xmas

yesterday, mostly rest. a little walking. saw Avatar w/ sis! 2nd time. what great proprioceptive work, also NS sync Na'vi vs human, incredible bow&arrow coaching (so few words wasted, just core, scapular depression, left elbow touch), great hip mobility and full deep squats...

anyway, today probably mostly rest too, tho tempted to farmer's walk 12kg to lab and 16kg back. will see 'bout that.

got compression gear! not that it has been proven to be useful, but feels awesome, should be great in cold Vegas tourney weather... underarmour FTW.

multi-joint inflammation yesteryesterday(night), see PN forum training log. last night much less inflammation, felt good. showed sis valslides. mom got me allopathic stretching book. wearin' my julbo's again now, threat modulation FTW ^_^.

oh yea and started timing sleep, set 8.5h time limit, today stayed in bed no longer than that, also read more about things like WakeMate whatever the heck that is and that Charles Poliquin sleep article really affected me...

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/weight-training-weight-lifting/good-night-sleep-611709.html

Okay time to eat (outta eggs tho drat). Merry Xmas!! <3 =)

(update afternoon: 12kg Apollo kb unilateral farmer's walk (plus garden detour watering) to lab, 1.1km with breaks. a few BUC, a snatch and some sag- plane swingin' on the side. maybe farmer's carry 16kg back? underarmour feels great--i could sleep in it ;)

(night update: 16kg kb unilateral farmer's walk on the way back. still wearing compression gear! lots of misc mobility as i watch work out. feeling good. working more on spinal extension these days, doing some rolling, etc. feeling generally good. some sleep last night, but at least more than lastlast night.)

active recover, 2009

post 111! almost end of 2009.

starting nutrition blogging at PN forums, also check out thoughts on ETK and cardio and such here:

http://kbforum.dragondoor.com/509570-post14.html

anyway today mostly rest but some active recovery, walk around SF for fun, good diet (feeling good these days, gotta focus on sleep!!!!)

got gofit ropesport DVD, new speed rope feels faster and is adjustable more easily. did like 3-4 minutes of super light try it out, 1+1 12kg get-up, a few BUCs, some plantar fascia roll.

hm my whole back is mild sore, do some lumbar circles supine, then holding chair. note that more stiff in extension huh! will work on that slowly but yea feeling pretty good today.

DB, DB

didn't sleep last night, had to get up "early" (10a) yesterday then took a few hr nap and figured i might as well stay up to see Avatar imax 3d in Cupertino at 1130p, we got in thx DB, then i guess we were wired up from that (just like that time with wanted) so i've been pretty much up for almost 24h now (more like 23h at this point 6p).

did lots of mobility today, trained DB for a bit since he was about. romberg neg, sharpened romberg serious fail all over (like less than a second every time)... hm, then PREP test maybe positive eyes to left, PNRT positive turn left or tilt left, also discovered later that eye reflexes are messed--eyes up facilitates hamstring flexion rather than extension (!).

also serious startle eyes down for stuff, vestibular balance thingies. eye test positive L eye exophoria, L eye suppression via Brock string... hips seriously locked up, right calf tight, left transverse ab tight, also c-spine, t-spine locked up.

--

lots of visual work, felt better with green bead, lots of r-phase, still working on R ankle in flexion during closed-chain knee, was practicing SL submaximal plyo last night, getting better at L side landing (esp with head in neutral not in mild extension!), so SL squat land on L side feels good looking slightly down, bad looking up with neck in mild extension...! and that's really the pelvis L side talkin'.

anyway, some valslide demo last night, some BUCs practice 8kg and 12kg, a few get-ups, a few 1h swings?

today more DB testing, focal accommodation with green/red beads, some SMR w/ tptherapy quadballer, lots of t-spine work, shoulders still a bit weird, c-spine feeling okay, tmj was a little tight last night now better (haven't been working it lately).

went to track to do a few 80% sprints from 4-pt stance, then a few runs, a few jogs, standard pfly warmup (carioca etc), some arm drive practice, plant practice seems good to be able to get low.

went to gym to do some spiderman, new stretch cage, pegboard drill w/ 10lb cable practice (not too much disassociation tho that's still hard w/ cables), reverse lunge warmup.

rope work practice, only got up to 3 consec power jumps today, didn't want to push too hard, also still haven't mastered side straddle (would be nice to practice that sort of move with rope but i guess not strictly necessary, maybe that'd interfere too much w/ sport-specific movement... huh).

core work on 8lb med ball, bird dogs, rotary stability, side plank felt better today altho L wrist was complainy for a bit. oh yeh and did index/pinky lead wrist circles for first time in a while hm. walk back, had eggs for breakfast now irish oatmeal, salmon or lap chong for din w/ pasta or rice? hmm!

choice

i've been resting more and yet...

maybe it just is that i'm used to being in pain, so it's what i have practiced

and i guess i was thinking just now that i can not only practice the tilts and such that improve ROM but the feelings that also do so...

reading wikipedia on chronic pain. perhaps i need to actually practice mindfun / mindfulness once more

--

some somas- reading, like dermoneuro stuff

feelin' better now
some mobility work
2+2 12kg get-up, feeling better than previous ones this week except for way down on 2nd rep (feeling better on way up)

interesting notes on pelvic tilt (retrovert), only feels odd on L side if for SL squat L side also retrovert pelvis (was videoing self on R side where didn't retrovert, then noticed was better looking down + cervical spine flexion vs looking up + c-spine extension huh)

my L foot single-leg balance has gotten so much better, just realized now. almost like 85-90% as good as R side, i guess the balance work and other training has paid off in the last few weeks.. remember months ago i had horrible L side SL balance

couple of unilateral C&P + eccentric-only 12kg snatch practice

2 sets easy 5+5 1h 12kg Sw practice

frustration

ah frustration
L piriformis area unhappy again and i guess i've been mollycoddling it... boo. sadness. don't really know what to do.

press & rest

yesterday rest
today sleep in

interestingly more pain (mild) on R side yesterday, also ASLR slightly more limited on R side (!)
warm-up
sports vision near/far
compass lunge
submaximal NESW plyo 1-leg
6+6, 6 tri pushups (surprisingly hard with tri, don't go down all way..)
2set 5+5 cook hip lift
5+5 birddog on 12kg kb hand
8kg BUC press 3+3
1.5+1.5 12kg get-up (not feeling great today..)--still limited on L side on way up
glute/piri stretch

movement practice

taped movement practice / strength / running vids today for team!

demonstrated near/far focusing, ankle tilts, ball-of-foot circles
(could come more laterally in ball-of-foot circles?)
spiderman didn't get so low today (?)
demo glute activation cook hip lift
single leg toe touch doesn't look that smooth

def asymmetry w/ tactical pushup--right side/shoulder leads left (boo), need to re-vid/practice that rhythm
single leg submaximal plyos--def looks a little weird on L side (hip movement), need more practice/strength

interesting tho today didn't really feel L piriformis even mild pain? tho lumbar area mild mild sore
demo arm drive, bird-dog, side-plank

tomorrow do this 8 min warmup, 15min hard run, 5min cool?

plan

rif <3

http://rifsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-is-training-practice.html

plan:
jog
SL submax plyo land (lat lunge)
up/low body diff 4 pegboard
rope work

reality:
raining so nix on jog
lots of pre-Z to improve L ASLR
rope work, 10-12 min moderate (4 consec. power jumps, a first?)

coach ling, watching his DL form (he can do 2.3x BW DL!)--he wasn't engaging lats until 1/2 way, also glute activation not there. did quadruped hip extension to activate

spiderman, felt pretty good/low
bw squat not feeling it today w/o gob squat weighted... low back / L piri nociception
up/low body diff w/ pegboard (interesting R hip internal rotation with upper body to left was chunky) on cable 10lb resistance

practice 25 lb plate get-up
25 lb plate MP practice
45 lb plate MP right side? nope ^_^

foam roll < 60s just to see tightness (L lower than piriformis, interesting)
8lb med ball stability work!
bird dog w/ med ball, rotary stability (!) w/ med ball
side plank w/ med ball

(single leg / single arm w/ med ball pretty hard)

interesting tho, mainly have LB nociception and R hip internal rotation (w/ peg board) but mainly L hip external rotation ish

pause, train

yesterday, rest (got up late > noon.. hmm.. lots of sleep, but not sore rly)

today, strength & stretch w/ gokhale jr (they do bigger hip circles, interesting kidney bean foot which i forgot about):
need to focus on ribcage keeping that low? will look into it
birddog, dead bug (birddog on back essentially)
lunges, rhomboid band work (hmm)
piriformis felt pretty good after (was slightly tight b4)--related to external hip rotator, need to investigate some more.
also have been sleeping on back rather than L side..

mobility work, R ankle feeling smoother in dorsiflexion to ext. still prob most tight in L hip ext rotation

2.5+2.5 12kg TGU
1+0.8 8kg bottom-up get-up (mild fail close to top on L)

valslide reverse lunge 5+5, 5+5
side lunge 2 set (5+5)
10+5+5 tac. pushups

nap. L piriformis region feels 1/2 better, now a little more sore than complainy after today huh

vis tgu

coord chart 3: 106 lpm (was 80 lpm yesterday, 55 lpm last wknd!)
saccade chart 2: 90 lpm (was 76 lpm yesterday)

pencil pushup seated, red, green.

closed chain knee circle, R ankle dorsiflexion was still limited (esp in clock from dorsiflexion to abduction) but L wrist flexion circles helped a bit (could also try in rotation another day?)

open chain hip, closed chain hip in ant 45 (L a bit tight)
open chain hip in rotation, L somewhat limited (more so than closed chain hip or ankle dorsiflex as there's mild discomfort at edge)

supine lumbar mobility (2+2+2, slow and arm supported)
pelvic tilts/circles
arm bars
cat/camels

1.5+1.5 12kg get-ups (L shoulder still weak but a lil better than a month ago? mobility better in R shoulder, but mob in L could use some work, esp right b4 high-bridge)
2+2 clean, MP, snatch eccentric 12kg (still need to work on hip leading, wait for 'bell to fall too)
clean 2+2 12kg MP

15 tac push-ups
5+5 [reverse valslide lunges / lateral lunges / anterior 45 lunges (posterior knee flexed, hm?)]
5+5 valslide plank one-arm (felt that in L piriformis a bit huh... for anterior core work)
birddogs
piriformis stretch--defo needed that for L piriformis; soleus TP baller release
read PN (just got today in mail!)--ling ordered convict conditioning too..

lumbar arr

arrrr, got up was feelin' good then played around with lumbar situps just to see what that'd be like. took me out for 1/2 a day, not pain wise but just made me really sleepy.. unless that was somethin' else, but still lumbar not happy, was experimenting tho.

anyway, have been practicing SL stance (on airex pad) with other leg touching toe to ground and holding on to reduce threat, L piriformis seems to like that.

pencil pushup, red bead.

saccade chart 2, 76 lpm.

(at s-phase-- 82; 88lpm near-far charts. 88; 88lpb saccade chart 1, vergence test left eye a lil slow esp w/ green, 8x / 8x sequencing test. coordination charts, 131 lpb on chart 1, 135 on chart 2, 55 on chart 3. chart 3 work improved gait / R shoulder ROM.)

coord chart 3, 80 lpb.

ankle tilts + I-phase rolling toe pulls. knee circles. supine lumbar mobility (not like da morning). supine hip circles not that smooth but not too chunky. pelvic tilts / circles -- high degree of awareness rel. to b4 s-phase! ant 45 lunge thoracics / ball of foot circles.

R-phase shoulder circles-- left shoulder in ext & R shoulder in x-body flexion seem to be most limited. L shoulder camshafts straight arm somewhat chunky.. c-spine mobility felt rly good this morn. plantar fascia smr lacrosse ball.

funny, R piriformis actin' up more than L for once?

post S-phase

just passed 100 posts!

back from s-phase. didn't sleep much those last two days..

felt okay the day after, pretty good two days after. if rkc is the hard-style school of strength, s-phase was the neuroscience-driven school of movement and structural athleticism. feel like i'm moving rly well today.

doing supine lumbar mobility work, darryl suggested. once in a while piriformis feels tight, but... hm yea dunno. plantar fasciitis has mostly gone away. have been doing a little more visual work, virgence work. could practice either sequencing or hand-foot coord, will think about that when less tired.

saccades

hand-eye 130+
hand-foot 55ish, but improve shoulder ROM

need to practice rotational step, keep hip disassociated w/ pelvis when hip external rotation (foot placed closer to midline), weight shift in that direction. cross-over can be far.

not great at pegboard with upperbody disassociated movement esp when loaded

sprint mechanics, focused on knee drive first few steps, tighten arm pendulum by decrease elbow flexion so deg < 90
if feel bouncy don't stand up as quickly

interesting tac pushup vs pushup for getting up quick (flare more rather than tuck)

pinky point in, elbow tight when turning over

focus on upper c-spine flex, rotate, tilt away from sphenoid pt, shoulder camshaft helps opp piriformis
also psoas tightness notable

movement D

movement dallas
MAT?
graston technique (metal stuff)
threat modulation
trigger pt work w/ joint mob? didn't necessarily work that well for piriformis, maybe too much threat. w/ QL and L upper trap seems to do some.

can fix ASLR for a while
R shoulder flexion better than L
but
L shoulder extension better than R

R shoulder flexed circles def seems to help L hip extension (previous asymmetry)

fwd flexion (fbend) not asymmetric w/ other foot raised. after mob work, no pain in fbend, abt 4in away.

some fwd bend practice (a la uttanasanna), pelvic tilt seems to be key for the last few inches hm. feels rly diff! at bottom.

oh yeah and have been noticing weird L hand engrams lately, interesting, less so w/ r hand, maybe due to midfoot mobility added in last few weeks.

rest+S

been resting a few days to recover from sat scrimmage and not get too tight b4 s-phase... which started today!

watch cervical hyperextension in athletic stance
knees could use some minor work but not really notable
post-S shoulder ROM is rly good both sides

doing some valslide practice work
zachariah suggested light work, Z then heavy work, sounds interesting...
first eye test was fine, verified that could consciously switch eye dominance near but far is typically R (huh)
earlier this wk was 8 tac push-up, today 12 tac p-u (easyish, still practice)

anterior pelvic tilt still needs work, but seems easier if eyes up? huh

lumbar work, flexed shoulder circle in lotsa positions
now piriformis is feelin' a lil tight, did some tp massage ball work hm. (should dbl check eye pos for this pelvic anterior work too)

hmm but now upper trapezius (common tp loc) tightened up, on L side, huh... moving well still (shoulder ROM) but now from piriformis to upper trap L tightness.. interesting if tp release cervical spine (L of neck) feel lumbar (R) and then if into threat piriformis becomes noticeable again. think i pushed myself a bit too much just now, though it's def interesting that it's piriformis (L), then upper trap (L), then QL (R).

last night slept in car, i guess that didn't help ^_^

play play back

light mobility warmup
R ankle a lil wonky barefoot on grass, when supported (in cleats) didn't notice rly
R knee still a lil sticky in closed chain knee circles (going counterclock)
been working on lumbar mobility lots, prob need more flexion flexibility too..

25min throwing, interesting how releasing trigger pts on the forearm screws with throwing timing, finger / hand mobility screws a lil with catching. noticed i have at least three kinds of fh throws, hip driven (far), lat driven (med), wrist driven (shorter). could prob practice wrist driven more?

90min almost continuous play (5 min rest), conditioning good, strength good, power okay, middle third a lil sore in lower back, but after a few min rest (LB in extension) and focusing on tall spine felt okay'er for last 30 min. and yea a bit better than last wknd i think.

also have been doing some psoas and piriformis tp massage ball work. review this foam roll massage series again soon:
http://ericcressey.com/newsletter157html

(need to work on staying parallel on deepest O, also get to the side when contesting deep hucks)

ankle flex

R/I-phase work (shoulder front circles improving, now to work on side shoulder circles too. pelvis slowly mobilizing esp posterior tilting)

3 mi non-stationary bike, mix of aerobic / lactate / intervals
R ankle slightly unhappy, is it tendon overstress? opposing joint (L wrist extension in various position plus L shoulder extension circles helps a little but should prob rest over dec)

planning drive to tempe 4 s-phase, have dinner in LA on wed night, return by mon afternoon?

challah bake =)

4.3 tactical pushups (NS likes)

throwthrow

Throwing practice w/ Cory, Pants & Tank. Warm today!

Not catching 1h well for some reason hmm.

bh feeling good, worked on the anterior 0deg lunge bh that i fumbled last wknd and remembered i don't practice. practiced throwing fh emilyD style, which is to say less hip/core/shoulder rotation and really just getting it from the wrist / elbow. Realized that's easier to throw consistently from multiple angles and harder to read, prob easier to throw and go too?

Jogging / running form. T-stop practice plus hip turns. Feel okay. 5-6 sprints with jog/run intervals, didn't push too hard just get HR up some. Interesting that today R hip/glute was mild complainy. L forearm still healing from snatch/TGU practice, got tptherapy products too, piriformis needs work, R calf not as bad as it was last night.

NWU1 at faster than usual, remember that 4 lumbar circles, bend knees.

valslide anterior lunges (fastish 8rep sets)
valslide lateral lunges don't feel as good, feel mild tightweirdness in adductors, huh; felt better after opposing joint flexed shoulder circles cross body. still need to work on form tho. concentrated on anterior core.

valslide 1hand mobile plank thingies. 5 on each side fwd, 5 on each side lateral (this time try flexing non-mobile elbow push-up style--tis challenging ^_^)

trigger pt

lots of trigger pt work today...
esp R calf (!)
then lats/QL, a little neck/scalene
moderate L forearm too

R/I phase work, focus on lumbar mobility to discourage nociceptors...
good release overall
working slowly on cervical spine proprioception2

swing swung

5 min throwing practice w/ random roble peeps

watch club level ulty on sand hill for 'bout an hour half

(thought about my weaknesses, strength-endurance generally for posterior chain? not sure what the root cause exactly is, if it's really posterior or anterior chain strength-endurance, running form, mobility, soft tissue...)

skim travell's book for a bit
reverse lunge warmup w/ ling
spiderman (not as loose today, lower back is mild tight..)
5min jump rope in vibrams (have been doing that more in frees, harder w/ vibrams)

spot ling's back squat / bench, practice front squat (arms cross style)
TGU 12kg practice 1+1, 1+1
12kg swing practice, snatch practice.
swing snatch clean re-rack press front squat complex practice
swing eccentrics don't feel great... :-/ have a cam tho now so can vid.
maybe practice eccentric only? or just do more wall squats consistently. somehow w/ the load my eccentric form seems to change...

well, still thinkin' bout HKC SEA / RKC SD / Nat'l 2011? Hmm ^_^

big game day

didn't much sleep last night (or all?)

NWU for pickup
hip opening carioca, ulty fitness-style warmup #1 stuff
select shoulder circles and thoracics etc
warmup in frees

conditioning feeling good, strength good, haven't run in seems like weeks? but felt good. after 60-75 min or so tho had some middle/up-midback tightness, then after chilling was TMJ mild pain, coccyx tapping + pelvic mobility & SCM SMR helped.

post-game 75m sprint
feelin' goodish afterward

ordered big game burger for first time?! ^_^ stanford is down now tho boo 24-14 cal has the edge..

resty

resty

parkour practice was cancelled today due to rain..

rolling toe pulls / 3 pos lat. ankle tilts
lumbar circles spaz in middle, need to ease into that.
today actually feelin' something more in my R hip! but only a lil
lastnight my midfoot was a lil crampy, prob the flex/ext waves i practiced last wk plus all the vibram work i've been doing

lacrosse ball plantar aponeurosis SMR (and a few min white foam roll for glute meds, gasp ^_^ :)
toe flex/ext waves
ball of foot circles / pegboard

i-phase thoracics / flexed arm shoulder circles
interesting to note that in supine pos have more limited L hip ext rotation compared to L int, R ext/int, contralateral flexed shoulder circles helped that
ant lunge fwd/back flexed shoulder circles

A&C hip int/ext rot practice on airex (for upper body)

last night taught 8kg get-up & swing to a strong friend, he went home and did CF OH style swing but i told him not to do that :)

thinking of starting the i-phase 6wk training sched on mon! pulled the sheet out to post

resume+1

couldn't sleep, yesterday was inflection pointy... re: academics, athletics, funding. hm.

got out before dawn (624a) did r/i phase drills in the 40degF chill.

walk to arrilaga, reverse lunge and a few other mobility drillz warmup

10min moderate rope work, feeling generally good. three power jumps in a row. crossover from alternating step screwed up sometimes. didn't get too sweaty.

5 and 5 low spiderman crawls, hip mobility felt good, low.

hang. tested out chin up strength, not great, didn't attempt even -40 lb, just one test negative.

bodyweight squats a lil during ropework

2+2 25lb oly plate get-ups, seems good. left wrist strength could be better. feel open-er on the hips.

a few stretches, lateral openers, walk home, time for a few boiled eggs. have been doing warrior diet again for last few days... as a cleanse? not sure what'll it be for next 6-8wks, have thought about trying out PN but also maybe should focus on work w/ scott? also walking back today reconsidering S-phase... before i was all into it, a few weeks ago was so so, but today maybe recomitting to it? will thinksleeptalk on it.

R adductor might be a little sore, was that from trying out heel on floor cossacks a la pavel super joints? also a slight diff sensation more like in L glute med? huh.

resume

i haven't been training really for almost 10 days now and ow that hurts.

10 days ago was the last practice i went to, then drove out to i-phase and didn't get much strength or CRF work in, just some valslide practice and LOTS of mobility work.

then got back, missed another practice / the santa cruz tourney and it turns out we don't have practice today...

well, just did some r-phase i-phase tonight, focusing moreso on c-spine mobility and opposing joints / mirror image work esp for L/R hip extension/abduction/adduction/flexion, basically lots of L/R arm flexed work for the hip weirdness, and it def seems to be working better than the single joint opposing/mirror work.

have some c-spine SMA? gotta learn more about pelvic mobility but after doing 15 min of i-phase kinda work (3 pos lateral ankle tilt, knee circrles, lunge hip closed chain circles, lunge thoracics, flexed arms shoulder circles and camshafts, head rotation/tils) i tried some air swings and i think i'm def on the right track there..!

there aren't any tourneys in the near future to train towards but maybe i could do some work specifically for the FMS screens i fail, maybe w/ axis scott?

rhr++

rhr 2.5wk ago was 54-56bpm (b4 rising)

this morning more like 72bpm b4 rising, 82bpm 120s after rising (orthostatic HR test data)

was intending to practice yesterday but body told me not to... instead i took a nap and felt pretty good at least physically later last night. pretty much took the day off just gentle biking, not really used to M & W (this wk) rather than M & Th practice as per usual, plus i pushed it harder this last W practice.

also good to ease off cuz plannin i-phase next wknd!

did some baby on da back r-phase, hip mobility in lots of diff planes needs work...!

try in try out

woke up a lil early today, did some vis work cuz i was up..
warmup felt okay but anterior hip (mostly L) was a lil yarr.. was contemplating pre-ibu but decided against but after warmup did 1 pill anyway.. better after that (no hip pain!)
triangle drill, windy
that fence thing, practice bargs

scrimmage, nice jumping D in endzone, good handler dump sets 'cept that one time in our ezone when was 2nd but yea wasn't sideline cut set which i can do, but.. something else. anyway.
almost got a poach D as guarding the sideline handling and creeping into bh lane (touched the disc)
goodish up line throws to ali, also cut up line a bit successfully. aim was a little off for throwing to in-cut schmer.. huh.

zigzag close O/D drill, leg strength good enough to get low and inside plant well (like maclane!)

scrimmage, was ok on D, metabolic conditioning could be better (CRF ok/good?) at times.

70yd x 3 sprints, felt good but after that 40yd and 20yd sprints didn't flow as smoothly (esp with the deceleration/turn/accelerate and etc)
a little sore now, but a lot of that from dinner sitting (mo' butternut squash / wild rice+jasmine+chard! wild salmon)

CRF

did ~6mi non-stationary bike intervals yesterday
still lil sore from agility sprints
lots of mobility / SMR work, now a little soft tissue softer work esp on L leg adductor region
was thinking lately of doing more lactate threshold work?

at 54bpm the otherdaylow my CRF feels good but i need more strength, not necessary slow strength but fast or sports-speed strength,
since i haven't been pushing any kind of kbell complex work or really even explosive fast light kbell lifting, just working on mobility and conditioning, but as a result even tho my acceleration is good but top speed isn't what it used to be and just general power is less... i think i'll think about introducing a little work slowly, esp since i am in L hip rehab mode. tryout practice today tho!! didn't hear 'bout til yesterdy eep

agility sprints

practice in beautiful november day! it was like 81F max today yow.

warmup still feeling a little weak in the L hip, perhaps psoas area? did better after an hour and was really warm.

todo practice on I/O low flicks.

got 3 hand blocks on zipper practice!

remember if point & force mid in zone, be more flat up on the sideline

ruggles told me to cut up line and it worked even though defender was there, need to work on going around peeps.

agility sprint practice. my linear fwd acceleration is feeling good.

post-practice SMR on lacrosse ball plantar fascia/aponeurosis (L foot is also tight)
focus on knee mobility circles and arm circles.

A&C 5.4 split-stance hip swivels on airex pad for hip internal rotation (L particularly), can hear it pop heh
5.5 hip airplines
7.1 lying knee-to-knee pull-ins
7.15 prone windshield wipers

hip airplanes def the hardest, but also rly feel split-stance hip swivels on airex

bsquash

non-stationary interval biking 'bout 4-5mi to fmr mkt

made butternut squash soup!

8+8 vslide rlunges
8+8 vslide side lunges

borrowed elise's ultifitpro book by mcgill

focusing Z on L hip, knee circles and contralateral arm circles help
also remembering to try rehab hip circles with distract

now where was that nerve glide that LC suggested? hm
also pre-ordered early bird of A&C

sleep sleep jump

sleep

sleep

today:
10min light-medium rope intervals (not quite as smooth as last time, but okay)
L hip mobility could be better but not really pain
practice 25 lb gob squats
practice 2+2 25 lb plate get-ups
3+3 contralateral SLDL 25 lb.
glute stretch

run around light for 1h, not feeling great but better after warmup. didn't really eat last few days..

rehab

not training sucks but it's good to bit by bit take out root causes of things, and i might as well be grateful i haven't had any ankle/achilles issues since i started training 1.5yr ago, have never had knee pain either, and have largely been able to manage LBP to the point where i can now pinpoint weakest links slightly below (was just noticing that the main issue I have is specifically L leg in external rotation either hip abduction or extension, which suggests posterior glute medius? but i haven't been using that to guide my Z work, just general L shoulder ROM) and above.

i know from last yr that i can bilateral DL to get linear sprint fast but that didn't really help my other movement patterns, and i guess i focused more on unilateral DL work the other month to balance things out, but still didn't address the root cause i think.. contralateral shoulder circles (front) seem to help L hip external rotation (was pretty limited compared to R hm), but there are also strong strength differences--just got http://bit.ly/valslides and tried 'em out for first time today, lunging w/ L leg vert is so much less practiced..

i guess i'm going to focus on that more specifically, L hip external rotation and abduction/extension (somewhere in between that), reverse lunge w/ valslides, anterior core work (?) to start.

interestingly my tightness seems to be concentrated on the lateral sides of the quads (not really noticeable until foam roll or tiger tail), glute med / TFL / ITB (noticeable on hip abduction / extension) and upper glute max weirdness, was mostly on L side perhaps because of force transmission line from left foot to right shoulder in throwing from lunge position (would be interesting if body inserted L hip pain to prevent R shoulder force application...), in addition to that L/R lunge asymmetry plus the way i usually cut with L foot as inside foot... and a while back my adductors weren't firing.

a lil lower priority is balancing push/pull (have been doing too much push these last 6 wks) which also might help clear up neck/SCM/TMJ issues too.

--

wed 348a, haven't slept yet. was it the overstim from working late + playing w/ valslides + reading or the overcompensation for 3days of tourney+practice plus ifasting on monday? don't know but am in an upstate for the moment..

playin with the airex pad in da morning, a lot better at stabilizing than 6mo ago but still mildly noticable asymm in even stable surface L vs R. learning valslide reverse lunges and side/lateral lunges, should help w/ posterior symmetry and also maybe adductor work.

5+5 valslide reverse lunge learning
5+5 valslide lateral lunge learning
break/study
8+8 vslide r-lunge (easier this time :)
8+8 vslide s-lunge (still feel those adductors workin' ^_^)

interestingly my hips feel wayy better, not sure how much of that was Z focus on opposing joint earlier in the day but def being able to go through reverse and side lunge for hip mobility with minimal impact&startle seems like a Win to me

a few 1/4 8kg get-ups as mobility screen, mild2moderate L/R shoulder stabilizer asym, both sides hip adductors weak in trying to press out, hamms feel tight on punch&crunch.

bodyweight get-up practice, focusing on keeping heel down, engaging glutes & contralateral knee not in valgus collapse. main limitation after weighted practices for unloaded movement practice is still L shoulder mobility, esp at the top of punch and crunch. not too bad, but self-visible. okay anyway, gonna get some eggs, then time for a day's work. maybe some cardio work later today? dunno will see if have time.

--

wed sunrise 8-10 min warmup 50degF, jog, light t-stop and hip turns / arm drive. knee hug to lunge (rotate only one way), carioca focus on hip mobility.

inside gym Nike Free 10min on-off moderate interval rope work, light sweat, really good footwork today feelin' it. 5+5 1/4 SL squat w/ light med ball, a few foam roll for glute med, 3+3 birddog, glute stretch.

now for kiwi, shower, 4 certified humane raised glaum eggs! and office hours..

chicotourney

chicotourney

day0 conditioning was good-ok, good-ok enough to last through four games of first day, mobility was good, strength was ok, weakest link was in the morning mildmild TMJ which went away after SMR / Z / ibu 50, and then after 3rd game left upper glute started acting up + mildmild plantar fascia, but after warmup for 4th game felt okay.

played ok/well, pretty good D, no look D (hands out), jumping D (over O head), though i let people get deep by a few steps too much. throwing kinda consistent, no drops?, sometimes a bit too high for cutter flick.

after that L upper glute didn't seem happy, lots of rest plus amino acid. interestingly discovered that hands/wrists/elbows increased L shoulder ROM wayy, was in mucho startle that night. after warmup day1 actually didn't notice it too much, mainly that didn't feel super recovered.. still did ok, just more variation in flick height and a silly miss/drop or two. caught a deep one that was to kstan's but ran for it and got a no look eye-block vs OR by helping out a defender hah.

todo in go to don't throw until cutter looks, don't cut as primary dump until handler turns, work in low flick height consistency (L / R was super consistent), if in ho stack, need to sprint harder and switch out (haven't practiced that). overall tho i did consistently better as a conservative handler and playedokgood D (stay closer to deep girls tho and don't look away), conditioning on first day much better than usual. chicooo

--

monday: part practice, a lil sore. made another up-the-line cut! still need to get off the sideline and avoid throwing straight down it.

tuesday: slowness. gonna back off for a bit, non-stationary biking, but slow non intervals today..

tight

my posture has been pretty bad these last weeks, hm

after last wknd's TMJ incident + SCM SMR, i'm a lot more conscious of neck tension and dang i got lots..

--

foam roll told me might R glute (upper) is mod mo' sore than L glute, funny, it's usually the other way around.

felt okay warming up but after an hour felt pretty good+warm. throws a little off tho, not sure why, maybe the warm up in orthotics (trying that out, feels weird, have been not using them lately with frees since heel is doing better) or the 90min throwing yesterday? throwing a little too high, oh then there was a little wind but hm anyway.

todo fake to dump to signal cut

TMJ barely noticable, will try to work on pelvic mobility, coccyx SMA?

throwing

throwing practice today instead of cardio
2h clamp catch feelings a lot more confident
still need to work on low-release step out but maybe more critical is speed of pivot to throw?
also experiment w/ superstiffness theory for bh huck, relax more b4 delta dirac tense release

re: bike

non-stationary biking sprints/intervals ~7-8mi, conditioning seems goodish

hip mobility a lot better than over the wknd, was probably the hard cutting practice on thu that limited it? overall hip mobility has been good to great in last 6-8wks otherwise

lower/mid/upper back about 1/2 as sore as yesterday (was mild to moderate), maybe just do a few single leg deadlifts and unilateral squats, a few clean/military presses to keep strength up before 2-day tourney this weekend, then tomorrow do some jump rope (get-ups?), thu practice, fri maybe just a little barefoot jogging on grass.

hemp bagels & organic peanut butter FTW =)

10 minutes to work out
a few mobility drills
8 wall squats, feeling better
1+1 8kg get-up (hip mobility could be better in first few stages)
3+3 8kg contralateral SLDL
3+3 8kg MP (shoulder mobility could also be better)
6rep 8kg Sw

rhr

resting heart rate: 56bpm (on rising, 28 beats per 30 s)

upper glute moderately sore, a lot better balanced now left vs right (used to be all L upper glute soreness, now is more like 65/35 L/R). lower glutes not sore at all...

lower back mild soreness, not surprisingly since i haven't been doing bilateral deadlifts for a while, just unilateral work.

pretty CNS intense though, physically i could have gone to practice today but wasn't quite neurologically ready to push myself... anyway someone pointed out all the overcompensations my body has been doing (hip to shoulders) so it's good to take a break today. got up kind of late too...

plus, we have another longer tourney this wknd!

DL DL

slightly sore today
Z in the morning a bit
lateral ankle tilts / hip pendulums / thoracic waves seem to help shoulder ROM
intermittent fasting today

gym:
backwards lunge warmup, slight instability, but decent
knee up, high knees, butt kicks, lateral squat -- ultimate fitness warmup drills

8 or so min jump rope intervals. feels really good! even though i ran a decent amount yesterday. good form, easy to do dozens of reps, better than has been for months it seems..
HR > 160? that machine doesn't seem that accurate and haven't been wearing HRM for months due to strap crapiness
pause
95 lb DL 4, 2, 1 pyramid (not too hard but haven't been bilateral DLing for a while)
contralateral bodyweight DL practice
25 lb. TGU practice with barbell plate (fun :)
bike home
tiger tail, L adductor ice, foam roll lats, SMR on R SCM

push pull

new post!

http://ultitraining.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/lifting-by-the-dozen/

just realized i have been doing too much pushing and not enough pulling. no wonder my lats are so tight and i'm feelin more hunched over. boo. heh. d'oh.

thinking about valslides or slideboard and airex pad? hmm will think 'bout.

BAM

bayareamixer
dragons, d r a guns guns guns!
dragons roar, dragons score

conditioning good+
mobility good except L adductor mild boo--affects L hip mobility
thought was mild midback tightness but i think it's higher lat tightness (prob from recent upperbody focus)
strength actually my weak point for once? haven't been doing as much of that lately for lower body..!

TMJ severe pain hit middle of game 0... then noticed had super tight trigger point in R neck, like top of sternocleidomastoid, which when palpated for trigger point release was enough pain to make me throw up like 4-5x... boo
pain level like 6-8 out of 10 for a while, sat out ice, tried to remember opposing joint.. ohh it's the coccyx? what are the drills for that?
wasn't handler cutting well in game 0 but fixed that in last game by starting closer to my D. otherwise cutting okay, actually weaker on D for once, let people cut in maybe too easy for close ones, and then let far ones go boo. feel like my movement wasn't too bad, ankle mobility good but hip (L) not that pleased plus overall strength not up to par w/ conditioning and non-hip mobility.

maybe i'll do some jump rope and single leg squats / bilateral deadlifts tmrw

--

late night Z
limited shoulder ROM & L hip mobility

things that helped shoulder ROM tonight:
++lateral ankle tilts (a lil medial)
++ really gentle hip pendulums
++ thoracic waves
++ foam roller lats

a little help:
+ RKC arm bars
+ shoulder circles

didn't help:
- closed chain knee circles
- C-spine mobility in chicken/head turn

cgood

conditioning good
R midback mild tightness, didn't notice after mobilty + tiger tail
cut timing feels better? passing as a conversation
try to swing off sideline, clear out if just threw as handler?
eva's a tough one =)

Znew

didn't sleep last night
yesterday (tue)
just demo some 16kg get-ups (can do on both sides but needs practice)
some cleans (need to practice timing)
and military presses (a lot easier on right side of course, can knock off sets of 4 or 5 no prob, left could only do like two sets or 2-3, but still with a 16kg that's improvement?)
and snatches (timing needs practice) / swings

looked at NWU1 book today
pelvic tilts, am i using lower back extensors/typestuff as hip extensors? i feel like i have too much lumbar movement/utilization when i should be isolating more. will have to isolate. maybe that is root cause of Swing issue? also L/R hip flex/extensor asymmetry possible?
noticed that L and R shoulder ROM wasn't as good as was last week or wk before? but then again i haven't been focusing on that as much as improving hip stuff esp posterior glute max L upper fiber with arm circles.
so do some more focused Z work (when doing figure 8s what part of c-spine moves?)
questions for the trainer community i guess

wanted to run practice a little this morning but rain! so instead NWU1 and maybe some presses/get-ups/looking for eggs, then jump-rope stationary bike cuz rain :( before dinner

pre-breakfast
more mobility
wall squat practice. need more dis?
light 8kg get-up practice / 5+5 MP / BUC for grip practice
arm bars and hip circles, ROM is like 80% was like 35% earlier

work day
write 3 page proposal for fellowship
throwing practice 30 min, warmup, work on 2h catch (R palm a lil bleh in middle), still not sure about L shoulder when low fh throw hm. where is axis of rotation?
jogging a lap / sprint
bike intervals to WF
now for soft-tissue/stretch& shower

hmph

thu
fly
slsquat 3+3 still weaker l side
sldl practice

fri
z
2sets 5+5 MP 12kg
jog
25 min throwing
15 min on off jog run sprint

l posterior glute / anterior hip not goood

sat
mo bed

mon
conditioning ok, but didn't eat for 36h over wknd. ahem.

tue
rain :(

sprint / jump

yesterday
light warmup / jog / run / short hill sprint
lunge practice

today
short 15-20 training
Z; interval rope, form feels really good
maybe will start doing more double unders ("power jumps") in future?
noticed that knee goes valgus during rope practice breaks if lunging? huh
still working on cross-body shoulder circles
heel feeling okay, but should prob continue massage tonight

Z
5, 10 8kg Sw practice
5+5, 3+3 12kg MP practice
5+5 8kg Sn practice
a few KB 1/2 SL squats, form not feeling great
3 boiled eggs!
overall feeling goodish but a lil sadness seeing friend from afar..

okay-good

run errands today (knife block cast iron etc)

warmup, lunge & twist a little asymmetry in twist on one side
dynamics
play for like 30 min on oval
conditioning okay-good
little tightness in mid R back? huh. but not too bad
speed good, need to work on transitions between going back / shuffle / fwd
good use of audibles
nice fh 1/2 field looks to score
cool down
stretching
hip flexor (opposing shoulder) work
tfl stretch, Z stuff

NWU2

didn't have time for recovery non-stationary biking today. just a little walking in VFFs felt okay-goodish.

post happy hour run on grass w/ VFF for 3/4 of field felt good...

NWU2 practice (2nd time)
R hip feel a little tight when cross-body
notice that for anterior lunge knee circle, have some noticable ankle tightness when knee drops out in varus... on both sides! practice that a bit separately
toe pulls still feel a little tight. maybe i need to work on those too w/ bolsters? hm

now will do some basic kb practice...
5 wall squats
foam roller (not as tight on R calf as last time or L glute)
8kg 3+3 8kg suitcase DL practice
8+8 8kg MP practice
3+3 8kg BUC practice
3+3 12kg MP practice
stretch

damn it feels good

huh, practice felt great today, dunno why. i didn't actually sleep any last night after midnight, though i did get naps in yesterday afternoon cuz I was afraid I was getting sick. felt better tho today!

had salad/raspberries/mushrooms/colavita for bfast, no time for eggs so just had 3 slices of hemp bread and organic peanut butter, awesome, and then lab lunch was pizza of poor quality boo but i had a slice anyway and munched on a dozen golden flax crackers which was like 50% of my USDA protein and 1/3 of my protein for the day.

had spirutein (sp?) protein last night and also brown rice protein yesterday? sayo whey/etc cow milk proteins! hello rice pea soy protein wit hemp / almond milk less sweetened.

had CA stuff to do so got to practice late, did my own warmup, jog around twice in socks, shuffles / karaoke / bkwd lunge / fwd lunge wit twist+extension, hops sagittal plane, Z R-phase ankle hip thoracic scapular cervical, a little I-phase in there, this time L mid back feeling a bit funky! last time was R mid back (worse tho then, this was just weak/weirdness)

practice arm drive after tee stop on warmup. practice throwing a bit. play a few points, feeling consistent, 3v3 good, huck drill, had a nice experience coaching Fannie to brace core pulse style to fix her out-of-practice bh huck which started looking nice/added like 20 yds & stability.

stretches, that weird stretch with like half lotus in SL squat got better at that, then throwing practice for a bit after wit Fannie / KStan / RKelly. fh low feels good, interesting i've been using opp hand up to stabilize lately, i didn't use to do that but it seems easier to stabilize altho slightly more energy. i think it's a good thing tho? i mean i guess the elbow out at least is prob better than strict dino limb. well it feels good like this, don't think i used to throw like this?

hammer medium dist feels okay but could use a little more flick. conditioning feels good, tues biking prob help plus all that ice / heat / Z / protein / recovery / rest =)

away in Canada next wk!! so no practice 4 me boo, will do other stuffs instead i guess.

recover

tues:
7mi non-stationary bike
heel ok
5+5 8kg MP -- form is feeling cleaner even though groove not quite as greased on L side. focusing on opening up & bone rhythm i think helps

wed:
more tired/sore than expect'd. hopefully not exposed to too much L1W1?! ^_^

odd, L leg hip flexion weirdness, esp in L R-phase anterior hip circles (no rehab pos). L lateral and posterior hip circles no prob, R same, R anterior hip circle feels a little tight in hamm but noticable L side asymmetry with straight-leg raise (even standing)... also R shoulder ROM limited today whereas L shoulder no problem (I guess the ankle is okay R side). R shoulder circle mild non-smoothness during close to cross-body front shoulder circles.

--

wed after office hours
10min heat pack R heel & L glute max superior fibers + HRV meditation
R-phase focus on shoulders and hips. anterior L hip circles feeling better. after palpating L&R glute max upper fibers, i think issue might be that during hip flexion (esp straight-leg hip flexion), my L glute max upper fibers were firing maybe due to previous glute med and/or adductor sensorimotor amnesia? not the same w/ R glute max upper fiber tho.

after palpating and focus on not recruiting those, felt better..

a little foam roll. R calves esp medial side a bit tight, quads both sides tight, L TFL/ITB a lil more so hm. weird fiber disconnect feeling around glute max/med L side tho, have had that for a while. could be that during swings or other hard hip flexion straight leg, was recruiting glute max superior fibers too much (like kb downswing overspeed?), and maybe could use anterior / lateral core esp oblique more?

anyway 5+3 birddogs, a few practice planks
glute stretch
hip flexor stretch
ice L glute max superior

first practice

first practice, in some ways better than last years, some ways worse ^_^

better: overall mobility is leaps and bounds above last year 1st practice. hip mobility the other day was hot re: hip high knee rotation things. my mark feels really good with ankle mobility and s-phase athletic ready stance for quick motion. also can get lower for shuffles w/ hip.

better: in general more balanced strength wise, last year had just been deadlifting and dunno if my abductors were activated.

worse: i didn't really eat much last week, and didn't cardio train last week either. haven't been running for like a month due to heel pain, which is pretty much gone. today was the first time i ran in month+, forgot to bring superfeet for cleats! but feet feel okay for now, will check tomorrow.

worse: still recovering for zealous KB swings last week, and sometimes feel it in R side of mid-back, that one time i was practicing 45 lb bar overhead squat and wasn't ready :( haven't been doing birddogs or side planks for a while now boo.

better: my BH short power grip wrist flick is a lot better, my lunge is stronger / stabler, and my ankles are in better shape. same for thoracics and scapula mobility.

so basically i haven't been working on energy systems and core stability and it shows ^_^ err, will get back to that! i guess i'm at a point where i just need to maintain this strength and practice running, base cardio level, and core strength back up there to match my mobility and max-strength etc. a little more relaxed on field but still need to work on that sense and communication ~_~

wk wk

last week:

tues, 8 mile non-stationary bike
wed, farmer's walk 2mi
thu fly out
fri-sun z-health r-phase cert part 2

need work on c5, lumbar spine rot left. shoulder circles esp on medial side... also in ankle circles, use heel to drive through and hit all targets.

today, z warmup, backward lunge, chinese wall squats (feel the back opening up)
i-phase shoulder circles, lunge thoracic a/p waves
a few minutes of 12kg get-ups, feeling a lot better than two wks ago, focus on letting pushing heel in punch+crunch come out and that knee not go valgus-y.

8+7+6+5 easy 12kg swings
2+2 SLDL ipsilateral
2+2 SLDL 12kg contralat

4+4 12kg MP -- focus on opening up through thoracic and spiraling down for glute activation
3+3 12kg clean & press -- left side press feeling a lot stronger/cleaner!

practice 4+4, 3+3 ish 12kg snatches, work on soft landing (R better than L, might not be hip snapping enough?)
stretch
ankle dorsiflexion lunge practice
TFL stretch, pump / hip flexor stretch
plantar fascia ice/myofascial release--not really noticing it today, in fact was more noticable weirdness in L foot the other day

non-stationary bikes

active recovery day

protein shake b'fast
try to eat a lil more during the day (pasta/chicken)
non-stationary bike to WF, get carded for dry white wine (cooking) -- need corkscrew ^_^ oops
wild rice w/ miso base, jasmine + organic mushrooms / onion / garlic / wild caught salmon
plank practice (1 min not too bad, altho only tight for first 45s), still asymmetry in one arm & contralateral leg

try to eat more o3 in fish oil too, try 3x/day?
pants already a little tighter!! hmm that was faast
now for a little rolling then ice

snatch that

Z, bckwd lunge, spidey

ETK wall squats
gob squat 12kg RRed practice
1+1 12kg get-up

2x{3+3} 12kg RR clean practice
1x swing snatch clean MP front squat complex

1+1rep ipsilateral SLDL 12kg, more challenging on L side descent. what was the breathing pattern again for this? might be holding breath too long at points, dunno. mild L knee instability, work on dat.

10rep 12kg Sw
3x{5+5} 12kg RR Sn practice, fun!

pump
glute stretch / TFL
foam roll 2min
3 rep short birddog (quad diag)
plank practice, not as good as quadriped diag plank as used to be! practice dat in future ^_^

now for vegan pizza? dinner #1, then dinner #2 in city w/ tony

eso es!

much much better workout tonight that crappy one last night. last night i hadn't eaten much before the workout, like 72h before. this time, i had cuban rice and black beans with skirt steak and avocado salad with polenta side from polemo (sp?) the night before with amino acid and b12 tabs, some chia seeds before bed, then 4egg certified humane organic egg omelette w heirloom tomato from a friend & kalamata w/ napa brine then tri-protein energy snack later (rice pea soy), garbanzo bean soup w/ local salad and baguette slices, chia fresca n fresh oregon blueberries & local raspberries organic w/ almond snack.

did z mobility brief warmup, spidey crawl, reverse lunge, jump rope sim.

then chinese wall squats feeling much better, less stretch in the lower back more in midback, getting closer to the wall and then after a few sets like 4-6? inches from wall with rock bottom squat.

focus on SL ipsilateral deadlift 8kg practice, try to keep shin vertical!! and push back with hips... gotta practice that, like the good morning stretch but unilateral. push back from the heel through the hamm with shin vertical not bent knee, hip hinge, then at bottom fist with other hand, engage ipsilateral lat and shoulder into mild external rotation, keep glutes firing, shin vertical for less instability, all the way up and then open with hips.

then SL contralateral deadlift 8kg KB practice, also same tips but here focus on obliques at KB touch, as if side bridge, and breathe on the way down... got a lot better! but mild instability L side, but getting there.

goblet squat practice, swing to horn grab, rest elbows on medial patella region, push push drop.

hand walk to pump, pump look left right, TFL for hip open, pump, spidey stretch, pump, spidey to hip flexor stretch, opp foot creeps forward, then finally opp arm reaches above elbow straighter for stretch, and we're done hand walk back up to bent knee!

thanks marty =)

now for some more stretching, plantar fascia stretch in particular!!

meh

today's PT not so great! haven't been eating enough... ate a lot last thurs/fri/sat but then starting feeling not-so-good on sunday? or monday. monday got up late and did pretty light get-up / clean / SLDL practice. and LB didn't feel so hot on tues/wed.

today had PT, wall squats feeling better, get-ups looking better (tho Marty is picky on the hand location and foot placement, i tend to move the foot a little more out rather than in as she would recommend), good control on way up and down but could use more glute contraction.

remembered do pistol grip into triangle and support with other arm.

felt not great after 20 swings... definitely underate these last four days :( still gotta reach back closer to da groin.

cleans look better than last time, also with slight inhale on way up rather than exhale, also keep elbow even closer and shoulder even lower.

my HRM website tells me i burned about 60,000 calories in the first 6mo of the year over 100 workouts... i'm also getting super skinny of late, prob not eating enuf... have been trying to veer off the warrior diet but i keep going back to it. i think i'm going to try PN when I get back to school?

recovery

a little Z
been eating more today/yesterday/day b4, i guess since i started doing a little kb work again w/ marty. funny how it slows me down altho if i eat correctly at least i don't fall asleep? but i talk less i think. anyway.

throwing practice. interesting how my fh is really hip/glute momentum driven, relying lots on superior glute maximus (R) side in particular, with use of lats to connect hip/glute complex to hand momentum. maybe with mobility drills my wrist tightness has relaxed a bit so i don't rely on it as much? well we'll see once i start practicing more again.

L glute maximus superior mild pain/soreness, am i not activating it i think?

http://www.physiotherapy.org.nz/index02/Publications/JournalPDF/33(3)Nov05_p95-100.pdf

huh maybe x-band walks would help if i had a band..

KB complex

Z warmup, ankles feeling better today

feeling pretty good today altho mild lower back soreness from last night training

was a ball girl for field hockey!!

Z warmup, less ankle stuff, medial heel not noticeable, R heel feeling better but barely noticeable.
Spidey hip mobility.

4 wall squats focus on lengthening (needs to be smoother)

3+3 8kg full get-ups focusing on hand positioning, proper rack position, abs&glutes on way up and down. mostly good form, but could work on the way down.

8kg clean practice, focus on elbow to tummy

2 sets 5+5 8kg swing practice, try to pack shoulder and contract glutes at top, lengthen.

1+1 kb complex for fun, swing / snatch / clean / re-clean / press / front squat.

5 min light jump rope.

2 sets 5+5 high box SL squat practice (focus on Gray Cook-type RNT force for L knee)

calf stretch, 8 reps anterior core small swiss ball roll out. 5+3+1 10s birddogs (L glute need to contract harder on that side), a few side planks.

glute stretch, hamstring stretch (turn eyes away from raised leg? will think about that). got asked what i'm training for by cute guy haha. TFL/ITB side stretch.

RKC marty

check-up w/ RKC marty

Z warmup, lateral/medial ankle tilts (medial much tighter), hanging knee circles (better after trigger point release R adductor), hip circles (ext rotation rehab position), thoracic waves

get-up: opp arm < 45 deg, ipsilateral foot a little further (almost at knee?), engage abs+glutes. don't move contralateral hand on punch+crunch. pull shoulder down and back (resist trainer pull up). contralateral knee needs to be slightly externally rotated before high bridge. make sure to engage glutes & squeeze the lemon (adductor) on the way down for smoother descent! also, rack the KB w/ elbow closer to body, use opp hand below bell on final set down.

wall squat: a little closer feet, focus on lengthening through femur (force going fwd and backwd to push out of hip joint), staying tall.

swing: remember to DL butt back not down, focus on knees not going too fwd, feel mild stretch in hamm. shoulder pack, glute tight at top.

clean: looks a lot better but bell could be behind a little further, keep elbow closer to body even before lift.

hip flexor stretch: focus on stretching flexor of knee on ground, tense glute and hamm (as if flexing knee fwd) then release. both hands on knee to keep upper torso back.

pump then that TFL stretch after downwd facing dog (look at RKC manual)

teach marty lat ankle tilt, hip circle, camshafts (she likes that). she has R delt tightness and also R hip & R ankle huh. muscle activation demo practice.

inflammation boo

sigh, remembering that i'm allergic to cow milk proteins, most likely casein? drank a whole lot of organic kefir and then was inflammed shortly thereafter. boo. have been feeling unmotivated after eating lots of ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grains... not good.

taking a break from training, still doing Z hip circles / thoracic / camshafts / TMJ but giving the ankle a break to focus on soft tissue work : manual therapy and a little tiger tail stick. working on trigger points in R calf (posterior / lateral) and R adductor (medial), probably there due to heel injury boo... right near the illiac crest & TFL some weirdness going on the R side only, ack. also noticing i have trigger points near hip joints on both sides anterior which i haven't worked on in the past!

bike doc throw

active recovery biking 15+15 min

see doc re: foot tenderness, slightly distal from R taleocalcaneal joint, heel is mostly better unless i load it too much and then it's a dull sensation. probably not a fracture according to doc, some soft tissueness. phew.

TFL acting up a few times during the day, huh. trigger points found on R calf on posterior/lateral side (bottom 1/3rd), noticed that R adductor also tight & needs soft tissue work.

throwing practice with const, short and long range bh feels really smooth, fh mid and long feels great (focus on using body rather than wrist flick hmm). R lat still 10% weird but much better than end of last week, prob why using body chain rather than wrist flick.

i am warm

Z warmup--i think i overdid VFF outside in Oakland yesterday, R lateral ankle below talus feels a lil funny. But am getting stronger there? Need to let stuff heal heel tho, take jump rope / squat break.

Yesterday ankle circles felt really good, have been doing supine R-phase ankle circles. Also pretty good strength there (on tippy toes).

Today hip circles feel pretty good! Thoracic wave okay, camshafts back to feeling good again.

5 min alternating 1/2 12kg get-ups. Some hamm tightness, so hip flexor stretch (kneel lunge type)

8+8 suitcase 12kg DL

think about how to integrate strength into school year, maybe do strength pre- practice and more cardio on off days?

5+3 10s birddogs -- i should prob think about how to load this? dunno. will have to get stu mcgill's back performance book.

glute / hamm slash ASLR / abductor / ITB / eccentric calf stretchin

aero break

Took a few days off, started to feel on the cusp on sickness, so chill day at work, take off days from strength training.

Feeling better now after Emergen-C.

Have been practicing my single-leg squats even more like practice than strength training. I think I was doing way too much tension before, even more recently too much tension, not just trying to have perfect reps with lesser range of motion, more stability, no valgus knee. So my left SL squat is slowly improving, focusing on the movement. Practicing the movement as a movement I think is helping.

Throwing practice today, oh my R lat was feeling weird yesterday, was losing a lot of force transmission on the R side, like 50%, today feels better more like only 25% energy lost.

Remember to engage core at least 25%? before forehand huck. Def helps, don't always remember to engage > 5%.

Anyway, not sure what that's about... maybe I just slept weird the other day. Anyway, my joggin up stairs with great form is feeling awesome and is a lot of fun... but yea haven't been conditioning for last few weeks just focus on mobility and strength practice so both of those are getting better.

Z train Z train

first Z-health client! AH
cat-3 gait?
arthrokinetic jam demo, seemed to work! glute med was a little sore after? hm

client AH:
demonstrated lat ankle tilt. was feeling more in lower calf, refocus lower. didn't affect gait? hard to say w/ cat-3.
identify mostly anterior / L / rehab pos internal rotation bad stuff chunkiness.
jump rope work (not bad form)
DB lunges / barbell lunges -- looked good
squat form not great, switch to box bodyweight squat.
knee pushups
stretch

self:
todo focus on single leg squat motion not strength?!
warm up rope work
hill walk
bodyweight / plate deep squats
spidey, feels good
chicken dinner!

active recovery

15min+15min easy/moderate non-stationary biking to California Ave :)
Z

focus on lat ankle tilt / hip pend R & I phase / thoracic glides
lunge compass
bodyweight squat practice
throwing practice (R posterior midback slightly tight, from yesterday's chins/pushups?)

long hucks good accuracy
idea articles, interview leslieC / MikeT / DrC? ankle injuries (R wrap) 3/8 today's box play...! ^_^

light day

only 25 min to workout b4 dinner (plus taking it easy to recover from heel re-bruise and hip tightness + weird food stuff last week). felt soo much better after 4 days of Fast-5 / Warrior Diet-type intermittent fasting

quick Z warmup focus on outside toe pull / lat ankle tilt / hip circles w rehab pos / thoracic A/P glide / camshafts

6-8 min interval rope work
practice bodyweight chinup -- just added CC img to wikipedia heh: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chin-up
practice pushups (8)
8+8 single leg box squats (1.5 ft), left def weaker, need to get mah strength-endurance up here

anterior core Swiss ball roll out practice (8)
5+3+1 curl-ups
5+3+1 bird-dogs
glute stretch
eccentric calf stretch **do more of dis in next few weeks, feels tight**

borrowed Rippletoe's Starting Strength

rest (of the summer)

Today, rest. ^_^

A month to go before school starts!

I like to look back once in a while and see how things have been goin'. This summer I've focused mostly on mobility, and my ankle mobility has gotten soo much better, which has translated into better linear / circular / cutting movement on the field, and I finally woke up my abductors. My squat pattern has gotten a lot more consistent and on a good day I can get close to passing the FMS front squat screen (overhead squat).

My hip mobility has continued to improve, my calf max contraction has been upped, and my new weakest links have moved from my lumbar to the sides of my mid-back and hips. My single leg squat is starting to look better than it has since last summer, and I guess the big picture is that I've de-emphasized heavy "slow" strength for mobility and stability first (esp ankle / hip / shoulder).

That said, I guess my my goals for the next few weeks are to improve strength-endurance of areas adjacent/opposite to my current weakest links, so perhaps focus on adductors / lats / anterior core?

Still have to read McGill's Ultimate Back Fitness, have been working mostly from LB Disorders, but I think my posterior chain strength and mobility are getting good enough so that I'm pushing myself to new limits, but my hip/oblique strength-endurance isn't quite there methinks.

Soo (1) single leg squats / deadlifts higher rep for strength-endurance / ligaments (2) clean&press 8kg (3) ball roll-outs

Also think about who my S&C&movement coaches are! ^_^

adduct

isometric adductor work (L a little weaker)
noticed minor trigger points in R adductor / L around vastus medialis? hm
R hip soreness mostly gone but still noticeable from Thurs

Z warmup
4+4 12kg clean& MPress, pretty good but 4th L side a lil shaky
4x{8+8} box SL squat, form is getting better (this time just touch butt to chair)

squat squat lift

Tues:
mostly rest, a few demo 12kg MPs / TGUs
Muscle activation test practice--make sure athlete doesn't ext rotate to cheat w/ quads

Wed:
Z R-
DL coaching / being coached (could have bar slightly closer to body esp. at top)
Trainee back squat strong but rly asymmetrical, confirmed through Cook's FMS (ohs squat, in line lunge, rotary stb glute)
3 reps 90 lb (not inc. 45 lb bar weight..) DL practice
2 sets 5+5 SL box squats, L side weaker but getting more stable-ish both sides
6-7 min rope work, curl-ups+bird dogs, 30 min throwing practice

Thu:
Last summer league game!
Z-, warmup (have been wearing VFF for last 3 dy)
Feeling okay, decent conditioning, good strength

Top strengths: consistent throw/catch, strong D esp. vs deep as top speed is super hot (thx deadlift)

Okay but could use work; typ get beat when O cut out / cut in, need to maintain more buffer? and do a few sidestep? or
practice&use hip turn / plyo-step / linear accel fwd lean for first 10yd,
aggressiveness on O

Need work:
Handler motion/cuts (I "know" how to and have done sometimes in past, but habits not great here): dish / upline / dump
Cutter indirection / t-step towards D
Let heel bruise heal again (stepped hard on last pt d'oh)
Not eating b4 game ~_~

Fri:
feelin decent in the morning
calf MVC isometric work (L side has more sticking pts but getting lots better at upper range of contraction)
glute palpate--looks like mild L/R glute max asymmetry (L weak) + adductor/max (weaker) vs medius (tightness) on L side...
Address using isometric, but SL squat or SL deadlift? Hmm.
when heel heals get back to t-step, eccentric / faster speed movement practice

lift lift

Z R-phase
-hanging knee motion comes from hip
-muscle test demo, hold both legs (above ankle)
-cervical A/P glide etc motion comes from bottom of c-spine

Sat/Sun
-1/2 SL box squat practice (3+3 Sat, 5+5 Sun)

Mon:
Z drills
Lunge bone rhythm warmup
5 min jump rope (a lil slow)
90lb 5+3+1 bbell deadlift (4/10 RPE, good leg activation)
45 plate gob squat practice
OHS light bar practice form seems good
5+5 SL box squat practice, form feeling better
8 min rope work (not as strong as end of last week, but ok)
5+3+1 curl-ups (stronger than last few weeks)
5,3,1 bird-dogs (supermild asymmetry? feels pretty good tho)
knee up t-spine stretch really fluid!
glute stretch
ASLR practice + hamm stretch
in a good way mid back minor soreness some hrs later

suitcase

Z warmup (heel getting there)
L arm ROM seems to be getting better? The other day was slightly more ROM than right side!
Eccentric calf raises
10 min jump rope, getting more comfy with the rope, doesn't seem as heavy & no noticeable strain in anterior shoulder
Spidey crawls
Backward lunges / compass lunge focus on pull & bone rhythm

OHS practice with bamboo / bars -- feels really good today!!

Practice a few 60 lb, 40 lb unilateral suitcase deadlifts
1/3 SL squat practice, feeling more stable-- knee not drifting too much but L side slightly less endurance
naked/isometric chop&lift practice (kneeling on L knee)
Birddogs 5+5
Curl-ups 5,3,1
Stretch glutes, ASLR / hamm + good morning stretch

Afterwards mild sore in R mid back & R posterior near glute med inferior to iliac crest

DL

Z warmup (R heel boo)
backwards lunge dynamics
5 min jump rope, anterior shoulder feels good

50 lb barbell DL {5, 3, 1} set (a few min rest):
NS likes
def using legs: calves/quads/ham/adductor a lot more than in previous months DL!
3+3 front weight 1/2 SL squat, still need to work on eccentric stability (knee not stable)
check out rower
stretch glutes, TFL
ASLR practice into hamm stretch
curl-up 5+3 rep 5-7sec

urg my body likes the eating but my mind is like arr i'm slowin down

cleans

Z practice
heel still healing
1/2 12kg Kbell TGU practice. L shoulder stability needs work.
12kg Kb clean practice, NS seems to like that
lunge bone rhythm practice
potato chip hand rot twists

suitcase

chill a bit. R heel is heeling har, will take a few more days to clear?

R midback still a lil booboo from monday (5 days ago).

practice calf MVC, a lil Z hip. wearing contacts more regularly now, visual saccade drills.

3 sets of 5+5 12kg suitcase (one-side) deadlifts thru-out day, eyes down at first, eyes up at top, focus on good form, lock out w/ glutes and knees at top, come down at similar speed but controlled.

dinner eat: wild rice / miso jasmine / local red chard / heirloom hand-picked org tomato / porcini / onion.

break no break

wuz gonna take a break but a friend invited me to play and so did casual. conditioning not hot, probably recovering from yesterday's DL repatterning!

Z practice, hip mobility. S-phase T-stop practice. Turn practice with turn step look, focus upper arm bone rhythm on rotation w/ hip drive to start.

Was moving reaaally well, had a nice break fh, have been more gut-driven on O as handler? but my friend says i'm rly analytical and in my own world, hah yea. tru dat.

missed this catch whilst jumping and then rotated 180 on the way down to try to recover but landed weird on R heel d'oh! will ice that and ibu, do some ankle mobility too asap.

backside review

Reviewing Cook & Jones's Backside DVD.

Toe touch a lil better than was a few months ago. ASLR slightly remedial? Haven't been practicing. But at least is now symmetrical I think.

Toe touch is symmetric, but with R foot up feel a little more stretch on the L posterior near glute. Notable that in SL bridge, when stick out R leg am still strong but mild+ asymmetry in stability!

Cook hip lift is noticably harder w R knee held up! L glute firing pattern still screwy... Chop & Lift with L knee kneeling helped a bit, huh. (No band here tho ATM.)

Bamboo (backside) DL patterning.

Kbell SLDL practice. (cross-body)

pfly bye

sat:
ulty on oval, minor mid back soreness next day (from rolling? skidding?)

sun:
rest

mon:
Z warm, SL box squat practice, tac push-up practice, 45deg chin-up w/ -5 lb practice.
OHS empty bar no go (stability not quite there in mid back, maybe still sore from sat)

tue:
only slept 10-12h in last 5 days... tummy funny after diaphragmatic / croc breath demo. last practice?! bye..

reading gcook on SL & 2L DL again... http://www.functionalmovement.com/SITE/publications/downloads/deadlifting.pdf

chillin

Relax today. Just do Z training plan, GTG hip circles.

L wrist seems a-ok, R mid-back soreness mostly gone, went barefoot/VFF today again woo! Also feeling good from gettin some aerobic & a lil anaerobic play last night even if my head/heart wuz somewhere else.

Practiced a few 12kg dead cleans, BUCs. L hand 12kg BUC not dialed in today, though 12kg SLDL practice was pretty good!

I'm always tempted to do swing work but I know I have plenty of concentric strength and still am working on L/R mobility/stability symmetries around shoulder/midback/hip. Plus it's really the eccentric force absorption that kicks my butt.

I guess I'll obvi continue the Z plan, GTG R-phase hip circles, play tomorrow, go back down to 8kg continuous get-ups to dial in that form again (esp the punch+crunch & shoulder stability on transitions!), and gently re-introduce PVC rope work.

I wonder what my Pistols look like now that I've done some more targeted mobility / joint work? I guess that's not a prio but I somehow want to incorporate eccentric loading (and maybe increase my MVC calf limit or somethin?). Maybe increasing difficulty from just eccentric calf raises which I work on here and there to more S-phase type work? Def need to master naked eccentrics before weighted!

okee

Wed: rest, pushed a lil too much w Sw on Tues

Thu: scrimmage. conditioning okay, mobility okay. R ankle mostly healed from sprain? ~700 kCal burned, 197 maxHR, about 4.5 min > 168bpm. Didn't really feel winded tho, huh. Effective D but me not practiced at (a) popping (b) playing at mixed in-cut speed (c) handler cuts. Hm.

R mid back was lil sore from Tues but now no prob. Head/heart wasn't really in the game...

100 swings

Yesterday:

Walk 5 miles (to DMV).

5 minutes alternating 12kg Kb TGUs

SL bridges 5,4,3 pyramid


Today:

Nap instead of practice...
Z outside toe pull, hanging pendulums, hip circles (external rotation, focus on keeping ankle relaxed).
Thoracic A/P glides. L arm active ROM goes from horizontalish to 55+ deg after all that. o_O

Wall squats, naked RKC arm bars
10 min of 5+5 12kg 1-handed swings (100 total)
Z cooldown / stretching. R lat a little tight at end? Something weird in my swing form? Hm.
A few SL bridges, saccade practice.

Ankle (anterior esp) continue to improve.

swings

sat:

get up late
Z NWU
naked RKC arm bars

sun:

walk ~10 miles
Z outside toe pulls, hip pendulum, hip circles, A/P glides, camshafts. Hip circles are starting to feel a bit cleaner, slowly.

12kg Clean practice. NS likes the internal to external rotation?
naked RKC arm bars
12kg BUC practice

~50ish 12kg one-hand swings, feeling a lot better in the hips when throwing the Kbell back! Must be the Z hip (esp posterior) work. Just feels cleaner overall...! R ankle is still recovering but it's much better than it was weeks ago.

Calf/quad/ITB-type stretching. Organic ice cream ^_^

move pls

Was moving pretty well last night, almost as well as that night a month+ ago! That said I was a lil weak and de-conditioned, as I've been focusing almost exclusively on mobility / movement patterns for the last month+.

My ankle was eh cold, but was barely noticeable when warm, same with L shoulder, not really noticeable when cold. T-spine musculature was sore-ish, prob cuz I've been doing lots of thoracic A/P work GTG.

Today taking a break from lateral/medial ankle tilts (noticed LeslieC didn't mark that), but outside toe pulls help, and definitely hip mobility in cross-body / front / side / back (!) with mild external rotation is pretty big!

Will do a few camshafts, RKC arm bars, 12kg dead cleans / BUCs, and see how the 12kg TGU feels.

NS likes the arm bars / dead cleans, BUC is neutral, camshaft not bad, doesn't like wrist glides!

Did 12kg L-side BUC for the first time!! After one 2/3 of way there (a few days ago went too far and wasn't stable). My NS seems to like too, ROM L shoulder even better?! like +55deg past horizontal.

a few sets of naked arm bars, 12kg 2+2, 4+4 arm bars, NS likes that too. (eccentric calf raises at end of workout not good to do? maybe too much for something down there.)

12kg TGU a few reps doesn't feel too bad, NS thinks is okay. Well that's enough for a short mornin workout, time to pick up Lyla & go to work :)

z++

R ankle is slowly improving, L shoulder is improving a bit faster? Then again assess-reassess is focused on L shoulder active ROM which amazingly varies a lot in the sticking point whether I do lateral ankle tilts (was responding well over wknd but now it depends), hanging knee (usually good), hip circles w/ external rehab (generally good), camshafts (sometimes), wrist circles (not happy), thoracic A/P glides (mostly good).

I guess that means that my R ankle and L wrist are a lil peeved so it's easier to address L shoulder & hip issues first, and of those hip first as that's not the site of any pain. My thoracic spine musculature was a lil sore today/yesterday which is a good thing cuz that's not typical!

Over the wknd def felt more blood flow around scapula/lat interface, and now around R ankle talus. As they (Lewit) say, "He who treats the site of pain is lost!"

On a good note my adductors have been feelin strong ever since they got re-activated some weeks ago. L quad soreness mostly gone from the wknd and have been workin on vision training here and there. Wasn't going to scrimmage today since my R ankle still feels iffy (although better than it was last week or a few weeks ago I think), but I decided to do so anyway and just take Sat/Tues day off playing/practice.

It kind of sucks not to train harder, but I also know that it's very easy for me to push myself/body harder than they can recover from, esp since I'm soo sensitive to neural training, physical training / food / people... I guess instead of doing jump rope / running I can program in some light TGUs when my quad cleans up (a few days I expect), some gentle Kbell swings, and of course keeping up the MVC-type calf raises focusing on the eccentric.

Z-wise hip/knee circles and thoracic A/P glides are probably the keys, secondarily camshafts, at least for the next few weeks, a little I-phase here and there as well.

Tough though, I beat my body up so much during the day at work, and have been trying to push it there too as well as work through a number of emotional sticking points, that just gotta not be surprised when my corrective practice moves slowly (be patient) and just remember that I don't have the luxury of focusing full-time on my athletics or self-dev as a PT! But grateful I have time enough to make progress slowly, at least by the metric of measured months.

Thanks again to LeslieC and the other Z crew!

z+

back from DD Z R/I/S workshop @ STP. more notes later.

today's practice: (zzz in secret parking last night)

L lateral active ROM reassess protocol,

lateral/medial ankle tilts mild utility (prob have been pushing ankles too hard again w/ 24x7 VFF training, backing off today w Free 3.0v2s)

NS likes hip pendulum (still limited ROM cold, now actively moving it manually), thoracic A/P glides. ankle circles a bit much?

L quad a lil sore from S-phase practice on Sun, not used to catching left handed in deep athletic position with right eye closed + letterball catching! i only dropped letterball left handed w/ left eye only mid-low, prob cuz i never catch low balls/discs with L eye + L hand only, and squat firing pattern is kinda diff, body wasn't warm enough and didn't expect it. will be at practice today but no cleats, minimal running. mobility is still my prio this month, will get into heavier KB work in aug?

z

Learning lots at Z-health 3-day workshop. Improved L shoulder lateral mobility yesterday by 20+ deg w/ lateral ankle tilts (did same for mom's R shoulder) and reduced R ankle tightness but still mildly tight and L shoulder mild tightness & pain (around scapula / lats). Will ask Z trainers today what they think!

running form

Warm up today

Practice: KB swing / TGUs & arm bars w/ 8kg

Peek gave me some running form tips. Change plane of motion of arms by externally rotating shoulder! Also to sprint fast work on forward lean... Hmm!

Was fun freestyle running for a bit today, gently... hadn't done that in weeks! ^_^

RICE?

Last night's game was pretty good,

started off 4-0 pfly, our zone D was working great & generating turns
pretty soon was closer to 4-5,
then 6-8, they took half.
down by two with 5 min to play!
hard cap, almost but not quite :)

I played okay for not having trained or practiced last week rly. Conditioning was okay, not great, but to be expected (didn't end up training on Wed, too tired/busy). Strength okay, not great, to be expected from focusing on health and mobility rather than strength and speed.

What I did realize half way through was that my R ankle was superrr tight. I did some calf contract-release cycles and SMR / massage to work on that, and intentionally tried to relax the joint and let the calf take up that slack, and that helped soo much second half of the game!

I've been training in Vibrams for almost a month now, pretty much every day, but it's been good to take a back-off few days with Nike Free 3.0v2s... Sure my feet are stronger, but if my joints are hella or even somewhat tight, it's not going to help my movement in the end!!

back from back off

Back-off week whilst traveling.

Jul 4: "feeling better after joint mobility and 3:1 bodyweight SLDL : SLsquat practice before dinner. ready to start mo' training after a backoff wk"

Jul 6: "ankles feeling strongish this morn; been wearing Vibram 5-fingers 3.5wk full-time now :D, abt to board JFK to SFO, kept v5s on thru security" / "next goals:address minor L/R joint mobility asymmetries in R ankle plantarflexion <-> L shoulder camshafts :cross-body, L/R pressin'strength"

Jul 6: 1h light workout (~625 kCal), VFF jogging, Z / mobility warmup, 8kg gobsq, 8kg SLDL (still need more stability), alternate VFF jog/run w/ 8kg Kb Sw for 3.5 sets of 8 single handed, abductors a lil weak when sprinting, 6+4+2 each side BUC 8kg (finally going to start training upper body!), jump rope for 5 min (broke it doh), elliptical for 15 min.

Jul 7: rest

Jul 8: pfly practice. a little sore-weak in glutes / abductors, work on dump set (if 2nd dump on force line, set up further away like 10-15yd) and wing in zone d (when disc goes to line, goal is to stop the throw straight up line).

Jul 9: either pickup or maybe a few kb swings

movement

Sun- rest

Mon- 10 min alternating partial 2/3rd TGU w 12kg Kb, notably weak on L side, should drop to 8kg next wk

Tue- pfly practice for 1h. Felt okay. Better at creating separation as handler for dump cut.

Wed- rope warmup, lunges / dynamics, 5min rope (feeling meh wrt L wrist and Lat), 8kg Kb Sw with jogging. 8kg SLDL 3x6, gob squats. Interval sprints & running for 5 min w Vibrams for first time. Easier than barefoot :)

Thu- Berkeley game. Felt better than last week but not as great as 2wk ago? Didn't have much play time cuz 9 girls and only 3 on at a time. Played best for last all-girl pt :)

Think will just rest L wrist/lat and R ankle this week. Minor injuries only noticeable at extreme ROM, but probably need more time to heal without loading. Otherwise abductors are still firing, glutes seem okay, todo check on R calf a little next week (trigger point when max tensed?). Instead work on breathing (diaphragmatic and pelvic floor), glute stretch, Z and hot/cold for joints.

R lat

Fri-

Listen to bad-ass Gray Cook KB secrets replay again. Remember pelvic floor activation, been working on diaphragmatic breathing this past week too. Don't forget to brace using both rectus and diaphragm! Todo read more about role of pelvic floor in IAP / core stabilization.

superslow Z R-phase work (ankles tightened up from Thu playin)
12kg Kb TGU practice (left side still asym weak)
12kg Kb BUC practice (left wrist distal ligament none too happy with just a few of these tho boo, start PT this Tues for that)

{5,3,3} 7-9s pyramid set Single leg bridge focus on glute med and abductor activation
Bird dog practice, notable asymmetry! Focus on this as a movement pattern to observe

Sat-

Feelin pretty good mentally. Casual throwing & freeline skating. Fh notably better upwind than Bh, Lat tightness causing me to put too much anhyzer on Bh?

Casual pickup for 1h post-picnic. Not as limber as on Thu but better than usual. Shortened Z-, jog, backward lunge, cross-over / shuffle / Spidey warmup. Focus on defender and their vector not just spacing, separation is the metric to hack. Getting better at that. Still lazy with stepping out and faking, get punished by tall markers ^_^. Stepping out / low release speed is not great. Pretty good on lazy offense, used the "Boom Boom" marking strategy my coach suggested, seems to work and is intimidating when someone tried it on me :)

Sun-

Rest! Funny, I can't crack my R shoulder, have been able to do that for like a decade (prob not a good thing). Still can crack left. Need to work on something around there. It might be some weird delt/trap/lat issues, dunno. Have been focusing on superslow Z R-phase (5 reps) maybe that has helped? Plus some SMR-type work. Maybe arm bars need to be used again? Dunno. Will try replicating last week's goodness, barefoot running on Tue + Vibram jump rope and 3:1 Kbell SLDL to Pistol and finish with Kb swing sets.

gray cook hotness

Listening to Gray Cook's teleseminar again! Awesome stuff... also just signed up, or rather applied for, Sept MovNat seminar!!

Okee so have had Vibram FiveFingers for a week now, and feel really good. Have been rehabilitating myself from the ground up, as I wrote on a fb note this morning:

"It's been an interesting journey this past year, getting (back) into [bad-ass :] shape instead of developing myself further as an artisan baker. I definitely had to start from the ground up, rehabbing my ankles / achilles / calves through barefoot / Nike Free / and now Vibram FiveFinger work, addressing lower-back dysfunction through appropriate diaphragmatic power breathing & glute activation plus context-appropriate hip mobility and posture, and more recently learning to run properly (parkour practice) && re-engaging my adductors appropriately with careful ankle mobility and fast&loose tension-relaxation work to clean up my minor hip/ITB issues."

So yea, ankles r good, achilles tendon okay, calves and quads are a little better, finally got my adductors firing the other day with hip lifts and manual manipulation?!

This week:

Tue- "practice" w Jimmy/Ed/Rob, throws were decent when cold, good when body warm (L lat tightness?)

Wed- jump rope warmup & Kb gob squats, 3:1 ratio of SLDL to SL Kb 8kg Pistol. Cutting practice, ankle mobility work, also super slow Z drills for hip/ankle. Finish with a few sets of 8kg 1-handed Kb Swing, a few press & snatches to practice.

Thu- game vs SF rush. Lower body felt great! Awesome ankle mobility, able to use stretch reflect really well w/ ankles, felt great to bounce around, good running speed. Focused on learning more about cutting. Todo try making sure not to crowd handler if on open side and non-zone, but on break side or if no open cut then try to close distance to D then move from really close to one way. Also on O in ho stack or vert, look for space then try to focus on separation rather than just arbitrary movements. Separation as a fn of distance and D girl's position/velocity vector!

Only weak point was L lat/trap tightness. Not sure what that is, maybe just the asymmetry of mid-back? Perhaps try the BUC as self-limiting exercise (thx Gray Cook!). (Also try TGU as a "systems check")

Self-limiting exercises: jump rope, running up hill, barefoot running, BUC, SLDL, TGU or BU|1/2 TGU, half-kneeling chop/lift/press. 1/3 of workout should be one of these!

(dbl BUC + plus squat hmm. grip to core to glutes)

practice

Mon:
Warmup / Spidey / leg swing
2x6 8kg Gob Sq practice
2x(5+5) 12kg Kb SDL
8+8 8kg Kb Sw practice
2+2 12kg Kb TGU practice
ASLR
stretch

Tue:
Warmup / Spidey / lunge / Z
5min warmup rope
3x6 45lb Oly plate gob-type deep squat
light bar lunges
2+1 OHS practice (almost decent w/ empty Oly bar)
10min interval rope (work on half-step with criss-cross some mo')
pistol progression (box lowering to heel touch)
ASLR
eccentric calf raise
foam roll (minor glute med tightness)
hip flexor / adductor work
stretch

Wed:
ulty practice (aerobic zone... not feeling great today, but not horrible.)

Thu:
14-13 against classy!
work on being in cup, no around. R hip/glute med/ITB? minor tightness towards end but otherwise strong.
conditioning okay, need to practice cutting fundamentals.

casual pickup today...

1500kCal, mostly aerobic the first hour (< 168), more anaerobic sprints the second (maxHR=215) and third hour (maxHR=213), but still 2-4x in aerobic vs anaerobic for casual play. hmm.

have been working on running form/practice for weeks now and it's def paying off... feel like i can run in the aerobic zone w/o getting too tired, less misdirected energy. have been reducing arm swing this past week, need more practice there.

lookin at regionals data.
just sat,
vs s'fly 9:6 aerobic/anaerobic
vs santa cruz 23min aerobic vs 39min anaerobic
game 3: 28:4
vs cal-b: 5:1 (!)

sat sectionals.
vs s'fly 9:3
vs santa cruz 8min to 15min anaerobic
game 3: 11:4

sun
vs davis-b 15:5
vs sonoma? 12:12
game 3: 2:5

122 total aerobic (150-168) , 94 total anaerobic (168+), lots more sub-150. hmm!
still need lots of adductor work / lateral movement practice, but overall feeling pretty balanced and not too tired. haven't been doing sprint work really.
learned today that apparently runner's high is just for aerobic work, not interval anaerobics? good to know...

interesting tho in retrospect, best games happened when i was warm enough to sprint and spend more time in anaerobic vs aerobic zone... still good to have an aerobic base i guess.

squats & plates

Morning warmup (Z-type / tiger tail)
Bike to ACSR / backward lunge / 5 min light rope / spidey crawl hip mobility

2x5 45lb Oly plate deep squat
2x5 50lb bbell DL (2 min rest--realize I upgraded max strength last summer but didn't have much strength-endurance, thus would help connective tissue & training specificity to increase reps but dec weight & maybe keep light: sub 100lb, also reduce rest period from 5 min to 2 min)
empty Oly bbell overhead squat practice (almost breaking the butt/knee plane, stance still slightly wide)

realized lat/shoulder mobility is my new weakest link: hip mobility is way better and maintained with air squats / Oly plate deep squat / spidey crawls but need to add back in RKC arm bars (with kbells or plates or mballs) and adjust length-tension relationship circa anterior supraspinatus? also work on lat tightness again.

10-15 min interval ropework, morning RHR 62, maxHR=168 (about 75% of HRmax 225). 15-25s rest intervals.

half-step rope turns looking good, getting faster! also able to half-step plus cross-over at slow and almost at fast speeds!! rosstraining here we come.

shoulder / rotator cuff stretch; ASLR, gastroc / soleus stretch, ITBand stretch, cooldown
post-workout chia fresca / dry roasted edamame / toasted bagel w smart balance / h2o

...

yesterday, parkour practice to/from lab. a lil tight/cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon. tripped on a window going a little too fast... started falling but used amzing reflexes to land almost exactly on balls of my feet!! that coulda been dangerous. just ended up with the barest of scratch on R tricep / side of palm.

2dy ago rest.

tmrw, PrisonFly / P'fly scrimmage :p

17k

Walked/hiked/jogged/ran 17km in SF yesterday.

Today, a grr workout.

Warmup backwards lunge / spiderman crawl / foam roll glute med

1x5 45 lb plate deep squats
3+3 90lb DL
empty bar OHS practice (still needs work)
Pistol progression-- 1-legged squat practice atop short box (idea from Power Moves book)
Intermix jump rope & 5+5 8kg Kb sw / 5+5 8kg Kb sn
ASLR
Stretch

Lats need work... my new weakest links: something around the lat/shoulder chain. Need to do more Z R-phase camshafts and review shoulder mobility drills / literature.

on running and summer plans

Now that my quals week is drawing to a close, I'm looking fwd/ahead to the summer, with thoughts of where to live (SF) and how/why to train.

Yesterday I spent a lil time before dinner listening to Senior RKC Mark Reifkind talk as part of the KB secrets series, and I'm definitely glad I got a chance to hear and remember what Mark has tried to teach me in workshops and in training, directly and indirectly.

Mark and I seem to share a love for intensity, and whereas he started out as a gymnast eventually competing against (pre-Olympian) Kurt Angle at the collegiate level. After getting injured he started to run, and with his love of volume eventually started running ultras.

running / parkour

I started running more recently, partly because I wanted to give my L wrist a break (in case I tore my forehand ligament) and partly because I know that running (endurance that is) is a weakness of mine relative to sprinting / max-strength / body control. I also did Wii Fit for a while this quarter whilst injured, which helped my balance a lot, but I guess I wanted to be a better runner for a few reasons. I watched Watchmen with my momma (heh) and kind of wanted to be more like Rorschach... whatever that means, you tell me :p

So given that, I started my parkour (rather than freerunning) practice on campus, and I've been slowly getting better! I had to ease off of the upper body work to give my L wrist a rest (was doing GTG pullups on my door, didn't have access to that fancy lifeline jungle gym though in retrospect that's probably a better investment than the pullup bar I have and don't have installed).

Actually, yesterday was a little bit of a breakthrough in my parkour practice (I don't train parkour, I just practice...)--I was feeling a little tight but I started slowly on Wilbur, felt good running past the Law school, and then did a continuous run from the geo corner of the quad (after navigating through the bushes) over the physics / stats lawns and then through that Sequoia window I spent months looking at wistfully :p then over the Packard cement blocks and through the EE lawn finally to Gates.

on sprinting not

It wasn't just that I was pushing myself, I wasn't, but it was probably the first time I felt like I was pacing myself appropriately and trying to feel my way to a good rhythm and cadence... I guess I was inspired by this article on Why [the author] Sucked in College, where he noted:

1) How much faster I ran in college on most runs than I did when I actually was good and how hard I ran intervals and 2) How much less I ran and less endurance I had in college compared to after.

Being addicted to intensity, I just love intervals, and sprinting rocks... at least until you gas yourself out heh but I kind of realize that strength work and sprinting work over a bent frame (as Cook would say) or one that hasn't learned to sustain itself on aerobic paces is probably not a good idea... kind of how I learned to DL my bodyweight and DL some 1500 lbs in 15 minutes months before I even tried a weighted squat, or how I learned to sprint 100m in sub-14s or so without knowing what my mile / 5k times were. But that's me, trying to take shortcuts and sometimes screwing myself over in the process :p

monthly progress

so yea, i just wanted to look back and remind myself that my lower body stability has gotten a lot better, i have far fewer restrictions, my lower back recovers so much better with improved posture / form / hip mobility, and my balance / walking gait / running form have all improved over the last just 6 months. i still have a ways to go, but i just wanted to remind myself that things have progressed even though I haven't been able to devote myself to intense sprint training, deadlifts, or much Kbell work either.

that said, one thing before the next... it was good to be reminded by Rif that it's not just a question of whether you do corrective exercise first and then get stronger or jump into strength work, but that it's an ongoing process. i'm not actually that informed about the Conjugate Method way of training, although i know a little about periodization / block training / waving etc. I guess what Rif was trying to say was that training is kind of like trying to walk somewhere on shifting sands, where your strengths and weaknesses, your imbalances and injuries keep moving. Hopefully they don't keep moving in the same direction or else you're either going to get injured soon or you've found the exact perfect routine but I'm guessing the former is more likely :)

I actually find that my body has an incredibly fast training response, in a matter of days I notice a difference, and so I have to be really careful about L/R training asymmetry... maybe anterior/posterior is a different story? lateral/medial? not sure.

kbells

Rif talked a lot about stability in his KB secrets call and I've definitely taken this lesson to heart and improved my stability in the primal patterns (deep squat, lunge, etc). It was also good to be reminded that perhaps 1-handed swings might be an easier way to swing for me due to my L/R posterior chain / medial chain asymmetries... cuz I've been taking a break from KB work cuz I know I'll be doing more over the summer.

I'm also looking forward to ETK, err I mean Pavel's RTK, which just came out and has more on KB periodization, double KB work, snatches, KB squats and the like.

I guess the plan is to continue my parkour practice on campus until the quarter ends, then give my parkour running a break as I get settled in SF (maybe just do aerobic runs without much parkour spirit?). While I'm still on campus I think I'd still like to do light (less than half bodyweight) DL practice, don't think I'll be training backsquats since that's pretty technical, or OHS cuz I'm still at the practice phase and empty bar OHS is still a struggle, but I think a mix of light DL practice and plated goblet squats will be a nice way to end out the campus year.

And actually I realized that if I can double swing then dbl snatch then clean / front squat two 12kg bells, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to do the same for a 1.5 pood bag of flour (well not exactly, but the weight I mean :). That said, even though it's tempting to go out and buy 40 lb plates just cuz it's cool to go to the gym and grab a big-bass barbell plate and start doing front squats, I'm not really going to use a 40 lb plate for much except lookin' cool, and I might as well invest in symmetric kbells for dbl bell work. That said, it sounds fun to work my way up to 40 lb bbell plate in each hand front squats haha holdin' em like shields or some such.

I've actually thought about sandbag work and maybe that'll be my fun alternative to buying more kbells (I already have DD 8kg USA black, 12kg & 16kg DD red, 8kg & 12kg cheapo Apollo) or plates (tempting tho! maybe one day :p). Plus it'll be easier to transport sandbags & I wanna learn how to lift a 1.5 pood bag of organic Giusto's flour with good form from the ground to the kitchen :D

So yea, screw the gym this summer (at least in SF, it might be fun to do a variety day in the campus gym for fun once a week or every other week), I think I'd rather invest in sandbags / kbells / my own education (reading Vern Gambetta's book on coaching!) and maybe even do PT with my RKC asst instructor MartyC :)

Okay, back to studyin' for a lil bit longer...