Scott Styles Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 It's looking like Saturday will be my next workout. I think I've managed to dodge getting sick, but I'm not pushing my luck. I'll spend tonight cleaning up the apartment, hopefully purging as many of the foul germs as possible. I also plan to cook so I'm eating better. This past week it's been nothing but taking food out of containers. I'm sick of it. Weight hit 219.2 this morning. I count that as 220, but nice to break into the two teens. Probably the lightest I've been since early 2004. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 24, 2007 Author Share Posted March 24, 2007 Decided to swich up my workout schedule for this week, since I'm closing on the new place Friday. Going to do a lower/upper split on Sa/Su and Tu/W. Hit the lower workout today, followed by a 1.5 mile walk and some mobility work. My foot's been bothering me a bit more the past few days, so I wanted to spend some time working the kinks out. If it doesn't stop hurting as my weight drops, I'm going to need to aggressively try to rehab it at some point. On the grip side, I used my axle on the romanian deadlifts. I'm only using 145lbs for 3x5, so that really wasn't too hard on the grip. Then I tried doing my side bends with the empty 73lb axle. Man, that was tough. I could only hold on to it for 2 sets of 5 and my forearms got pumped. Balancing the bar well is key with that exercise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 25, 2007 Author Share Posted March 25, 2007 Squeezed in an upper workout this morning, primarily with kettlebells. Actually managed to do my side bridges for more than 30 seconds, which is a first. I'm sure it's related to both the weight loss and the side bends. I attempted renegade rows. They are fricking hard on the core. I couldn't really do them. Right as I was finishing my workout, I had to leave to go to lunch with my dad. Towled off the sweat and ran downstairs to get into his Miata, which had the top down. We got Chipolte, then went for a 4 mile walk. That was a mistake. It's 77 and sunny outside. Reminds me of when I was in Santa Monica in November. Anyway workout + no cool down + big meal + 4 mile walk in heat = I get sick. My head was pounding and I almost puked. When I got in, it took an hour of laying in a cool bath for the sickness to go away. Now I've got the air cranked full blast and the blinds closed. Summer is not for me. I want my cool gray midwestern Spring back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 I ended up catching whatever everyone else in my office is sick with. Stupid work. I stayed home sick today and will probably do so tomorrow. I'm working from home, so all it really means is I miss my workouts. Sucks though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilkaz Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 I ended up catching whatever everyone else in my office is sick with. Stupid work. I stayed home sick today and will probably do so tomorrow. I'm working from home, so all it really means is I miss my workouts. Sucks though. Looking good here, Scott. Feel better and once again, congrats on the house ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfeemiman Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 One of reasons I don't like doing hardcore cardio is because I puke a lot (probably because I have ****ty cardio to began with). But once I'm done puking, I feel like a relative million dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 Thanks Neil. superfeemiman, walking 4 miles wasn't supposed to be hard core cardio! Now that I'm sick, I can't decide if the fact that I was getting sick had reduced my endurance, or if running myself into the ground like that weakened my defenses and let me get sick. It's probably the former, but I like to think I have more control over what happens to me than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfeemiman Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Thanks Neil.superfeemiman, walking 4 miles wasn't supposed to be hard core cardio! Now that I'm sick, I can't decide if the fact that I was getting sick had reduced my endurance, or if running myself into the ground like that weakened my defenses and let me get sick. It's probably the former, but I like to think I have more control over what happens to me than that. Heh, I know man. Just relating my past puking experiences involving walking/running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 No training today. Just sitting has my heart rate at a steady 90 bpm. At least I'm finally on the upswing from being sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted March 31, 2007 Author Share Posted March 31, 2007 Down to a resting heart rate of 75bpm today. Did 5-10 mintutes with my 12k kettlebell this morning before going out. I just wanted to wake my body up and get blood flowing. It helped to mask my sickness symptoms for a few hours while I went to the house closing. I'm now officially a home owner. It doesn't feel much different, but I'm glad it's done. It will be great to move in. My wheels are already spinning, trying to figure out how I'm going to get some extra cash to pay this place off. Given that my 3 year old resume is getting unsolicited emails from recruiters, I think I might be able to pick up some consulting work on the side. I'm going to spend the next month polishing gripfaq.com, and then see what I can do. I suppose I'll give my boss option for first dibs on the extra hours. I'd like to be debt free again in 7 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilkaz Posted March 31, 2007 Share Posted March 31, 2007 Glad you're feeling mostly better, Scott and once again, congrats on becoming a home owner ! .. neilkaz .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 Thanks Neil. I'm looking forward to moving in! Took it easy today. 1.5 mile walk to get a frozen pizza and some mixed greens for dinner with my wife. This meal seems to be becoming a Saturday night tradition. I certainly enjoy it, as does my wallet. I've decided my primary goal for this weekend is to be back in the gym on Monday, setting up to hit 4 workouts a week for the next 4 weeks. Now that the house is closed, I need to be back on a consistent routine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 Unsuprisingly, body weight hit 218 this morning. I don't think I made progress towards my relatively strong goal this week, however. Finished off the day yesterday with some light gripper work. I was barely closing the #1. I also got my gym bag sorted and went to bed at a decent hour. Woke up at 6 this morning, which is right on time for when I need to get up during the week to hit the gym. I still have a slight cough today, but my resting heart rate is back down to 60bpm. Almost better. Last weekend I ordered another 16k kettlebell. My dad is dropping it off today, so I may play around with some doubles work this afternoon to get the blood flowing. If I like it, I can pair up my 12k and 20k kettlebells. Then I'd probably sell my 60lb powerblocks to regain some of the cost. I don't really like them too much, and they were $330 new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 2, 2007 Author Share Posted April 2, 2007 Didn't get the kettlebell today, my dad forget to bring it when we went out. I'll get it next weekend. Probably for the best, as I'm still a bit tired. I did eat pretty well today and make food for the week. I also did some mobility work after my shower. Everything was tight. Assuming I can eat dinner, brush my teeth, and go to bed in the next 2.5 hours, I'm on track to be in the gym tomorrow morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 3, 2007 Author Share Posted April 3, 2007 I hit the gym today and yesterday. Preparation makes all the difference. I didn't lose any strength from the time sick. In fact, I ended up snatching a 60lb dumbell lefty and righty today. I think that ties my best dumbell snatch. My shoulder and foot do have me frustrated though. Today the only way I could press without my shoulder clicking was to use a neutral grip through the full range of motion. It took me several sets to find that worked and now my elbow is a little sore from it. My foot still has pain in the area I hurt when I fell on the stairs in last July. I probably should try working on them daily. I just haven't wanted to make the time yet. Maybe once I've moved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 5, 2007 Author Share Posted April 5, 2007 Grip workout got dropped tonight for something more important. I dug my homemade dard out of the basement and finished it. Got some shorter pipes to connect the pieces so they fit my feet properly, then put some insulation on the part that rests on my toes. It works pretty well now. After reading about foot problems, it seems most likely that my issue is Plantar Fasciitis. If it is, the pain I get comes from stretching the tendons on the bottom of my foot further than they are prepared to go. The more force I apply, the further the tendons have to stretch. When I stretch them too far by applying too much force, they hurt. This explains why as the day goes on and my tendons have a chnace to warmup and stretch out, my foot hurts less. When I fell down the stairs, I think the degree of tramua I had on the bottom of my left foot reflected the fact that I had this is a pre-existing problem. I'd previously had similar problems with my right foot while playing DDR. So what to do about it? Well, I figure I need a several pronged approach: 1. Strengthen the front of my shin, so that the muscles are more in balance with those in my calves. I think improving the balance here will reduce the amount of tightening that occurs on the bottom of my foot overnight. 2. Strengthen all the small muscles in my foot and ankles through balance training. These muscles are responsible for stabilizing my feet as I walk. The stronger and healthier they are, the lower my risk of an unexpected event where I exceed force tolerance of the bottom of my foot. These are simple things like walking with a kettlebell overhead, or balancing on one foot. 3. Do work to keep my ankle mobile and the soft tissues of my feet as healthy as possible. I currently do this through the foot exercises, as well as manually manipulating the soles of my feet while I stretch. So really, I'm adding the toe raises on a dard to what I already do. We'll see if it helps. It'd be nice to stop avoiding calf raises, running, and jumping for fear of re-injuring my foot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfeemiman Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Grip workout got dropped tonight for something more important. I dug my homemade dard out of the basement and finished it. Got some shorter pipes to connect the pieces so they fit my feet properly, then put some insulation on the part that rests on my toes. It works pretty well now.After reading about foot problems, it seems most likely that my issue is Plantar Fasciitis. If it is, the pain I get comes from stretching the tendons on the bottom of my foot further than they are prepared to go. The more force I apply, the further the tendons have to stretch. When I stretch them too far by applying too much force, they hurt. This explains why as the day goes on and my tendons have a chnace to warmup and stretch out, my foot hurts less. When I fell down the stairs, I think the degree of tramua I had on the bottom of my left foot reflected the fact that I had this is a pre-existing problem. I'd previously had similar problems with my right foot while playing DDR. So what to do about it? Well, I figure I need a several pronged approach: 1. Strengthen the front of my shin, so that the muscles are more in balance with those in my calves. I think improving the balance here will reduce the amount of tightening that occurs on the bottom of my foot overnight. 2. Strengthen all the small muscles in my foot and ankles through balance training. These muscles are responsible for stabilizing my feet as I walk. The stronger and healthier they are, the lower my risk of an unexpected event where I exceed force tolerance of the bottom of my foot. These are simple things like walking with a kettlebell overhead, or balancing on one foot. 3. Do work to keep my ankle mobile and the soft tissues of my feet as healthy as possible. I currently do this through the foot exercises, as well as manually manipulating the soles of my feet while I stretch. So really, I'm adding the toe raises on a dard to what I already do. We'll see if it helps. It'd be nice to stop avoiding calf raises, running, and jumping for fear of re-injuring my foot. I was actually wondering what ways you could increase your foot strength. Balancing on one foot actually makes a lot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autolupus Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 So a Dard's like a formulator for the legs? So you can work the tibialis anterior like you said earlier? Never heard of a dard before! Cheers Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honk Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 (edited) Climber's dard A stack of weightplates (as for the bearhug deadlift but problably a bit lighter) works nice as well, ok not for rehab I guess. But should be fun for prehab, I used to do it. Just place the weight on your feets near the toes and curl it up. Edited April 5, 2007 by honk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 5, 2007 Author Share Posted April 5, 2007 I think it would be more accurate to say a Formulator is like a dard for the wrists. The piece of equipment has been around for years. Mine is made out of pipe. Anson posted a link to a diagram for them awhile back: http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtop...519&hl=dard I have high hopes that this will help. I've also been making a point to do more simple calf stretches since last night. I think it is working... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autolupus Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Semantics and chronology aside, it's always nice when you find out about "new" equipment or exercises! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 Definitely. I used it again last night and also did the calf stretches. I think I'm going to try to stretch 2x a day and do the dard at night for awhile to see if I can fix my foot up in short order. Otherwise, my workouts are going really well. I continue to get stronger and lighter at the same time. Weight hit 217 this morning. I added 10lbs to my romanian deadlifts yesterday. Today I had the monumental experience of doing incline dumbell presses on the lowest incline with 30lb dumbells. I haven't been able to do any sort of chest pressing in years. My side bridges made it to 30 seconds. When I stretched my ankles, I felt a lot of tension releasing. I'm just very happy with how things are progressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 For the foot I think you can use many of the same rehab principles you can use on the hand. Some light rehab work (like with the stretches and the dard), and you could also do contrast baths and sleeping with a warm wrap on it at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Styles Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 I've thought about doing the contrast baths, but wanted to see how I get on with the stretching and dard first. I don't really like getting wet. I've been thinking about taking some glucosamine as well. Not sure if it helps or not. Sleeping is tricky, as is sitting for long periods. What I've been reading indicates one of the causes of the problem is resting with the toe pointed. This allows the damaged tissue to start healing while in a shortened position. As soon as the foot is stressed and the tissues are forced to lengthen under load, the tissues are re-damaged. Because of this, a number of sites I saw online recommend a boot that fixes the foot into a stretched position while resting. My pain is worse after sleeping or sitting for a long period of time, so that product does interest me. It's likely my next step if the stretching and dard don't work. I do need to be patient though. I'm going to give the current approach at least 2 weeks before making any other changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cunny Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 I had that type of foot pain when training a marathon.I made a splint to stop my feet from relaxing i.e pointing downward,I also practiced picking things up with my toes Something along the line of this http://www.drnelsonclinic.com/strassburg_s...ight_splint.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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