I’m Back! P90X Kenpo

andersonsilvastarIt’s been a while, I have been battling many things, a very sore leg which may have a slight infection, a hacking cough that won’t go away, a significant weight gain that is preventing me from getting to a pain free plateau and a return to coaching that will no doubt throw a wrench into my workout schedule. However, I am glad to report that I have been able to do 2 workouts now using the 135lb olympic bar. It’s not the volume I would like to say I am doing yet but I made it through and recovered in the standard 3 days. This is pretty significant for me because it signifies the threshold that I wanted to reach where I could say I was back into my normal range of functionality. I now realize that I am going to have to start back with my regular stretching and mobility work too since I have been staying away from it in order not to stress my back too much but I know I can’t expect to move any significant weight around without maintaining a good stretching regimen. I have also done a couple of kettlebell workouts with my 45 and 55lb KBs which also represents a milestone given the amount of stress that KB swings put n your spine. My chinups are pretty sad, I am only able to hit about 7 or 8 in a row but I did manage to do a 100 pullup workout a couple of weeks ago mixed in with 100 ring dips.

I hesitate to say I am back to normal only because I still live with a huge amount of pain every day. I realize that the better I feel, the more I do so therefore it will be a while before I am able to feel “normal” but the good sign is that my actual workout weights are getting back there. My endurance is a whole other ball game. I am really gassing out very quickly and I need to really work on my high intensity capacity now, giving me a longer window of time where I can keep my work rate high. I am certain that there is no way I would be able to match my bootcamp capacity from last year at this point but hopefully before Christmas gets here I will be able to do a 750 calorie workout in 45 minutes which was my peak performance that I can recall from last year.

I did do P90X Kenpo last night, I wanted a little cardio and to feel like I was mobile and Kenpo really did the trick. It was so weird going back to those videos but the forced warmup and stretching did wonders for me. If I have to, I will go back to Tony to get me back n track with the warmups and cool downs since it seems to be that is a critical component to my next few months.

Mud Hero 2013

mudheroslide2013It was always my goal, right since I learned of my surgery in April to do the Mud Hero on August 24. I figured it would be a measure of my recovery and a test of my mettle.

I didn’t realize how much of a challenge actually deciding to go would be since I had thought that I would be almost fully recovered and ready for anything. That was hardly the case. The week before the race I was sore every day, my back was actually feeling very delicate up to the day of the race and even on the way there, I was still debating in my head whether to cheer my girls or suck it up and run. Since there is only really ever one answer to that dilemma I put on my big boy pants and headed for the start.

I was actually really surprised by how easy the course was this year solely due to the fact we knew what to expect. I remember last year not knowing how far or how hard to run and that lack of knowledge really sapped my energy. This year, knowing exactly where we were going and what to expect made it all the more easy. That’s not to say that I didn’t find it hard, it was terribly difficult given my lack of mobility for certain movements especially when it came to ducking under things, such as the first mud pool under the logs. There was not much running done by any of us, my loyal and wonderful athletes and co-workers stayed with me, and despite obviously being able to do much more than I kept up with the encouragement and added so much to the enjoyment of the day.

The course was very similar to last year, however they had bolted the car boot and bonnets closed so no surprises there and the water slide which almost made a lady out of one of our male competitors last year instead of letting out into a small forest went straight into a deep mud pool. They had added another mud pool with tubes up which you had to climb which was a little challenging given my girth but I am proud to say that I did not skip any of the obstacles and only finished about 15 minutes behind last year’s time.

It was an amazing feat for me, I am so happy I decided to run, I am certain I would have regretted not going if I had stayed off the course. I must also say a huge thank you to my wonderful wife who, instead of running the course, took the time to hang out with our daughter to watch her daddy make a mess of himself.

All in all, a huge success, and I guess the next few days will tell just how close to a full recovery I am but for now I can say that I made my pre surgery goal of competing in the Mud Hero only 4 months after back surgery… and I am old too!!

RehabD9 – Getting Serious

Yesterday was my first return to what I would consider a “normal” style workout.

10 rounds:

5 chin ups
10 pushups
15 squats

10 rounds:

5 dips
10 vsnaps
15 military pushups

Time will tell, I know I am pretty sore this morning but how I wake up tomorrow will be a big indication as to whether I am ready to get back to my workouts or not. The crappy thing is that I probably won’t be sleeping in my own bed tonight, we are heading to Huntsville for a wedding and if I don’t get stuck at work I will have to sleep there. That may confuse the issue or compound the soreness, but whichever it is I think however I feel tomorrow may partially be a result of a new bed. As of right now, I am sore, but mobile, not really much of a change from a normal day, my back cracking  a lot, stretching is painful, even the hunch is painful today not just tight. I also was up at 4am to come to work which means I am a little short on sleep which I am sure isn’t helping. Let’s hope this is the beginning of the end of feeling like an injured player and the start of getting back in the game.

RehabD6 – Rehab Recap

kettlebells-anatomyAs far as I can remember I didn’t do anything on Saturday since I had coached Friday and worked all day. Sunday I did a basic Olympic lift workout managing to stick with my 70lb barbell for now and covering off the basics:

5 rounds of:

10 Squat
10 Deadlift
5 Power Clean
5 Clean and press

Sure doesn’t sound like much when I look at it now but my legs were very sore from wide leg squatting 2 of the sets. My back was very sore Monday morning while getting ready for Wonderland but it was workable. Monday after Wonderland I needed to work on my pullups again so I did the following poor impersonation of a workout:

10 rounds of:

5 pullups
5 ring dips

That is really pretty sad but again, I am really all about making sure that what I do isn’t disabling me afterwards and so far I think I have a good handle on my limits. It’s Tuesday and I have to coach Wed and Thurs but I think today I need to pull off a WOD type full body workout and I am actually ready to try the med ball cleans again with the 35lb wallball. I must add that I also did a kettlebell workout at work on Friday (I almost forgot) and while it was once again rather small, it was a large victory to know I can KB swing with a 45lb KB and survive. Maybe that means I can add some KB to my med ball cleans today.

All in all it’s been a pretty good few days, the parents are in town which is great for us and for the grandchild and I am still managing to get some physical work done. Things are indeed looking up from a functional aspect. I am still very sore in the mornings and EXTREMELY tired no matter how much sleep I get. I do seem to snap out of both very quickly but I think I do need to get more rest.

RehabD2 – Bench is back

marge benchI benched 275 today which is my full operating weight!! I also was able to do some pullups without the crunching and searing pain in my shoulder so all in all things seem to be moving along. I did maybe 12 sets of bench with various weights from 135 to 275 and probably a total of 50 or so pullups in varying sets of 3-7. Certainly not impressive for a healthy person, but pretty epic for me! I was at physio which left me a little sore, but other than that I felt OK during the day.

Gym conditioning

60s per item, 2 min rest

box jumps or pushups
in and out
squats or military
vsnaps
walking lunge
jack and jill
frog jumps or burpees

Bonus

lunge walk + squat 10 lines with 20lb collar
5 stairs with collar
5 double stairs with collar

RehabD1 – Catchup. Let’s call my rehab August.

It’s time to start recording my workouts, although I use that term loosely, so that I can see exactly what progress if any I am making. Also I want to record the work my girls are doing at gym now we are all back.

The latest from the gym:

4 rounds:
20 hip lifts on box
15 box jumps
10 box pushups (decline and incline)
5 box jump burpee
10 box dips (plus leg us)
15 box runner taps
20 vsnaps

“Candy”
5 pushups
10 vsnaps
15 squats

5 rounds of 10:
burpee/pushup burpee/clap push burpee/pushup and in and out burpee
high box jump up / box jump squat
Frog jump / FJ jump full turn /FJ tuck jump
pop squat / pop half / pop jump full
full situp
military pushup / military clap / military shoulder touch
v crunch / jack and jill / vsnap crucnh double
Bonus: Walk of pain – Weighted walking lunge plus stairs x5

The latest from  home:

Bench

135 x 10 x 3
185 x 10 x 3
225 x 5 x 3

Oly lift @ 75lbs

Deadlift x5 x3 then x10 x2
Hang Clean x5 x3 then x10 x3
Clean x5 x4
Clean and press x5 x2
Kettlebell squat @55lb x 10 x 3

Leg day

rehab leg work for right quad, partial squat and leg extension
air squats 10 x 5
KB squats @55lb 10 x 4
calf raises singles and doubles x20 x5

 

BSRD90 – Breaking The Silence

Silent smiley faceI am not ashamed to say that my frustration and fears have prevented me from even venting here. There was a time not more than a few days ago when I was almost convinced I would be back under the knife in the every near future. However someone asked me whether I was getting better week on week and I think that was the one thing that brought me back to my painful reality. My initial recovery had been so fast and so impressive that after my “incident” I was incredibly disillusioned with my situation and although I am far from happy now, I am slowly accepting that my road to recovery may be longer and slower than I thought it was going to be.

I was  hoping that my day 90 would be like my old P90X graduation days, a celebration of achievement and a plan for the next level of participation. Not so. The only silver lining I have at this time is that I am not on painkillers any more and I am, at least occasionally, able to do some weight bearing workouts. I am resigned to the fact that things are going to be suboptimal for the foreseeable future, however that has not stopped me from planning for said future.

It’s time for me to drink the Crossfit Kool-aid. The new Crossfit box near my house, Crossfit Ark, has a half price sale, the membership is only $75 per month with unlimited use for a year so I bit the bullet and signed up. I realise it may be a while until I can really use the facility but I am confident that during the coming year I will get fair use out of it especially during the winter when I can’t really work out in my garage or on the deck.

I am happy to report that my humble little website has surpassed a MILLION hits this past month. Yup, it’s taken 4 years but I finally got there! Thanks to everyone for participating and at least pretending to be interested in my fitness journey. Let’s hope it starts to get a little more entertaining again now.

I have picked up another injury, I have a very sore shoulder, so bad in fact that for the first time in my life I am unable to chinup because of the pain. I guess I will be seeing my new friend Jonathan at Align to see if he can fix me. It is pretty bad though, I am hoping I will be back in action on the chinup bar in a  couple of weeks. Especially since I want to finally learn the bar muscle up.

So for now I will put faith in my body to heal, albeit slowly, and I will deal with the extra 30 minutes it takes me to get up in the morning. I don’t really have a choice in the matter, so I will make the best. That said, the reality is that for now, week on week, I am slowly improving and as long as that continues, the silver lining will continue to inspire my confidence.

As far as actual workouts go, I have been extremely careful but also diligent in making sure what I do is recorded and the after effects documented. Here is what I have found out so far.

Bench – I am able do do 250lbs bench which is a reasonable working weight for me at any stage. That makes me happy. That said, I have to be very careful since bench is what crocked my shoulder, and I am not sure how or why.
Squats – Not real squats, air squats. After several attempts and cycles I find I can go all the way down to my heels and still be OK. I also find I can squat holding either 50lbs in kettlebells or a 35lb wall ball and still be fine. This is also good.
Deadlifts and Cleans – I have tried, but so far this makes me far too sore to make them part of my workouts. However I have successfully worked briefly with 70lbs without a long term injury.
Pullups – These would be a staple of my workouts at the moment if I could do them but since my shoulder injury I have not been able to get on the bar at all which is a major glitch.
Kettlebells – These make me very sore indeed, too much to do anything at all.
Work – Standing at work is torture. This will improve once my stool arrives but all I know is sitting would be worse. I am now working 6 hours 4 days a week so I am almost up to full time but it’s the worst thing that I am currently doing for my pain level. Figures, right?

That’s is for the review. I have 4 days work next week then it’s back to full time by which time I hope to be able to push through and resume at least most of my previous life.

 

 

BSRD74 – Handling The Fear

lookouttruckThere is a saying that says that the light at the end of the tunnel is sometimes an oncoming train. I would like to add to that by saying that if you are way ahead of the curve, you are probably on the wrong side of the road and are about to get hit head on.

That’s how I feel right now, like I have been hit head on by the Karma truck. I don’t know what I did, but 2 weeks ago I felt like I was almost back to 100%, my back was fine, I was working out, sleeping well and everything was perfect. Then I spent a day at the computer for work and suddenly I am 10 days into a recovery that isn’t going anywhere. It is serious enough that I mentioned it to my surgeon during the follow up. He basically ignored my complaint but he did say if it happened again to go back. I feel like if someone goes to a doctor and tells them that they got bitten by a rabid dog the answer probably wouldn’t be “if it happens again, come back”. In fact, I am having a hard time reconciling that attitude with any condition. Still, I trusted him (something I said I would never do after the last surgery) and here I am. In the mornings my back is so painful that I can’t stand up. It takes at least 10 minutes for my list to go away, and it’ s as pronounced as it used to be when my back was completely out. I can’t find a solution as far as how to lay down or sit since both seem to be making me sore. The worst thing about it is that after an hour or so of moving around, I feel OK, in fact, I feel pretty good but I can’t bring myself to do anything workout wise in case I actually have a damaged incision or internal scarring that I may make worse. I am officially in limbo.

I certainly can’t go on waking up this way, it’s just too painful, so much so that I have gone through my last few percocet during the last 2 weeks which I swore I would not do. I am not sure what to do and how much time to give the issue to resolve.

I have had this pain before during this rehab as noted here:

I woke up today, Sunday, and found that my back was mysteriously sore. I didn’t really do much yesterday, we went to Wonderland but only walked for about 30 mins with lots of resting and sitting. I also didn’t do my regular walk since Saturday and Sunday are my walking rest days so I am not sure what the deal is. The thing that is scary is that the pain isn’t incision pain, it’s tight muscular pain that in the past has led to the disc compression. So I am understandably cautious this morning.

However that was back on day 20, I am now on day 74 and forgive me for thinking that I should be past this.

I am going to keep walking and of course, working my 4 hour days this week and I will report on Monday how I am. If I am still in the grips of this issue then I am deciding right now that on Monday I will call the surgeon and schedule an appointment.

This Post Is Unrelated – Ford USB glitch

Yesterday my USB stick in the car stopped playing. Of course believing in the power of the internet I Googled it and found the solution as follows (which worked perfectly!):

So, I had a nice, shiny new ’08 Edge with the Sync system. I bought a USB thumb drive on which to store all of my music so I don’t have to drag my ipod in and out of the car. I loaded up my music, plugged it in, and itworked like clockwork.

Then, a couple days later, it stopped. The voice commands still worked, indexing was working fine, the radio even showed that it was playing my songs with the timer ticking away. But, there was no sound. After I tried everything I could think of (master reset on sync, re-formatting the usb drive, testing it with my ipod- which worked perfectly, testing the usb drive on my computer – which also worked perfectly, etc.) I gave up and called tech support. They told me that it was a known issue (phew), and I would have to take my car into the dealership to have them pull a fuse and replace it. They wouldn’t tell me which fuse, or where to find it.

Well, not wanting to take an hour out of my day for a simple problem, I cracked open the instruction manual. It lists fuse #3 (I think 15mA) for Sync. I opened up the fuse box, pulled that fuse, but it was fine. I popped it back in, and figured I’d give it a shot anyway. It WORKED PERFECTLY! It’s been a couple days now, and I haven’t had another problem.

QUICK SOLUTION:

1. Remove fuse box trim cover (inside the car, just in front of the driver side door, next to the parking brake), by sliding the unlock lever to the right, and then pulling the cover off. (Grab it from thetop and pull toward you).

2. Remove the fuse box cover (yeah, there’s another one). Squeeze the two latches on either side of the box (hard) and pull off.

3. Locate the proper fuse on the LEFT-MOST COLUMN, THIRD FUSE FROM THE TOP.

4. Use the fuse-grabber-thingy (technical term), that can be found on the inside of the fuse cover to remove the fuse.

5. Pop the fuse back in (make sure it’s not blown, mine wasn’t).

6. Put back the fuse-grabber-thingy, close both of the covers.

7. That’s it! Turn on the car, and your USB drive should be working again.

I hope this helps at least one person, and saves a little time and frustration! Let me know if there are any questions.

 

BSRD63 – The Inevitable Setback Arrives

only-a-flesh-woundYesterday I was in the kitchen and stooped to pick something off the floor. The tightness I immediately felt vertically along my incision site alarmed me and inevitably angered me once again. I spoke of my anger and bitterness when this happened after my first surgery 10 years ago and it’s really no different this time but there are a couple of things to note. First, this is not the soreness and regular pain I have been having for the last few weeks. That was some workout pain and physio pain but just general muscular soreness. This is more of a nerve pain, a shooting stabbing and restrictive pain that alters my mobility and causes me to feel physically nauseated. I can’t really describe it, it’s not the nerve pain from the disc that I get when my back is “out” but it’s a precursor to that. It’s as if I am too tight and the muscles are pulling my vertebrae together causing a bulging of the disc. All I know is that today I feel like I did 2 weeks after surgery, immobile, in a boatload of pain and absolutely intolerable to be around. All I can hope is that with a couple of careful days I can be ready to get back to my life on Monday with a well earned day off work and a short work week!

I’m sure it’s just a flesh wound. I am keeping my fingers crossed, I would appreciate if you could cross yours too, to be safe.