9:00 am - Kettlebell warm up
1/2K halos - 8kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
1/2K halos - 12kg, 4X each side / each leg (total 16X)
16kg Roll to press (TGU start) - shoulder cam shafts, each arm
Arm bar 8 kg, 5+5 (this is the main thing I ended up doing)
Arm bar 8 kg, 5+5 (this is the main thing I ended up doing)
9:15am - Complete
Notes - So I woke up and was really, really feeling the effects of the last several days and week. Very sore, some pain, very stiff. I had a deep body massage yesterday evening around 6pm, and a lot of shit came out in that session - lots of spasm in the R trap, R scalene and neck tightness, lots of reverberating stuff down the tricep, elbow, bicep, forearm on the R arm This is tough stuff. Played in a softball game last night and played first base, making zero throws, basically just restricted myself to doing the bare minimum outside taking my hacks in 5 at bats. I don't think playing in the game really had much impact on anything at all. I tried to get moving this morning a little bit but ultimately just felt like doing anything beyond mobility work just would not make sense. I then had a chiro check in this morning and ultimately my chiro indicated that everything looked good to him from a chiro perspective, no major adjustments needed, no significant tightness in terms of the spine, etc. The soft tissue challenges he said are just part of the healing process and this was pretty normal. He recommended epson salts and that I take a long bath with those, same recommendation actually came from my massage therapist yesterday. So I struggled through the day and finally got home and took that bath. It definitely seemed to help. While taking that bath I pondered my situation and took some time to truly reflect on the circumstances of the situation and asked and then answered to myself: "So how did I get here - because it's not from playing in a softball game last week - there is something deeper here." After reflecting on the last several months and thinking about how I have been managing various aspects of my life, it really dawned on me that I need to be accountable to several choices I make. These choices have negatively impacted my ability to recover from training and just to manage daily life to my maximum capability. Primarily, I have been in the poor habit for months of not managing my time in the evenings and going to bed very late, really almost never before midnight. My alarm is set for 5am, I am never able to rise before 6am because I need at least 6 hrs of sleep. The sleep gets interrupted, its not quality, and then I start my morning behind and do everything all over again - always getting in my training, but always behind. Things did not used to be this way. Since Jill and I separated in February 2013, my life has definitely been even more complicated. Having the kids every other day, half the week and sharing them with Jill is a challenge. I am thankful for my blessings and Frankie and Liam are the most important two people in my life, don't get me wrong. With that said, keeping a demanding job at my accounting firm and continuing to slowly progress toward making partner, essentially being a single dad half the week, try to maintain some level of friendships with people as well as other interests, and then trying to focus on my health and strength - it's a lot. I try to cram a lot of things into every day and frankly I am only successful at most of them, most of the time - but that leaves plenty of times where I am not successful at what I am trying to accomplish. I realized that the lack of sleep, combined with work travel and a new client, which has been stressful even though I know I am doing a very good job of managing it, still stressful, a bunch of late nights out with friends including during the middle of work weeks, and then adding a couple of things to training - extra heavy farmer carries, during a week when already double pressing, snatching, and pressing, and playing softball - WAS STUPID OF ME. I should have seen this one coming. Life really has a way of shaking you up right when you are least expecting it. My training was absolutely on fire, consistent gains, body composition really improving, strength improving - but it was being set on a foundation and base that was not as resilient as I can be. That word, resiliency, really means something to me, maybe taking that to another level, "anti fragile" is even better, like Nicolas Tasseb's book. The goal should be to try and construct a personal identify and personal way of living that is, in a word, anti fragile. I do a lot of great things that are consistent with that objective, but then I am not perfect and I fail on a number of levels, undermining my good efforts. Probably one of the greatest gifts to come out of the separation is the self awareness I was able to start cultivating through therapy, and which I continue to try and hone every day in different ways. I have realized I got away a bit from self awareness of the impact of some of these things I have mentioned and how it has really led to this current situation where my body has basically said - "enough already, if you are not going to stop what you are doing, I will stop it for you." So - this is not about picking up a softball for the first time in a year and that leading to getting hurt. That is way too simple, and if I stopped at that I would completely miss out on the learning opportunities I have in front of me right now to try and sort out some of my issues and start working on being anti fragile beyond lifting heavy kettlebells only. That is where my sole focus has been, and I need to think beyond that and realize that the KB work is simply one part of the puzzle and actually is the reward for doing other things very well that set a foundation for success in training. So I start tonight - early to bed, a restful sleep, let the body do what it does and heal itself. I hope some of this self realization will also help me turn a corner mentally and physically as well.
Notes - So I woke up and was really, really feeling the effects of the last several days and week. Very sore, some pain, very stiff. I had a deep body massage yesterday evening around 6pm, and a lot of shit came out in that session - lots of spasm in the R trap, R scalene and neck tightness, lots of reverberating stuff down the tricep, elbow, bicep, forearm on the R arm This is tough stuff. Played in a softball game last night and played first base, making zero throws, basically just restricted myself to doing the bare minimum outside taking my hacks in 5 at bats. I don't think playing in the game really had much impact on anything at all. I tried to get moving this morning a little bit but ultimately just felt like doing anything beyond mobility work just would not make sense. I then had a chiro check in this morning and ultimately my chiro indicated that everything looked good to him from a chiro perspective, no major adjustments needed, no significant tightness in terms of the spine, etc. The soft tissue challenges he said are just part of the healing process and this was pretty normal. He recommended epson salts and that I take a long bath with those, same recommendation actually came from my massage therapist yesterday. So I struggled through the day and finally got home and took that bath. It definitely seemed to help. While taking that bath I pondered my situation and took some time to truly reflect on the circumstances of the situation and asked and then answered to myself: "So how did I get here - because it's not from playing in a softball game last week - there is something deeper here." After reflecting on the last several months and thinking about how I have been managing various aspects of my life, it really dawned on me that I need to be accountable to several choices I make. These choices have negatively impacted my ability to recover from training and just to manage daily life to my maximum capability. Primarily, I have been in the poor habit for months of not managing my time in the evenings and going to bed very late, really almost never before midnight. My alarm is set for 5am, I am never able to rise before 6am because I need at least 6 hrs of sleep. The sleep gets interrupted, its not quality, and then I start my morning behind and do everything all over again - always getting in my training, but always behind. Things did not used to be this way. Since Jill and I separated in February 2013, my life has definitely been even more complicated. Having the kids every other day, half the week and sharing them with Jill is a challenge. I am thankful for my blessings and Frankie and Liam are the most important two people in my life, don't get me wrong. With that said, keeping a demanding job at my accounting firm and continuing to slowly progress toward making partner, essentially being a single dad half the week, try to maintain some level of friendships with people as well as other interests, and then trying to focus on my health and strength - it's a lot. I try to cram a lot of things into every day and frankly I am only successful at most of them, most of the time - but that leaves plenty of times where I am not successful at what I am trying to accomplish. I realized that the lack of sleep, combined with work travel and a new client, which has been stressful even though I know I am doing a very good job of managing it, still stressful, a bunch of late nights out with friends including during the middle of work weeks, and then adding a couple of things to training - extra heavy farmer carries, during a week when already double pressing, snatching, and pressing, and playing softball - WAS STUPID OF ME. I should have seen this one coming. Life really has a way of shaking you up right when you are least expecting it. My training was absolutely on fire, consistent gains, body composition really improving, strength improving - but it was being set on a foundation and base that was not as resilient as I can be. That word, resiliency, really means something to me, maybe taking that to another level, "anti fragile" is even better, like Nicolas Tasseb's book. The goal should be to try and construct a personal identify and personal way of living that is, in a word, anti fragile. I do a lot of great things that are consistent with that objective, but then I am not perfect and I fail on a number of levels, undermining my good efforts. Probably one of the greatest gifts to come out of the separation is the self awareness I was able to start cultivating through therapy, and which I continue to try and hone every day in different ways. I have realized I got away a bit from self awareness of the impact of some of these things I have mentioned and how it has really led to this current situation where my body has basically said - "enough already, if you are not going to stop what you are doing, I will stop it for you." So - this is not about picking up a softball for the first time in a year and that leading to getting hurt. That is way too simple, and if I stopped at that I would completely miss out on the learning opportunities I have in front of me right now to try and sort out some of my issues and start working on being anti fragile beyond lifting heavy kettlebells only. That is where my sole focus has been, and I need to think beyond that and realize that the KB work is simply one part of the puzzle and actually is the reward for doing other things very well that set a foundation for success in training. So I start tonight - early to bed, a restful sleep, let the body do what it does and heal itself. I hope some of this self realization will also help me turn a corner mentally and physically as well.
