 hours of sleep and being prepared. The isometrics on Wednesday were pretty taxing. I don't think it was the weight that got me. It was the duration of the holds. I've even noticed my appetite. I've been eating more. I haven't stepped on the scale. To me the amount of weight that hold isn't a huge thing if I'm just fluctuating a few pounds here and there. Overall I do feel like my strength is starting to come. It's exciting. Tomorrow will be my 13th session in the gym. Things are trending the right direction. Just need to make sure that my recovery stays in check with the training that I do. Keep myself honest with not overdoing it. Having a lot of fun right now. With this podcast I don't expect a lot of value coming out of it. It's just a training log. I'll probably start delving more into nutrition, and lifestyle factors. Something I've noticed is some of the podcasts I listen to I take those ideas and mesh those in and experiment with it. It'd be fun to connect with other people and have conversations around some of that stuff. I'll check in tomorrow after my workout.
12th training session in the gym. Overall went well. Emphasis is shifting into isometric movements. 1st set that I did involved putting a bar on my back, padded around the neck, then angling myself to where my hands were on a bar by my waist. Think of it like stretching your calves. Kind of at that angle against the wall. I was squatted down in a loaded position, holding that for 6 seconds then extending upward. Doing that for 4-5 reps. Super challenging. Didn't expect it to be as hard as it was. By the 4th set I was definitely at the point I could feel my heart pumping. It felt like I was running even though I wasn't going anywhere. My trainer actually explained some of the science behind it. Even in endurance athletes mixing in the isometric movements can lower the resting heart rate. Your body can just adapt and become more efficient. I really enjoyed it. The final movement I did, just fast forwarding to the end of my workout, was doing weighted glute bridges. Held those for 6 seconds at the top, then go down. Did 2 sets of 8. On the 2nd set I was done for, in a good way. Really glad I had Monday off for an extra day of rest. Looking to get to bed tonight. It's later, probably try to get in the pool tomorrow night. Then Friday get back in the gym.
Active recovery session at the pool. Got in tonight, swam around for 20 minutes. I'd like to stretch it a little more where there's actual time to warmup/cooldown. When I get in the pool, regardless of how long I'm in, I always do 5 minutes of treading water. Make sure my heart rate gets pumping. Start with 5 laps of breaststroke. Then from there doing what feels good. Looking at tomorrow, I'll be getting back in the gym. My last session was on Friday. Feeling ready. Like I said, yesterday, my spine along my back muscles still feel tight and tender. That's something I'll have to continue to work on and progress. Excited to lace up and get after it.
Just checking in. Didn't have anything scheduled for a gym session. Next one will be on Wednesday. Didn't do anything in the pool today. Only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays anyway. Really enjoyed today to take extra time to sleep. Passive rest. I'll do a little stretching before bed. Overall feeling good. Can feel the muscles along my spine. Still tender. Probably good to get a little more recovery in. Tomorrow I'll get some more movement in the pool. Then Wednesday be coming into the gym pretty fresh.
11th session in the gym. Overall feeling really good. Keep this brief. Got a big weekend ahead of me. Get to take my puppy and go introduce him to some cats on the family farm. Anyway, in the gym, I was able to do a lot of explosive movements today. The reps and weight were moderate, but the form was being critiqued and corrected. I did cleans, some bounding over hurdles, and mixed in some core work. Then finished with doing some work on the slide board. Targeting balance and inner groin. Overall was a really nice workout and nice cap to the week. Monday of next week I won't be going in the gym, so my next session will be Wednesday of next week. Going to use that as a good opportunity to up the recovery, make sure I'm well rested. Overall things are going really well.
Got in the pool to go swimming. Wasn't able to do it over my lunch. Had my appointment with the Registered Dietician. After I got done with work, and after puppy class tonight, headed over to the pool. Went swimming for 25 minutes. Similar format, treading water for 5 minutes then doing 5 laps of the breaststroke up and back. Mixing in backfloat and doing a lap of an actual backstroke. Then adjusting to more movement in the water where my heart rate is getting up. The whole point of being in the pool is to get the muscles moving, get blood flowing, and use it as an active recovery. I have fun with it. Came home and can tell my body is feeling sore in a good way from Wednesday's workout. The single leg glute bridges really pinpoint the glutes. I am a little stiff and tight in the midsection. Really want to work on loosening that up. I do have a foam roller and also a foam roller, think it's HyperIce is the company, has different levels for vibration. I use that periodically. Right now I haven't been able to get in to get any type of deep tissue massage. Working at the surface layer to try and help stimulate recovery there. Overall tomorrow should be a good workout. I'm getting to bed pretty early tonight. Feeling like I'm in a pretty solid routine. My appointment with the Registered Dietician went really well. I can maybe discuss that more. I almost find the things I'm doing outside of training in the gym more interesting than what I'm doing in the gym. That's where I look back at what I've done so far in the first couple of weeks of podcasting. This is just a bare bones daily training log. It's even hard for me to go back and listen to it because it's like, well whatever, not that interesting. I think when it comes to food, when it comes to recovery, when it comes to lifestyle, what you do outside the gym, those things all really matter. And they're all really fun. Might pivot a little bit in the sense of not putting such a heavy emphasis on here's all that I'm doing in the gym. I still want to provide that information. Look at this holistically and realize when you're training for a goal take in the other aspects of your life and make sure that those are in alignment. I'm really finding a lot of pull by working with people in different domains. The Registered Dietician being one of them. Really want to continue exploring.
10th session in the gym. Started off at 6:30. Feeling great. Really like the rhythm of training at the same time each day. Being able to get a time slot from 6:30-7:30 in the morning makes it one less thing to think about. I like waking up, getting in the gym like this. Started with dynamic warmup. Broke a sweat. Right away first circuit was 5 different movements. Rep scheme is still pretty high. Most challenging movement by far, or that I felt right away, was a single leg weighted glute bridge on a bench. You roll your legs underneath the barbell. I had 95lbs on total on there. Then you raise yourself by putting your shoulders on the bench. Then you're doing that bridge motion and holding at the top. Coming down, touching lightly, then driving back up. Did 4 sets of 10 on that. Mixed in a second circuit doing some upper body and upper back work and balance exercises. Overall today was a great bang for you buck type of session. A lot of the movements I did didn't require a lot of movement but really focused on stabilizing. Tomorrow I'll get in the pool like usual. Try to do that over my lunch break again. Pretty excited, tomorrow I have an appointment with a registered dietician. I'm going to be experimenting with modifying how I eat. Putting an emphasis on a more plant-based approach. Currently, my history coming into this, I tend to be somebody that eats more plants than not. More nuts and seeds. I don't flat out avoid eating meat or processed foods. My preference is for homemade meals. This summer I had a garden which was awesome. Nothing really beats homemade food coming out of the garden. Then you prep that. Excited to work with a dietician and make sure I meet my nutritional needs as I continue to progress through the training.
Over my lunch break went swimming. Mixed it up. I was assigned a lane where the diving board, the jump off board, was open. The cover was off. I asked the lifeguard if it was fine to jump off of it. I found out that diving off of that is not like diving off a diving board. It's like a shallow fast start. Did that 3 times. Tread water for 5 minutes. Swam another 10 laps. Doing the breaststroke and finishing with the backstroke and then backfloat. Tomorrow will get in the gym for my 10th session. Feeling pretty good. I can tell in my midriff my outer hips are pretty tender. Not sure if that was from Monday's workout. Being in the pool felt great. I love being able to move freely without any of the resistance of traditional weights.
9th gym session. Feeling great. Took 10 minutes for dynamic warmup, broke a sweat. Then started first circuit doing explosive box squats. The height was as high as I would go. It's to mimic what the jumping movement would be. You're not doing a full squat. You're just dipping down low enough to gather the strength to drive straight up. The weights and reps, started at 185lbs. Then doing 6 reps. Then progressed that by the fourth set doing 245 for 6 reps. The emphasis is loading and exploding up. So, even with 245 on my back, able to push that weight and drive it. If I wasn't holding it down with my arms at all the bar would keep going. The idea isn't to jump with the bar on your back, but it's that type of momentum going up you need. Did a lot of other lower body jumping explosive type things. I won't get into the details of it. Did a granny toss medball, just going straight up as hard as you can and driving your hips. Then taking resisted bands, jumping with those. Again, driving the hips, going straight up. The second circuit paired in some good countermovements with doing pushes and pulls on my upper body. Did some incline pushes with dumbbells. Then did a seated row. That felt good on the middle of the back. Overall today was pretty heavy volume. I felt like my body held up. I talked about this last week. Finally feel like things are waking up a bit. Rest and recovery are super important. Going into a workout, if I'm feeling well rested, it makes all the difference for me. I can push through, even if I don't have that rest on my side. When you do, though, you don't feel destroyed by the end of it. Tomorrow I'll be getting in the pool. Go swim 10 or 15 laps. Then Wednesday get back in the gym.
Pool session today. 15 laps. Did 5 laps of breaststroke, 5 laps of backfloat, and finished with 5 laps of sidestroke. Warmed up treading water for 5 minutes. Good on the body. Getting it prepared for swimming. Good on the shoulders and hips. Prior to that I was at the park with my puppy again. Did some running around. Feeling good. Glad I was able to take this Friday as a day off, but still able to get outside and swim around a bit. This weekend looking forward to more of the same. Then Monday will be my next session in the gym. Lower back, exactly a week ago now when I did the heavy pulls. The heavy deadlifts. Felt like I tweaked it. Just didn't feel right. It's certainly improved. I can feel it a little bit. I'm going to continue to work on it. I actually have a Black and Decker buffer pad machine/tool. Designed for buffing your car, but use that for your bigger muscles. Like your lower back, glutes, just loosen it up. Feels good. Just 2-3 minutes. Overall excited for the weekend and I'll check in on Monday.
Keeping this short and sweet. It's Thanksgiving. Went outside for a nice two mile walk. Feeling pretty good. Tomorrow will do an hour of active recovery. Mixing in some yoga and light stretches. Continue to be outside. It's been so nice.
8th session in the gym. Feeling good. Did a dynamic warmup, broke a sweat. Started with deadlifts. Lowered the weight, improved the form making sure that things are engaging properly. Now that I'm getting back in the gym I can tell some of my muscles are firing better - especially in the glutes, hamstrings, and posterior chain. Did a lot of glute activation. Took ankle resistance bands and did a side shuffle. Then bring the band up to your knees, go on your back, and do glute bridges. After the first circuit my glutes were awake. Second circuit was a lot of whole body movements. One was a resisted band pull - just call it the woodchopper where you go from low to high. All these are coordinated movements where you're getting explosive power from your hips and going all the way through. You're not arching your back, or overemphasizing it. You're just making sure that you finish. The last movements I finished with were a little upper body and core. Did pull ups and dips. Something like a pull up is working upper body, but it's a good stabilizer on the core to finish with. Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving. I don't have anything officially planned. Might do a little light active recovery. Friday will be a bit different. Don't have a session in the gym, so splice in an active recovery day. Then take Saturday and Sunday off. I'll still try to record tomorrow, but if it doesn't I'll catch it on Friday.