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Fitness |OT| Pumpin' Iron and Spittin' Blood.

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Hope you recover quickly off duty ninja off duty ninja You'll be able to run soon enough.

My own fitness check-in: rings are coming along nicely. I love that I can practice with regressed versions of exercises while I build up my stabilizer strength, and I love being in the "weak" zone because progress feels so rapid and tremendous. The high skill ceiling on these things is absurd! A week in and I am sold. Rows on the rings >>>> anything my rowing machine could put me through. Great for dips. Great for planks and push-ups. When I hit plateaus, I'll always be able to start practicing a harder form or harder version to strain my muscles in new ways.

I've added in a pair of transverse kettlebell movements to the routine, filling another gap. My trunk is tightening up. My back feels great. The rotational, swingy nature of a kettlebell lends itself to compound exercises. I'm still not doing a wide variety of moves, yet I feel like I can still hit all my core muscle groups with just 3 or 4 kettlebell forms.

It‘s like the lazy asses do not want us motivated folks to do any sports and get fat just like them.
giphy.gif


Stay depressed, citizen.
 
Do you think using an exercise bike would be too much pressure on the foot?

I don't know, it really doesn't hurt too much now but it was worse when I was running last week. I don't have room for one in my apartment though.

The biggest problem is I just won't be able to get any real treatment right now since all the Dr offices are closed. If I go to urgent care they would most likely refer me to a podiatrist that won't see me right now.

Fuck this coronavirus right in the ass. Running has been the best medication for my depression and it feels like I stopped taking my medication cold turkey. Part of me thinks I should just say fuck it and keep running until its so bad I can't. I really don't want to cause any permanent damage though.
 
One other possibility could be a change in running style. A good friend of mine had lots of issues early on when he started running (at the time, his late 40s). He has to buy a very specifc shoe style and run with certain heel-toe or toe-heel or something.
I always thought that running is running, but there is a lot to it, and what works for one person won't be best for another.
 
Sorry I haven't posted much boys. I'm doing lots of very specific things to prepare for Tuesday that are just really hard to explain like I normally do.

Basically, I've put "Bob", my punching dummy with 75 pound basin of water at the bottom, on top of a metal patio chair to weigh it down. Then I attach a resistance band to the chair at different heights and try to train every angle my arms would be at in an arm wrestling match. ESPECIALLY the compromised angles. AKA, the pinned side of the table. Trying to at least make a brain muscle connection to that specific range of motion and those muscle groups, throughout the arm, lat, trap, hips, legs, and their companion muscles on the same and opposite sides of the body. I know these couple days aren't enough time to cultivate a significant amount of stabilizer muscles in those areas if I don't already have them. So I'm focusing on activation and muscle teamwork. Lots of concentration. I train my wrists the same way. And then my grip.

Plus, I've been told not to do anything for at least 3 days before hand as this is going to be rough and they want me fresh for the grinder...

Which brings me to my next topic...

Guys, I say what I say next in love, if you are starting a new exercise that you haven't done before, or haven't done on a consistent basis... Then please, for the love of cheesus. Take it slow. For instance, this...



IMO Should absolutely not be your first pull up. Even though it's the correct movement. It should be something like this done from the beginning...



You can pretty much do the same on some rings btw.

Thing is, some people can get away with going full on body weight or even really heavy weights because their bodies heal fast. HOWEVER, those same people still have fundamental foundational weaknesses. Even if they are lifting more than you, are bigger than you and got there faster. Why? Because it takes a REALLY long time to cultivate healthy, strong tendons. For instance. Lets say that you are person A and you've taken it slow for an entire year and you've babied your muscles and focused on your tendons and stabilizer muscles so very high rep, lighter weight workouts focusing on bloodflow and letting your body also focus on healing and developing your tendons instead of split it's healing energy and concentration between them and your tendons. Then we have person B, (80-90% of people who workout at the gym IMO) who has focused on their larger, bulky muscles while neglecting their tendons by doing heavier weight, high damage exercises.

Lets say person A has finished his tendon and stabilizer training and is now focusing on larger bulky muscle (<--I wouldn't do this personally, I'd take it slower and not so bulky, this is just an example for those that do.). He trains to the point that he is now as large as person B. Person A is going to be FAR better equipped to, withstand and recover from injuries, do more dynamic ranges of motion in his workouts, gain more flexibility, switch to other types of workouts and be more functional in real life situations where he would need to use his muscles in a dynamic manner than person B. I'd even say person A would be generously stronger that person B even at the same size. Person A would be better equipped to maintain his strength and mobility FAR longer throughout his entire life compared to person B as your tendons and stabilizers greatly impact how much damage your joints take. Not to mention, during the tendon training, you've cultivated a vast and healthy system of capillaries etc. that help with repair and maintenance.

And let me be CLEAR. The scenario above for person B is only if you are lucky and your big bulky muscle grows fast enough to compensate for and cover up your weaknesses before you injure yourself. In my experience a whole lot of people quit working out because they start off wrong by going full bore and incur an injury to their tendons, stabilizers or joints and give up. And then many others who don't give up try to take the fast road with all kinds of growth hormones or crazy supps so that they "get bigger faster!"

And yes, some people have genetically strong tendons that develop quickly. But how are you going to know that you do? It's better to be safe than sorry. But, even if you do... then why not train them to be even stronger?

Also, off duty ninja off duty ninja . Bro, about your toe. I don't know if this is your issue, but along with starting off slow and taking it easy per the above, I had something similar happen to me. After I had melted away in the hospital bed I stopped taking the same vitamins that I had been when I was working out. I totally forgot about taking them again when I started working out again. Namely Calcium. One day, my friend came over and we played Uncle (A strength game where you start with your arms up grabbing hands by lacing each others fingers and you try to twist the others arms back and make them say uncle), he had his gun holstered to his side under his sweater and I didn't know. He tried to body check me as I was pinning him and it broke my rib... I still won though. I didn't know till after a couple hours or so that it was broke. Anyway, this happened again in a different way and on the other side. So my wife figured I had a calcium deficiency so she put me on some Coral Calcium along with Vitamin D and magnesium since K2 helps direct calcium on where to go... I usually try to get everything through my food, but I had an imbalance in one of these areas so my body just wasn't processing it correctly. Haven't had any issues since and as a bonus, I even feel less sore. I'd bet I was causing a lot of micro fractures during my workouts since my bones where weak.

Also, if you aren't already, maybe look into barefoot running mate. At one point, my knees where so bad from years of tile that I was on crutches. It wasn't till I started to go barefoot that my knees started healing and I could walk again. Right now, being off your feet, you could look at it like a reset so when you start up again it could give you something to look forward to since you need to build a whole new set of muscles for it. I could sit here and explain all the benefits but I'll just leave these.



And then when you are done laughing and your brain is ready to process some deep stuff...







Oh, and my wife says to do some epsom salt foot baths a couple times a week. I know that's common knowledge but sometimes we forget.



Food for thought.

Keep chasing your dreams, champions.

CRANK IT UP AND TAKE
 
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One other possibility could be a change in running style. A good friend of mine had lots of issues early on when he started running (at the time, his late 40s). He has to buy a very specifc shoe style and run with certain heel-toe or toe-heel or something.
I always thought that running is running, but there is a lot to it, and what works for one person won't be best for another.

I've had what I believe to be a bone spur on the joint of my other big toe that has been causing me trouble for years but has been bearable. That already caused me to compensate for the lack of mobility which occasionally leads to extra soreness in that foot and ankle at times. I think this issue in my other foot could also be from overcompensating for years, putting more of my weight on that foot. I've noticed that I tend to put all of my weight on my left foot when standing for example but I never noticed until now when it will start to ache.

I really wish I had addressed the bone spur issue sooner because now I need to address both at some point but getting treatment for these kinds of things feels impossible in this covid world. I'm still hopeful a week or two without running will let me get back to it.

Sorry I haven't posted much boys. I'm doing lots of very specific things to prepare for Tuesday that are just really hard to explain like I normally do.

Basically, I've put "Bob", my punching dummy with 75 pound basin of water at the bottom, on top of a metal patio chair to weigh it down. Then I attach a resistance band to the chair at different heights and try to train every angle my arms would be at in an arm wrestling match. ESPECIALLY the compromised angles. AKA, the pinned side of the table. Trying to at least make a brain muscle connection to that specific range of motion and those muscle groups, throughout the arm, lat, trap, hips, legs, and their companion muscles on the same and opposite sides of the body. I know these couple days aren't enough time to cultivate a significant amount of stabilizer muscles in those areas if I don't already have them. So I'm focusing on activation and muscle teamwork. Lots of concentration. I train my wrists the same way. And then my grip.

Plus, I've been told not to do anything for at least 3 days before hand as this is going to be rough and they want me fresh for the grinder...

Which brings me to my next topic...

Guys, I say what I say next in love, if you are starting a new exercise that you haven't done before, or haven't done on a consistent basis... Then please, for the love of cheesus. Take it slow. For instance, this...



IMO Should absolutely not be your first pull up. Even though it's the correct movement. It should be something like this done from the beginning...



You can pretty much do the same on some rings btw.

Thing is, some people can get away with going full on body weight or even really heavy weights because their bodies heal fast. HOWEVER, those same people still have fundamental foundational weaknesses. Even if they are lifting more than you, are bigger than you and got there faster. Why? Because it takes a REALLY long time to cultivate healthy, strong tendons. For instance. Lets say that you are person A and you've taken it slow for an entire year and you've babied your muscles and focused on your tendons and stabilizer muscles so very high rep, lighter weight workouts focusing on bloodflow and letting your body also focus on healing and developing your tendons instead of split it's healing energy and concentration between them and your tendons. Then we have person B, (80-90% of people who workout at the gym IMO) who has focused on their larger, bulky muscles while neglecting their tendons by doing heavier weight, high damage exercises.

Lets say person A has finished his tendon and stabilizer training and is now focusing on larger bulky muscle (<--I wouldn't do this personally, I'd take it slower and not so bulky, this is just an example for those that do.). He trains to the point that he is now as large as person B. Person A is going to be FAR better equipped to, withstand and recover from injuries, do more dynamic ranges of motion in his workouts, gain more flexibility, switch to other types of workouts and be more functional in real life situations where he would need to use his muscles in a dynamic manner than person B. I'd even say person A would be generously stronger that person B even at the same size. Person A would be better equipped to maintain his strength and mobility FAR longer throughout his entire life compared to person B as your tendons and stabilizers greatly impact how much damage your joints take. Not to mention, during the tendon training, you've cultivated a vast and healthy system of capillaries etc. that help with repair and maintenance.

And let me be CLEAR. The scenario above for person B is only if you are lucky and your big bulky muscle grows fast enough to compensate for and cover up your weaknesses before you injure yourself. In my experience a whole lot of people quit working out because they start off wrong by going full bore and incur an injury to their tendons, stabilizers or joints and give up. And then many others who don't give up try to take the fast road with all kinds of growth hormones or crazy supps so that they "get bigger faster!"

And yes, some people have genetically strong tendons that develop quickly. But how are you going to know that you do? It's better to be safe than sorry. But, even if you do... then why not train them to be even stronger?

Also, off duty ninja off duty ninja . Bro, about your toe. I don't know if this is your issue, but along with starting off slow and taking it easy per the above, I had something similar happen to me. After I had melted away in the hospital bed I stopped taking the same vitamins that I had been when I was working out. I totally forgot about taking them again when I started working out again. Namely Calcium. One day, my friend came over and we played Uncle (A strength game where you start with your arms up grabbing hands by lacing each others fingers and you try to twist the others arms back and make them say uncle), he had his gun holstered to his side under his sweater and I didn't know. He tried to body check me as I was pinning him and it broke my rib... I still won though. I didn't know till after a couple hours or so that it was broke. Anyway, this happened again in a different way and on the other side. So my wife figured I had a calcium deficiency so she put me on some Coral Calcium along with Vitamin D and magnesium since K2 helps direct calcium on where to go... I usually try to get everything through my food, but I had an imbalance in one of these areas so my body just wasn't processing it correctly. Haven't had any issues since and as a bonus, I even feel less sore. I'd bet I was causing a lot of micro fractures during my workouts since my bones where weak.

Also, if you aren't already, maybe look into barefoot running mate. At one point, my knees where so bad from years of tile that I was on crutches. It wasn't till I started to go barefoot that my knees started healing and I could walk again. Right now, being off your feet, you could look at it like a reset so when you start up again it could give you something to look forward to since you need to build a whole new set of muscles for it. I could sit here and explain all the benefits but I'll just leave these.



And then when you are done laughing and your brain is ready to process some deep stuff...







Oh, and my wife says to do some epsom salt foot baths a couple times a week. I know that's common knowledge but sometimes we forget.



Food for thought.

Keep chasing your dreams, champions.

CRANK IT UP AND TAKE


Thanks for all the info VlaudTheImpaler VlaudTheImpaler ! I will check these videos out. I have some five finger Vibrams but I can't run in them because they give me blisters. I will have to give the barefoot running some serious consideration once my feet are doing better.
 
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Thanks for all the info VlaudTheImpaler VlaudTheImpaler ! I will check these videos out. I have some five finger Vibrams but I can't run in them because they give me blisters. I will have to give the barefoot running some serious consideration once my feet are doing better.
I wholeheartedly think that if you took it slow in your vibrams (These are what I use when and where I have to.) or even better, completely barefoot for a certain distance each day, that you'd develop thicker skin on your feet. Even the podiatrist in one of those vids isn't concerned at all about growing tougher skin. It will happen, you just need to give it a little time. I even got blisters on my feet when I first started. Also, on my palms when I started using my rings and even on the tips of my fingers when I started playing fingerstyle guitar. But they all went away with time and I've grown tougher skin. If you are going to run in them, you absolutely can't go as hard as you do with normal running shoes in the beginning. You need to train your feet first. I know many guys who went out and got barefoot shoes who didn't change a thing and tried to run in them just like their normal running shoes and bam, injury. It's a lifestyle change for sure. You are going to be training a whole lot of proprioception that you didn't even know you where lacking. This is going to change your entire gait.




Here is a good plan for transitioning.
 

Tesseract

Banned
as for your foot, off duty ninja off duty ninja

pain will be sharp for a few weeks, rest and ice to get through the acute phase

injuries suck but you gotta treat them right, see a doctor(where available) when you can, and start slow with whatever low impact rehab befits the injury

it's hard to get specific without a diagnosis, don't wanna cause more damage

stretching and range of motion is usually okay in most cases
 
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glad you qualified your thoughts on barefoot running, the science is sorta here nor there and it requires significant training before you let wild on dirt or concrete

i like to wear shoes, nothing fancy, cheap nike runners get the job done
Personally, I think barefoot training is crucial as our feet are sensors and we need as much information to work with as possible so that our brains can calculate that data and output it to our body. Even if you have to wear shoes for certain scenarios, some sports for instance, training barefoot will be a huge boon to your performance.

 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
Fasting. Rounds of kettlebell swings, snatches, Turkish getups, around-the-waist halos + block, clean + overhead press. Doing pushups and inverted rows on the rings. Stretching a lot in between rounds really helps to minimize the soreness. Cold showers. Drinking raw cacao + tea + vitamin C to pump full of antioxidants. Turmeric + black pepper if I'm noticing inflammation in my joints.

 
I’ve been hesitant to post in here because I’m in shitty shape compared to everyone else. What workout is for me is a warmup for y’all, but I enjoy reading the thread.

I started getting daily exercise around 3 weeks ago. Started with 15 minutes in morning and 15 minutes at night

I’m up to 22 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes after lunch, and 22 minutes in the evening.

Other than a little knee soreness after I up the duration or speed (increased jogging intervals) I’m feeling pretty great. Haven’t had a full blown panic attack since I started, think I’m in week 3 now. Just little flare ups here or there that used to happen numerous times a day and pass if I just sit down and breathe. Before there was nothing I could do to stop the avalanche other than taking an extra dose of Klonopin, which hasn’t been necessary once since I started this (knocking on wood, probably just jinxed it)

Just trying to keep taking small baby steps forward consistently. Haven’t messed with weights yet, need to start adding that in, even if just a small circuit of some kind.

I think I’m gonna set my goal for 30 minutes in morning, 15 minutes after lunch, and 30 minutes in evening by end of May. Would like to clear at least 5 miles a day by then/

weights wise I have a 45lb straight bar, small assortment of dumbbells, a 12lb medicine ball, and some free weights. Think I’m gonna start with 3 lifts: curl circuit, shoulder press, some sort of bent over row, see how I feel (haven’t touched weights in years) and work my way up from there. Probably add in lunges and some medicine ball routine at some point

I was down 3.5 lbs last I checked, doing Saturday morning weigh ins
 
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weights wise I have a 45lb straight bar, small assortment of dumbbells, a 12lb medicine ball, and some free weights. Think I’m gonna start with 3 lifts: curl circuit, shoulder press, some sort of bent over row, see how I feel (haven’t touched weights in years) and work my way up from there. Probably add in lunges and some medicine ball routine at some point

Replace the "curl circuit" with squats with that 45 lb bar and go from there. I've nothing against curls, as I do them, but squats, even with just the 45 lb bar, are awesome. As a beginner, you would be well served doing some basic compound (multiple muscles used) movements.

I'm 34years, 5'9", 170-lbs. These guys are all giants. Little nervous for tomorrow. Time to get in the right headspace.

Weight and height don't matter. It's all about head size.
 
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I decided to do the urgent care thing as a precaution, got x-rays and they came back negative for any issues. Now its all about the RICE. I hope to be able to get back to running soon. They didn't have any real opinion on the weird grind that you can feel when I move my toe.

Keep up the great work guys! I hope to be joining you all again soon.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
I dont really have anything for exercising (other than Ring Fit) but I'm willing to buy a few things if necessary.

I'm looking to start off small with maybe 5-10 Ibs and go from their.

Ring Fit is a good starting point. Get 30 minutes in every other day until your body starts adapting and your rest days aren’t as sore, push the frequency and duration up from there toward 5-6 times a week and 45 minutes per session.

Do that and keep the junk out of your diet and you should be able to get where you’re going.
 

Shaqazooloo

Member
Ring Fit is a good starting point. Get 30 minutes in every other day until your body starts adapting and your rest days aren’t as sore, push the frequency and duration up from there toward 5-6 times a week and 45 minutes per session.

Do that and keep the junk out of your diet and you should be able to get where you’re going.
I have custom setups that focus on jogging with a few knee-lift combos thrown in.

Is their a specific type of set I should be doing?
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
I have custom setups that focus on jogging with a few knee-lift combos thrown in.

Is their a specific type of set I should be doing?

Ring Fit will mostly improve your cardio and calisthenics. The more variety you have in the programming, the less likely you’ll get sick of doing it and the more of your body you’re targeting. Let the game put you through its generalized courses since afaik it tracks what exercises you’re doing and sets up comprehensive programming for you.
 

Mista

Banned
Damn Mista Mista !! That's no jog mate. 5:21 per mile is FAST! (I had to convert it for my US brain)
Yeah you’re right. I was mostly running

Also at maximum speed I’m VERY fast. Pre-ACL I used to hit insane top speed while running. After ACL I got shattered because the most thing I enjoyed in this life was taken from me. I bounced back now though. Two years late but I did it
 
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These guys are the real deal. All my doubts where quashed yesterday. I didn't even go in expecting to win. Mostly just to give it my all and to pay attention and learn. But it was still a shock when this 140 pound soaking wet kid blasted through me with his stick arms... And I really mean that. My arms are at least twice his size. And even though I expected it, because I knew that I hadn't developed that tendon strength in those areas... It was still incredible to see. I am not weak by any means. Heck, my grip strength came in at 150 pounds... At the END of the session. Don't know what it was at the beginning since we came 5 or so minutes late and they measure at the beginning usually. But that's only 20 pounds less than the instructor pulled that day and on par with his eldest son, the second strongest dude there who actually set a personal best that day. And I was curling the barbell reverse gripped and wrist straight all the way up to my nose with absolutely no issues. They where surprised. But as soon as I stepped up to that table that kid just blasted through me. I wasn't even mad. It was incredible and I freaking love to find my weaknesses and overcome them.

So basically this is all a sort of club with a team that Mr. Stapel (this isn't his full name, I'll have to ask if he's ok with me sharing certain things.) put together and we meet in the basement of his house where he has two regulation tables set up and some other equipment he trains with... mostly bands. That made me extremely happy as that's pretty much all I use other than the rings. He uses weights in... interesting ways. All I can say for now. He's been doing strongman demonstrations and competitions his whole life. Putting on demonstrations for anyone who would hire him. So lots of community outreach for churches and community centers and festivals, some in really bad neighborhoods. Two of his kids were both there. The youngest is the one I was talking about before... These guys are the strongest people I've ever met in my life. ESPECIALLY Mr. Staple!... You wanna know what it's trying to press him? Just find a brick wall. Not a joke. In fact, a brick wall would be easier on you since it's not gonna press back... And he's deceptive man. He's not the bulkiest dude I've ever seen. He's proportional. He doesn't look like these crazy muscle heads you see in all these youtube video's... But I've seen all the medals now that prove that he is def stronger than most. But he said himself that he had never found people as strong as him through his whole life till he found the arm wrestling community. He says he genuinely thinks these are some of the strongest guys in the world. He said he'd found his people and so that's where he stayed.

And that kid man. I wish I could summon him out of thin air, wearing any one of his multiple arm wrestling champion T-shirts, when trying to explain to people why tendon strength is so paramount. Basically all his arm was is tendons... I was able to take him a couple times after they helped me find my strengths on the table. But he was told not to "hit" me hard since I'm a beginner... Hitting is a sudden blast of strength and pressure that arm wrestlers really train hard to do effectively. My tendons in the range of movements that we do on the table are def not ready for that. But even then.... After a while, my larger muscle fiber started to fatigue and this kid was able to blast through me every time. That's what happens when you have an imbalance between your tendons and your larger muscle fiber. On top of not having that muscle brain connection. Your tendons are what takes the load after that. Your tendons also have far more endurance than your larger muscle fiber. And the kids just now starting to work on his larger muscle groups btw. But it's always tendon training first according to Mr. Staple. Thank goodness.

So the day went like this...

Two tables, 5 guys (usually more, but friggin corona.) Barbells. But I can use bands if I want.

So for the next 3 hours you are going non stop. On the table, left arm around 5 times, right arm around 5 times working every angle, every side of the table, every grip... I don't even know how many rounds.... When you feel like your arms are going to fall off you take a break or switch with someone else who needs one. During that "break" you are either on the special "grips" or on the 25 pound barbells, reverse gripped, wrist straight (it's one of those ergonomic bars with the bent bits), all the way to your nose. So do a normal curl till your forearms are horizontal, then you can move your elbows so you can reach your nose. Point is to keep blood flowing to the tendons in your weak areas and to activate them by fatiguing your larger muscle fiber so they start taking some of the load. You do this till the next person opens up....

Mr. Staple was also really impressed with my pulling and my form on the table. In fact he had this incredulous look on his face and said that he usually has to get on guys he teaches for months to correct their pulling so that they pull safe. And even some pro's have a hard time doing it but here I am just doing it naturally and he didn't even need to say anything. He said because of that I'll probably progress pretty fast simply because it's number one thing that matters in terms of form and not injuring yourself. And each and every one of them said I had amazing top pressure for a beginner. He started talking to me to get me interested in coming back and sticking around. So I told Mr. Staple that coming in I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this because I've just known so many muscle heads and that's not for me. I want to be strong but I also want to play like a kid for the rest of my life. However, I said that his philosophy actually matched mine quite a lot. I told him that I'd give myself over to him for training if he'd have me and he said yes. But that it generally takes 3 years of tendon strengthening like we did that day before he will let anyone compete in ANY competition. But he said some who recover quickly and take the training seriously can do it in 1.

Man. I feel honored.

Pretty sure we went a bit more than 3 hours just cause I was having so much fun. Probably shouldn't have though. Didn't even realize that the skin on my elbows was shredded and blistered up. Sucked trying to sleep last night. It's not bad at all but it's just enough of a sting to wake me up. And then you feel like someone poured cement into your shoulders and it's running down your arms... Oh well, my skin heals fast and it'll grow back stronger and tougher. Not worried. Bellies all bruised up though. All up and down. Didn't expect that. I don't even remember putting that much pressure against the table. I was told to use everything for leverage I could... so I did. lol. I'll have to ask if that's something to avoid.

Anyway. I've got some chores to do. Gotta figure out how to do that...
200.gif
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
These guys are the real deal. All my doubts where quashed yesterday. I didn't even go in expecting to win. Mostly just to give it my all and to pay attention and learn. But it was still a shock when this 140 pound soaking wet kid blasted through me with his stick arms... And I really mean that. My arms are at least twice his size. And even though I expected it, because I knew that I hadn't developed that tendon strength in those areas... It was still incredible to see. I am not weak by any means. Heck, my grip strength came in at 150 pounds... At the END of the session. Don't know what it was at the beginning since we came 5 or so minutes late and they measure at the beginning usually. But that's only 20 pounds less than the instructor pulled that day and on par with his eldest son, the second strongest dude there who actually set a personal best that day. And I was curling the barbell reverse gripped and wrist straight all the way up to my nose with absolutely no issues. They where surprised. But as soon as I stepped up to that table that kid just blasted through me. I wasn't even mad. It was incredible and I freaking love to find my weaknesses and overcome them.

So basically this is all a sort of club with a team that Mr. Stapel (this isn't his full name, I'll have to ask if he's ok with me sharing certain things.) put together and we meet in the basement of his house where he has two regulation tables set up and some other equipment he trains with... mostly bands. That made me extremely happy as that's pretty much all I use other than the rings. He uses weights in... interesting ways. All I can say for now. He's been doing strongman demonstrations and competitions his whole life. Putting on demonstrations for anyone who would hire him. So lots of community outreach for churches and community centers and festivals, some in really bad neighborhoods. Two of his kids were both there. The youngest is the one I was talking about before... These guys are the strongest people I've ever met in my life. ESPECIALLY Mr. Staple!... You wanna know what it's trying to press him? Just find a brick wall. Not a joke. In fact, a brick wall would be easier on you since it's not gonna press back... And he's deceptive man. He's not the bulkiest dude I've ever seen. He's proportional. He doesn't look like these crazy muscle heads you see in all these youtube video's... But I've seen all the medals now that prove that he is def stronger than most. But he said himself that he had never found people as strong as him through his whole life till he found the arm wrestling community. He says he genuinely thinks these are some of the strongest guys in the world. He said he'd found his people and so that's where he stayed.

And that kid man. I wish I could summon him out of thin air, wearing any one of his multiple arm wrestling champion T-shirts, when trying to explain to people why tendon strength is so paramount. Basically all his arm was is tendons... I was able to take him a couple times after they helped me find my strengths on the table. But he was told not to "hit" me hard since I'm a beginner... Hitting is a sudden blast of strength and pressure that arm wrestlers really train hard to do effectively. My tendons in the range of movements that we do on the table are def not ready for that. But even then.... After a while, my larger muscle fiber started to fatigue and this kid was able to blast through me every time. That's what happens when you have an imbalance between your tendons and your larger muscle fiber. On top of not having that muscle brain connection. Your tendons are what takes the load after that. Your tendons also have far more endurance than your larger muscle fiber. And the kids just now starting to work on his larger muscle groups btw. But it's always tendon training first according to Mr. Staple. Thank goodness.

So the day went like this...

Two tables, 5 guys (usually more, but friggin corona.) Barbells. But I can use bands if I want.

So for the next 3 hours you are going non stop. On the table, left arm around 5 times, right arm around 5 times working every angle, every side of the table, every grip... I don't even know how many rounds.... When you feel like your arms are going to fall off you take a break or switch with someone else who needs one. During that "break" you are either on the special "grips" or on the 25 pound barbells, reverse gripped, wrist straight (it's one of those ergonomic bars with the bent bits), all the way to your nose. So do a normal curl till your forearms are horizontal, then you can move your elbows so you can reach your nose. Point is to keep blood flowing to the tendons in your weak areas and to activate them by fatiguing your larger muscle fiber so they start taking some of the load. You do this till the next person opens up....

Mr. Staple was also really impressed with my pulling and my form on the table. In fact he had this incredulous look on his face and said that he usually has to get on guys he teaches for months to correct their pulling so that they pull safe. And even some pro's have a hard time doing it but here I am just doing it naturally and he didn't even need to say anything. He said because of that I'll probably progress pretty fast simply because it's number one thing that matters in terms of form and not injuring yourself. And each and every one of them said I had amazing top pressure for a beginner. He started talking to me to get me interested in coming back and sticking around. So I told Mr. Staple that coming in I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this because I've just known so many muscle heads and that's not for me. I want to be strong but I also want to play like a kid for the rest of my life. However, I said that his philosophy actually matched mine quite a lot. I told him that I'd give myself over to him for training if he'd have me and he said yes. But that it generally takes 3 years of tendon strengthening like we did that day before he will let anyone compete in ANY competition. But he said some who recover quickly and take the training seriously can do it in 1.

Man. I feel honored.

Pretty sure we went a bit more than 3 hours just cause I was having so much fun. Probably shouldn't have though. Didn't even realize that the skin on my elbows was shredded and blistered up. Sucked trying to sleep last night. It's not bad at all but it's just enough of a sting to wake me up. And then you feel like someone poured cement into your shoulders and it's running down your arms... Oh well, my skin heals fast and it'll grow back stronger and tougher. Not worried. Bellies all bruised up though. All up and down. Didn't expect that. I don't even remember putting that much pressure against the table. I was told to use everything for leverage I could... so I did. lol. I'll have to ask if that's something to avoid.

Anyway. I've got some chores to do. Gotta figure out how to do that...
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Is this Baki the Grappler origin story?
 
Body still feels like it's in a state of recovery today. I expected this. The training was a huge jolt to my nervous system. I don't want to split my bodies healing capacity right now as I'm developing all of these new neural pathways, stabilizer muscles, tendons, capillaries etc. If it was normal soreness from already existing or well used systems I'd be ok with throwing a workout in that targeted a different area. So no workout today. Just going to let my body focus on healing. Still gonna do some cardio on and off. About 10-15 minute sessions on the rebounder. And some foam rolling. Really important to keep your blood pumping to keep the inflammation low and to give the areas that are "under construction" as much "materials" as possible.

Going to be doing meditative breathing all day. Try to oxygenate as much as possible. Along with some focused concentration on the areas that still need repair. Going deep to find the cracks.

 

Cutty Flam

Banned
Body still feels like it's in a state of recovery today. I expected this. The training was a huge jolt to my nervous system. I don't want to split my bodies healing capacity right now as I'm developing all of these new neural pathways, stabilizer muscles, tendons, capillaries etc. If it was normal soreness from already existing or well used systems I'd be ok with throwing a workout in that targeted a different area. So no workout today. Just going to let my body focus on healing. Still gonna do some cardio on and off. About 10-15 minute sessions on the rebounder. And some foam rolling. Really important to keep your blood pumping to keep the inflammation low and to give the areas that are "under construction" as much "materials" as possible.

Going to be doing meditative breathing all day. Try to oxygenate as much as possible. Along with some focused concentration on the areas that still need repair. Going deep to find the cracks.


You’ll probably have up your nutrition game up quite a bit. You’re essentially in training with world class athletes in their own respective sport, so their training is at the professional level. I’d imagine you’re going to have to probably eat a lot more vegetables and up your protein at least another 50-80g just to make sure you can efficieny recover and grow huh?
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
Just wanted to make a little post to recap my thoughts and keep momentum going

Went to doctor to take care of some issues and got a hernia ruled out, which is excellent news. But I‘m fairly sure I slightly pulled something in my abdomen. Still going to walk at length each day that I can. And workouts will continue per usual only that my intensity level will have to be closely monitored. Probably going to have to ease up on the OHP a bit, which is ultimately the exercise that caused the minor injury in the first place. I’ll log my next workout here tmrw and let others know what it’s like to workout with a pulled muscle in the abdomen. Going to see if I can work through this, maybe I’ll just need to sleep more, drink more water, eat extremely well for the next week or two I hope and can continue to make strides in at least legs and back. Front of body can take a small hit for all I care, the most important part is that I maintain a consistently active routine

Nothing worse than assuming an injury and doing nothing but rest / being sedentary through it’s course. It’s better to suffer through the small scale pain if it means your circulatory and other vital systems are being worked and kept running efficiently. As long as you play your cards right and do what you can it will heal in time and you don't have to sacrifice your ability to move well. You should never have to sacrifice that unless you’re up against something serious

Just wanted to share that with others. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made was letting injuries pile up one after the other and just resting all the time to let the body heal. To heal, the body need movement as much as it needs rest. The body needs to move as much as it can without pain in order to function at its best. So don’t ever consider, say a broken arm, something you need to stay put for in order to heal. You still need to take walks, do legs workouts, and everything else you can do without pain in that broken arm. Moving around is what our body was designed to do. If you cant move around at all, you’ve lost a key component of your being, of your expression. Don’t ever lose any part of that if you are blessed with such ability to move freely in the first place and can avoid it. Being able to move well without pain and stiffness and the fear of maybe you might tweak something is something I took for granted

I once took walking for granted, when I was out five months without being able to walk. Once I regained my ability, and it was an excruciatingly painful and slow process to get my tissue back to functioning correctly, I vowed to never take the simple and natural act of walking for granted ever again

For people that have to live in a wheelchair, God Bless their hearts and fill theirs with the completion of joy, warmth and love, they have it tough brothers
 
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You’ll probably have up your nutrition game up quite a bit. You’re essentially in training with world class athletes in their own respective sport, so their training is at the professional level. I’d imagine you’re going to have to probably eat a lot more vegetables and up your protein at least another 50-80g just to make sure you can efficieny recover and grow huh?
Yup. Already started before the training. We eat pretty healthy as it is but I still upped my veggie, healthy fat and protein intake. I feel like a friggin rabbit with all these greens lol. Btw, carrots and some good strong horseradish as dip is amazing. And they give lots of consistent energy as a pre workout snack.

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I've pretty much replaced all other snack foods with some healthy trailmix. Basically we buy a healthy prepackaged mix of walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pecans and some dried cranberries with no added salt or sugar etc. and then we add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews and such to whatever portion we pour out for ourselves and as we please.

I was also told to expect to not be able to work out correctly or at all in between training days for quite a while. In fact, he's had big dudes come in and train for the first time and cry after a day simply because they weren't ready for the shock and probably over did it trying to do something else afterwards. I made a mistake yesterday myself and overdid it while taking care of some business with my kid and man did I regret it. I didn't cry, but it's the closest I've come in a while. Everything was just fine and bearable before that. But man did I feel it. My forearms felt like they where shattered.

But I'm not worried. I've felt this sort of "nerve shock" in my arms before. Many times from working in construction and doing things I'd never done before and then overdoing it the next day or so. Also the first time I did my first muscle up. Everything was fine... till I went and mowed the lawn with my reel mower the next day... Same kind of pain. But every time, if I treat it well, my body adapts and gets much stronger.

The only issue is that I suffer from some form of chronic inflammation so a lot of the pain and soreness is just amplified for me in general since my nerves tend to become inflamed easier and for longer which has lead to slow going when it comes to any kind of training. I've gotten it pretty under control now so it has become less and less of an issue, though it still flares up from time to time. Which is why I do the Wim Hof cold therapy. Just wish I had a nice tub for ice baths like I used to take before we moved. Cold showers will have to cut it for now since it's spring and I can't plunge. I know they are helping because I can feel the pain melt away when I take them, but they just seem more of a "fun thing to do" now more than anything as I can just stay in them for an hour or more as if it's normal temp. I want to go colder dang it.

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Hmmm, maybe I can sneak into one of the empty freezers at the super market...
 

TTOOLL

Member
I did it!!! Holy hell, my legs are burning and kinda numb lol.

This completely changed my mind regarding running. Mad respect for those long distance runners, you're god damn heroes.

The main problem I had was not feeling out of breath or anything, since it was relatively slow, but the last 5k are of total discomfort, your body wants to stop so bad it literally hurts. I want it to finish fast so I decided to speed up a little bit, it was worth it. I also HAD to pee at about 18k, I found a nice little spot and I hope nobody saw it.

Anyway, I think I'm done with long distances for a while, it demands a lot of time and a good course imo. I had to go back and forth the same way 3.5 times to complete the half marathon distance, it's not nice.

Time to go back to 5k and 10k with 15k at most on weekends.

I'm pretty happy and proud of myself lol. The official time for the 21.1k/13.11mi was 2:18:04. What a day!


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