Shoulder Injury Update

Last week I made a gripe post about my damn shoulder. I do have some sort of good news today. It's starting to heal. A bit.

Thats my normal range of motion. Left arm is fine for the most part. 

And this is where my right arm is. I'm even cheating a bit by tilting sideways. Still much better than last week...

Yeesh. I forgot it was that bad. Better a memory to be honest. 

I do still have a major concern. Since the lateral delts are firing better I can raise my arm sideways with no major issue now. I just need to work on that end range. What is bugging me is this- the front delt;

I am Left side is my left arm and everything is how it should be. Right side, however, is in bad shape still. Arm is almost appearing to 'droop' lower and obviously the front delt aint firing hardly at all. It still triggers up till about 90 degrees then it gets a little rough. It's a very weird feeling dealing with it.

I'm hoping a few more visits to the chiro can clean this mess up.

Cleveland Indians are about to get sued

For 9 F%$#ING BILLION DOLLARS!!!

Are you absolutely shitting me? It's said the flood gates are now open after the Redskins situation and I think Heath Ledger said it best.

Seriously this barely started and it's already out of control. If you are so damn offended then sue and petition to get the name changed. But 9 billion? You may as well say "we want money. Thats it. Just your money."

Next up-

Italians suing Nintendo over Mario Brothers

Every white person suing black comedians. Seriously just watch one black stand up and I guarantee there will be a white joke in there.

Nintendo again getting sued for Samus in Metroid for 'unrealistic expectations of women'
....same for Lara Croft

Latino's suing over that Spanish-American War

Japanese for the same thing. Then blacks suing whites for slavery.

Mothers against "Yo' mama" jokes.

The Blackhawks should probably get sued as well.

Who else? Im sure there are plenty of schools out there with some sort of perceived derogatory name. The shitstorm will never end.

This won't end if we don't stop it people. Besides if the Native Americans want to be treated just like everyone else then, well, I got some bad news for those casinos.

Wouldn't be another week of training without a new injury

Seriously. This shit's getting old. This week has been garbage ever since Sunday. So check this out-

Exhibit A is what good range of motion should be. Exhibit B on the hand...no bueno. I in all honesty cannot get my arm farther up than that. And Im even tilting to the left to 'cheat' it up there a bit.

So what happened? Apparently committed the heinous crime of sleeping. I woke up Sunday and felt some pain in my neck and a little bit in the shoulder. Figured I just slept on it wrong like I often do. But then the day went on and it just got worse. And worse. And sure enough I was in agonizing pain. I haven't felt crippling pain like this since my bout with sciatica when I blew my back out. It actually very much felt the same except in my shoulder.

Luckily I already had an appointment with the Chiro Monday afternoon just to get a tune up and instead Im going in there with legitimate gripes about my body. We moved me around and didn't notice anything off. Palpated here and there and said everythings where it should be. Then the x-rays came. This is where the concern drew up. Apparently instead of a gentle curve in my neck the spine makes a straight line. To the point one or two vertebrae seem to been tilting inward. Which could mean degenerative discs. Great.

He put me through a quick adjustment focusing on the neck. I actually felt a little better right away. I scheduled a follow up and was on my way. Actually felt like I got something done. Right until about 10pm that night. Best way I can describe it is something like this:

That bad.

So the better part of my morning was spent in bed trying to lie completely motionless so as to not aggravate the damn thing again. Only left to go to throws practice at 10 to which I then slapped a bag of ice on the shoulder to see if that would have an effect. It actually did a little bit. I tried doing some exercises as well to see what I could actually do and surprised that not everything is lost. I still thought it was pretty pathetic when I couldn't hold a 5lb dumbbell at full extension without my arm dropping down.

One curious thing to note is the over compensation of the right latimus whenever I picked something up. It seems the delts are so out of whack right now that my body is just clawing at other muscles to do the same work. Hopefully that little tidbit of knowledge can help my doc figure out whats wrong. Fingers crossed.

Farmers walk - A first real go

Yesteday was my first 'real' go at hitting some heavy farmers walks. My hands and I are still fighting. They got beat the hell up. Especially my left hand since my grip is still trying to catch up from surgery. Looks to be a few blood blisters in there. Nothing major but they're there.

I wish

The thing I can't with these is the havoc it wrecks on my palms. I've been researching a stronger hold on the handles yet it's like the meat in there gets squished against the knuckles. Im really hoping thats normal starting off and can get conditioned eventually. Hopefully.

Best I worked up to was a few short sets of 425 with the trap bar. Managed to get across the gym which is roughly 15yds or so. My hands just hurt like hell from that. Attempted a few a reps then switched to two standard bars with 45s on either end. Got 3 good sets of about 20yd shuttles with those. Then my forearms had enough which really made me realize I absolutely need to train these up before the comp in a few weeks. 

Getting better at pullups

Well I can't really be too happy with the rest of my training but I will say that my pullups have improved substantially.

Two months ago I started with one. One whole pullup. Now I'm up to 9. Also, 3 weeks ago I did a 10 minute EMOM with sets of 5. I finished total reps about 30. Maybe. Today I totaled 47. So close.

So what's the secret?

Every damn day. Even if it's just 20 or less. I still get some pullups in when I'm at the gym. Doesn't matter what I'm doing. Just get them in. This used to be a chore. Only performing 1 or 2 at a time was rough. But over time they got better. And with that getting volume in is relatively easier now.

So my goal now is to hit that 50 mark then add 2 minutes. Also, I'm shooting for 15 in one go. Just a matter of time.

Oh yea, and I'm still over 260. So I'm not getting better because I lost a bunch of weight. That fact could be good or bad depending how I look at it. :/

Homemade air conditioner

For 15 bucks?!?

According to this guy that is a true statement. And apparently it cranks out 45 degrees with a frozen milk jug.

With the insane humidity we get in Ohio I am all about this idea right now. Found my project for tomorrow.

Homemade Air Conditioner DIY - The "5 Gallon Buck…: http://youtu.be/HxSLbpAwibg

Sleds are a Drag

After this afternoons debacle of a work out I headed up to the track for a round 2 romp with the sled. I did have the idea I should get some sprints in first. That is until my foot reminded me how bad the fasciitis was today. My body this Summer has not been coping very well at all it seems. Wrist surgery to kick things off, right foot plantar fasciitis, left pec strain, right shoulder (nothing new there), and my right hip has been giving me issues lately as well.

It didn't help I was barefoot either for the warmups. There's actually some logic there. Shoes can make your feet weak. Last year when the fasciitis sprang up I did a lot of barefoot training and walking on soft surfaces and I noticed the symptoms died down a little. So I took that logic into this evenings workout. Unfortunately I did a bit more damage to the heel last Friday than I thought. During high knees it tweaked again and I almost went down. Then just did a toe/heel walk to try and loosen it up. Seemed to help.

Anyways, so the workout itself was pretty simple. 300lb sled, turf,  and barefoot. Sets of 50yd drags. First round was a forward drag followed then by a reverse drag. Repeat for 300yds total. Wasn't so bad the first 20-30yds but then I lost momentum and damn did that thing get heavy. Just something else I need to get consistent on. Truck pull is one of the events at my competition coming up.

TABATA is the Devil

Long story short for today I attempted to go heavy on bench work. Didn't even get through my warmup sets when something felt very wrong in my left pec. Definitely a strain of some kind. Doesn't hurt at rest but pressing straight away is out of the question right now. Had to switch gears to a pull day instead. Didn't go heavy just a lot of volume work. Sets of 12 and 20s.

Then I had a stupid idea.

Let's do a TABATA finisher! But what exercise? Hmmmm.....hanging row! Yes! But hey I'm awesome at those so let's use a god damn fat bar!

I finished 2 rounds. The rest ended about as miserable as you may imagined it would. My grip gave out well ahead of my shoulders. Suppose I should've saw that coming.

FYI if you are unfamiliar with Tabata it is simply perform work for 20 seconds, rest for 10, repeat for a total of 4 minutes. Or 8 rounds. Get as many reps as possible in those 20s bouts. The simplest exercises turn into a damn nightmare.

Brunswick Girls Rugby Division 2 State Champs

Pretty wild even now. This actually happened almost 2 weeks ago but it's still an amazing feeling. Even got a nice write up in the local papers for it. Not bad for a 1st year coach and a second year team.

From underdog to big dog - The Post Newspapers : Sports

Mondays WOD and 30-Day Challenge Updates

OK, so first off I was attempting a new 30-day challenge in which I tried to knock out the 300 swings workout. Well that failed. Primarily it had to do with this upcoming Highland/Strongman competition I decided to sign up for. All that stone lifting, deadlifting, carrying, squatting, and overhead pressing has got my back all kinds of knotted up and swinging just wasn't helping the cause. Im still on that pullup kick. Up to 8 on one go! Plus I can knock out sets of 5-6 pretty regularly. So getting 30-40 reps in a day isn't so bad anymore. Although, if I really want to see some better growth I need to ramp those numbers up to 80-100 on pull days and off days. Otherwise I feel I may start to stall.

As for everything else I feel my fitness is getting better. 400m runs are not nearly as tough as they used to be. Still rough. Especially thrown in a WOD like todays. Plus I still have those nagging hamstring issues I need to sort out. Feels like they're just weak and need some strength built up.

Swiss Bar Press Jerk - Worked up to MAX 5x185
Bench (still close grip) - High volume warmups and 4x5@229 (actually made weight all sets this time)
Triceps beat down with pullover extensions
40x Pullups mixed in

4 rounds for time
15 pushups
30 heavy rope waves (need to add more next time)
400m run
 (this shit sucked hard) Finished in almost 15 flat. 

Next 30-Day Challenge

Alright, so after my last rant blog I got to change gears and share some good news. Training is actually going well despite this weeks down time. Memorial Day took a bite out of my workouts and now just catching back up and settling into new routine. Rugby for high school girls is almost done (State Finalists!!) and track is wrapping up. Plus the kids are out of school so that means training time for them is right when I would normally work out. I swear once I get knocked out of my routine I have a hell of a time getting back at it. So anyways....

Last challenge was that of a pullup/ pushup mix. To show you how bad my upper strength got after my wrist surgery I was at about 15 MAX pushups and ONE FUCKING PULLUP. Yuck. Plus the pushups had to be done using dumbbells for my hands as I couldn't extend my wrist back enough. I still do that but it is no where near as bad. So how are the results after 30 days?

Regular sets of 20+ pushups and up to a max of 7 pullups. I can hit regular sets of 4-6 for multiple sets but essentially my pullups have increased 700%!!!!....lol

So as the title suggested whats the next challenge? MOAR PULLUPSSSS!!! Once upon a time I could do 15 at 270lbs so I want to get back that and more. The 15 reps I mean. I was hefty back then and the knees ain't liking the abuse anymore. So to help facilitate the trimming, and take it easy on said knees and right foot (it's been bad but not as shitty as last Summer) I will also add on the 300 swing challenge. Simply get 300 swings in daily. 9,000 swings. Thems a lot of swingings.

This is also rugby 7's season and I'm ALMOST ready. Sort of. Not as strong as I used to be but I can fix that. So on top of the challenge I am basically going back on some older training methods just mixed in with timed sets, more focus on maximum strength, and a lot of stones and hammers. I like stones and hammers. Speaking of which I need a new 230 stone....should get on that this weekend.

Well Im off. Running workout won't finish itself.

Don't Do Crossfit

Well if my click-bait title worked then welcome. If you're familiar with the absolute shitstorm in the fitness community in the past few days then this article is already known to you.

http://erinsimmonsfitness.me/2014/04/17/why-i-dont-do-crossfit/

Now, I actually DO NOT do Crossfit either. In the strict sense. I have my own little slice of heaven of a gym. And do my own workouts. I rarely look at much less follow the main site WODs nor crank out the high rep barbell complexes as often as CF does. To me that's nonsense and doesn't follow my goals. But here's the thing- I do plan on eventually owning my own 'box'. My own bigger slice of heaven with "Crossfit" somewhere slapped on the name. Why? Its working and its only getting bigger.

The thing is if you bothered to read Erins article its loaded with bullshit. Pure and simple. She even tries to back it up with other articles and WebMD sources but then completely ignores the fact that the same very articles actually encourage the reader to use CF but at their own careful discretion. Like. Any. Other. Fucking. Workout. The doctors cited are even CF enthusiasts. So I am not sure how she's backing up her own article. Lastly, she cites injuries as a MAJOR issue. I find that ironic coming from a former Javelin thrower (one of the highest injury rated events) and from someone who advocates Spartan obstacle races (where people actually DIE). Simple research shows that per participant the injury rate amongst COMPETITIVE Crossfitters is no where near as high as other sports. Didn't even make the lists from my look around the webs. And notice earlier I said competitive . Ya know, those folks that are pushing themselves to the absolute damn limit. Regular schmucks are not even a thought when it comes to recent years with most gyms that actually have competent trainers.

She also bases most of this on her own experiences of one or two gyms. Thats it? I had to see 6 doctors before finding on I actually liked that didn't just give me drugs and helped me with my daily beatings I take from playing ball. If I followed her logic I would've called it quits and just used WebMD like she did to diagnose everything. Plus she has a cute video of her attempting what seems to be a CF-ish workout. Her cleans are terrible. Swings use little hip hinge. And those evil deadlifts she's doing are with a damn kettlebell at half ROM. Seriously? So your experience is minimal at best and you can't even perform the actual movements correctly? Either you found a fail-box of a gym or you yourself are just not competent enough to enjoy what CF can offer. I've never played Lacrosse outside of a few times in a classroom. One time I got hit in the face with the ball. So therefore that shit is evil and nobody should be playing it. Logic.

Ok, the weekend certification I get. 2 days in a gym and pass a test. But you know whats worse? All of these Personal Trainer Certifications that you can just sign up to take and BAM certified PT. Where is the outcry about that? Your regular gym rat can get certified and then go out and rent his own studio and hurt everyone he wants. So why wasn't that mentioned? What about these Instagram Fitness Guru's that spew advice to the masses but are basically just a pretty face that works out a lot? Plus the certifications are no where near as tough as CF cert. I won't mention which one but I recently was certified by signing up, sitting down to test, and an hour later walked out with my papers. I studied NOTHING that the organization recommended. Not a damn thing. And since it was all multiple choice someone else with basic training knowledge could just as easily done the same and guessed. The CF certification? You are not even allowed to test until completing the weekend workshop which makes you perform the basic movements and workouts. Sure you won't learn everything there is to know but Ive seen these chuckle-heads with degree's come out of college and have no idea how normal people operate and can't train them. Or even with a degree they themselves have very little practical experience in the weight room or field. There's good and bad to both ends.

Lastly, after killing her credibility by saying deadlifts are bad but clean pulls are good (damn near same exercise just one is a bit light except should be done fast) she then destroys her whole argument by saying all CF gyms are bad. Period. That every last one should not be used at all. That is one helluva statement to finish that article with. Im surprised Glassman isn't already suing her for slander. Regardless I find it a bit ironic. To say that a general WOD (which each and every gym has their own and it's different every day) is not a good idea for the masses and everyone should do their own specific workout (judging by her site- her workouts***) but then makes a very generalized statement about the THOUSANDS of CF gyms around the globe. Saying theyre all the same and are bad. Derp...

***If you look at some of her example workouts on her blog they look strikingly familiar to some WOD's Ive seen. Very suspicious***

Anyways, I think Juggernaut made a great point about the situation. Crossfit IS IN FACT a sport. With qualifying, standards, competition, and prizes. It is NOT A TRAINING METHOD. Not anymore. Everyone has their own way. If you train FOR Crossfit that means you are training to compete. If you are training AT a Crossfit gym that just means you enjoy some good ole fashioned HIIT workouts. Which those have been around a long time and well before CF tried to claim them as their own.

I can only hope the best for her and her misguided ways. Because to be totally honest this girl just brought the internet hate machine down on her when that article went viral. And trust me the internet does not forgive nor does it show mercy.

Pullup challenge update and other progress 5-12-2014

Its been a minute since I last posted. So heres some progress news!

My pullups have gotten substantially better. Infact I can do 500% more pullups than when I originally started! How many? Glad you asked. The answer is 5. I am up to a max set of 5. Yay!

Anyways, there's bigger news around besides my pathetic attempts at bodyweight work. Im legitimately on a solid routine hitting the gym right after work and so far the results are starting to show. Deadlift is already fast re-approaching the 500 mark after I hit a deficit DL at 433 on a 4" platform Sunday. I officially bench (close grip), clean (light weight), and close grip snatch again! Lastly, I have a confession- Im starting to do more "Crossfit-ish" workouts. Yea yea yea....I know. BUT Im starting to come to grips with reality and this heavy shit all the time nonsense just aint treating my body right anymore. In fact it never did. At all. Im broken old man at the ripe age of 31. So I think it's time to officially switch gears and worry more about my fitness than what stupid numbers Ill never be able to achieve.

 All fun and games until you throw some quarter-miles in the mix. I hate running.

Pullup Challenge - 30 Days

Im back on the wagon. Finally. Its been a long time, almost 5 months, that I shied away from upper body lifts due to the wrist but now Im back at it. Starting off right with a personal challenge. 30 days. 3 exercises. About 13,500 reps.

Seems like a helluva lot looking at it that way. But its an every day routine and you have to take it one day at a time. Probably a few days Ill need to double up due to my schedule. But Im determined to make it work.

That beautiful caligraphy you are seeing before you is my log for tracking all those reps. Every damn one of them. The pics are from Mondays session. Today I knocked out another 15 pullups, 80 pushups, and 40 kb swings. Im already VERY tight and sore in a lot of places. The 100m sprints I did afterwards probably had a hand in that. 

Regardless, I need to make some progress somewhere and just lifting heavy shit all the time is starting to get old. Like myself. I need to shake things up a bit and keep it interesting. Otherwise Ill just get bored. Unfortunately those pullups are rough. I can only do 1 at a time right now. Yes. ONE. ...dammit. Got to start somewhere I suppose. 

...lil blurry. Ill have to redo that shot sometime.

Deadlift progress 3 months post surgery

Not a bad day lifting wise. I fell off the wagon last week and didn't get much time in but this week Im back at it.
Ended up with a 15 minute AMRAP x20 each
Pushups
 Ring Rows
 V-ups
 KB Swings
 Bulg Deadlift

Shit my Athletes Say - Episode 2

Its been awhile. But every so often I get some gems. Here's ten specially selected for today. Ill admit not all are words or phrases. Some are my responses to their....'creativity'.




Worms eat each other

Hey, you like mudkips?
I swear Im not in the mood for that shit today.
No, really. Mudkips. Kali Muscles energy drink!
Thats Hyphy Mud!....ass.

Prater! You need to meet my aunt!
Ok, whatever you say.
<3 hours later>
Prater! You never met my Aunt!
Wtf?

I didn't mean to I swear!
You supposed to kick the ball not the other athletes!

Your other right foot. Thats the same foot!

Hey, you should totally meet one of my teachers. She just broke up with her boyfriend. But I guess they got back together.
So.....what was the question again?

Can I blow your whistle....(oh shit face)





















There's pathogens in the water. Look!
Dude, worms again.

Prater, let me ride in your bed!
Come on, you got to at least put a little thought into what you say beforehand.

Wait....quarter after is 15 minutes. Right? I dont know...

Brunswick Girl Throwers First Crack at 4x100

Fastest Throwers in Ohio!

Dealing with it

"Don't focus and worry about things you have no control over."

That's not exactly what she said but 2 or so years ago the words of an ex of mine still echo. It's a true statement that I try my best to hold onto despite our personal falling out. We had a interesting conversation a few weeks back that resulted in us not speaking again. But I digress.

Let's rewind a bit. This past weekend was ...odd. Saturday went great. My throwers threw excellent and we scored well. A bunch of PR's across the board. Saturday night went very well. Girls Rugby fundraiser was a success and we raised a nice chunk of change despite an almost panicky start. A good evening overall.

Then Sunday hit... I was better off not waking up and sleeping until Monday. Start off I find my roster is not up to date for the girls first game. Only 10 girls listed. An hour later that situation is handled. Then due to some miscommunications we arrived over an hour early for our game. Then the game started. We battled. Ill admit it was a contest for about 10-15minutes. Then they broke. Points started to be scored and then to make matters worse the injuries started hitting. Final result in my coaching debut was a 31-10 loss, a broken foot ending my outside centers season, a sprained elbow, another sprained her wrist, and to add salt into that gaping wound my full back was red carded.

I wasn't sure how that day could've gone worse except it wasn't even 2:30 at this point. So to recap we almost had to forfeit, got beat, got hurt, and Im hungover through all of this. I blame the parents and all those shots they got me. Thats my defense and Im sticking to it.

Thats kind of what I wanted from Sunday that point on. Even Monday I was out of it...or "emo" as my friend so delicately puts it.



Anyways, back to the originally statement. It was tough to push through but it's true. At this point its sometime Sunday evening and Im ready to call it a day. But, I had to remember that at this moment I had to move forward. Wasn't anything I could do about what happened. Adjustments were needed. Positions had to change. A new methodology needed to be put in. End of that.

Realistically this is never just THAT easy but when you break it down that's what it's about. Get it done. Accept what is. Change what you can. Adapt and grow. I can't dwell on past mistakes or failure but sure as hell can learn from them. So if you're stuck in the shitter or just got dealt a bad hand learn and move forward. Adapt and overcome. Otherwise you're just going to be miserable and reliving that GIF above more often than not.

Conditioning - "Fun" with Intervals

It's no real secret to my athletes and clients that I will always prefer intervals over just basic cardio and training. I've really taken to AMRAP style with conditioning workouts and using intervals for time and then limiting rest to improve capacity.

Case in point is my bleacher training I've been doing lately. I have a nifty interval timer on my phone, HIIT Timer, that I have been using to keep track of all this. Staring at watches is for chumps. Give me some headphones any day. Nice thing is theres a beeper on it that lets you know when the interval is coming up.

Anyways, the setup is rather simple. Get as many reps in 10 minutes as possible according to the interval. I started off sprinting bleachers on 2 minutes. Which was rather easy but I had to start somewhere. Then every workout I drop time. So currently Im down to 90 seconds. Yesterday I went 7 rounds. Calves are pretty tight, lemme tell ya. Next time Im looking at 80s. Maybe 85. Thing is now that it's getting less and less there is not as much rest and the workload increases. So it's definitely getting tougher. Plus if I want to work speed then I need to increase rest otherwise the last few sets are pretty damn slow.

Nice thing with this you can do it with practically any exercise. Today Im hitting the sled. Although Im running a TABATA workout with that...God help me.

Advocare 24 Day Challenge - Final Thoughts

Well after its all said and done Im off that kick. I actually lost about 6 or 7 pounds during the detox phase. But nowhere near as much during the "MAX" phase. Maybe a pound or two. So very impressive considering the overall cost. So would I detox again? Sure. The rest? Nahhh.

Just a few extra notes. I didn't really change my diet 'much' or exercise routine. One thing I felt that to keep this program honest I wanted to see it's affects on my normal lifestyle. I felt if I changed my lifestyle then how much impact did the program have? Obviously there are some things I need to change with my daily routine and all that. Most of which I am addressing starting after I finish this blog. I did stop eating or avoid boxed foods, soft drinks, and high sugar items. Also, fast food and the like are in strict limitation. Even beer....well there was St. Paddys day. Anyways.

Final thoughts. I still like the Spark although it's too pricey with the individual packets despite the convenience. The meal replacement shakes are actually pretty good and a nice snack but don't fill me up enough for the morning. The MAX-E was...odd. Just a LOT of pills and frankly I didn't see much difference I wasn't already getting from Spark. So basically for products this leaves me still with Night Time Recovery and Spark as my go to supps. May get more meal replacement shakes in the future but theyre pricey. Which seems to be a trend with these guys unfortunately.

Ohio Indoor State Track Championships - Girls Weight Throw Div I 2014

OATCCC State Indoor Track & Field Championships - Boys Division 1 Weight Throw (All throws)

Crossfit Open - My thoughts after 14.2

Consider this an outside perspective. I've always toyed with the idea of trying the open just for shits and giggles. But there has been an underlying issue that I'm having so far. "Fittest on Earth" is a great title to have but so far I have yet to see all components of fitness involved with the term fitness. Primarily strength and power.  Both of which have been big criticisms of Crossfit and so far, after two workouts, those two have been completely ignored. And don't get me started on the damn chest to bar kipping pullups....those are not pullups! Call it what it is. Kipping yes. But don't sprinkle sugar on shit and call it candy. (Disclaimer for the ragers- I'm not saying kippings easy. I'm saying it ain't a pullup).

Anyways, it's still early. If they throw in a max Snatch effort with some random chest and ab exercises or rows and what not I may be re convinced but until then consider me annoyed.

Advocare 24 day Challenge - Day 10

The detox phase is a doozy. I can not kid about that. But after the 3rd or 4th day the 'situation' seems to calm down. Noticeably less time on the toilet now.

But good news! Im down 8lbs already. Yes. EIGHT. Almost a pound a day. That translates to about a 1% drop in bodyfat as well. Now if you're doing the math thats just shy of about 3lbs of fat dropped off. So whered the other 5 come from? Good question. Strength is still up. Actually stronger. I hit a new max on squat with chains attached. And my recovery from wrist surgery is still moving forward and Im regaining strength. So good stuff all around.

I took a peak into the MNS color pack that was included and was pretty impressed with how much they included. I start those tomorrow. Plus the meal replacement shakes for breakfast. Fun times ahead.

Advocare 24 Day Challange - Day 3

Not much to report on this day except if you plan on trying this be prepared to poop. A LOT.

I'll spare the dirty details but seriously it got a little ridiculous yesterday. Between the fiber morning drink, the increased vegetables, and evening Herbal Cleanse I've been spending some time in the john. When it says to drink plenty of water be sure to drink plenty of water. Half your body weight in ounces is not an exaggeration.

Day 1 of Advocare 24 Day Challenge

Well day 1 is in the books. If you are not familiar the first 10 are a detox cycle. Spark drink first thing int he morning followed by a fiber mix 30 mins later. Then at night theres a herbal cleanse involving microflora and essential bacteria for digestion.

I got to say my bowels are getting some rumbling going on.  Well day 2 here we go. Hoping this works.

Rugby conditioning sled complex - clip

Something that I threw together today after training. Well during training. Whatever.

Milesplit went the way of the subscription

...sigh....

Everybody wants a piece of the pie I guess.

I can't really blame them. New company buys out Milesplit and then sees the pay markets work better. Then gets a little snooty on the forums when everyone commenting is in an uproar about the pay system. Well, duh. All the mice had their cookies and milk and now you want to charge for the milk and possibly promise extras? Yeah, people are going to be upset. Plus now every single athlete needs a subscription to check stats? I have 20-30 throwers. There's about 60-80 track and field athletes. Assuming ....let's say even 25% of them subscribe that is still in the ballpark of 700 bucks or more a season. Oh yea, and the ads on the pages are still running. Nice.

It's not all tragic, I guess. We can still enter meets, see results, and supposedly look at articles despite the very first article I wanted to see was under subscription. Which, ironically, is how I even found out today. Just random curiosity on who is who that is returning this year. My exact reaction?

Was a bit of a shock. Not going to lie.

Well here's my plan. Since my interests essentially lie only in the throws I'll just mash together my own ranking system. Hopefully I can get some help with results getting sent in. So if by random chance you're an Ohio throws coach (sorry, not doing the rest of the country) here's my email dprater200@gmail.com . Send in those results. Then with some collaboration maybe I'll filter out the D1 and D2/3 division.

I already did this before but the rankings were easy to access. Now this may get a little tricky.