No magic pill

[Phaedrus49er]

A "well duh" moment yesterday: I haven't regularly performed any SMR work in, oh, three months or so. I've rolled maybe two or three times during that stretch. Coincidence that soon after that cessation that my leg issues started creeping in? Unlikely. I resumed SMR today and will again make it required work on my two "off" days each week. Let's just say there were a few trigger points that weren't there three months ago

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er

Some days, like yesterday, I'm lucky to hit 2000 calories for whatever reason (usually sloth). Other days, I blow through 3000 without even thinking about it. I figure as long as I'm eating as cleanly as possible (Haagen-Daas counts--have you seen their ingredient lists?), I'll let my training and my body decide what and when to eat. That whole low-grain thing is working out okay: some days are bad, others are good. I don't worry about numbers when I go out to eat; I just make sure to not go overboard (except the BBQ sandwich at Mac's--that sucker is literally four or five inches tall).

Besides, as I'm sure Roland could attest, I could end up with jugglecat's body and still think I was a fat bastard, no matter what the mirror might say otherwise. Just part of being a FFB

When I can see my abs, I'm no longer fat.

Originally Posted by Alan Aragon

Is there not a single "split snatch" joke in this thread? Am I the only one with a 6th grade sense of humor?

Split snatch sounds more like an emergency room visit than a joke. Now hang snatch sounds more... "Hell, if we find my keys, we can drive outta here."

[ohammersmith]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er

A "well duh" moment yesterday: I haven't regularly performed any SMR work in, oh, three months or so. I've rolled maybe two or three times during that stretch. Coincidence that soon after that cessation that my leg issues started creeping in? Unlikely. I resumed SMR today and will again make it required work on my two "off" days each week. Let's just say there were a few trigger points that weren't there three months ago

I had the same issue, I think. It had gotten to the point where foam didn't really find any trigger points so then I backed up which turned into slacking off the SMR.

Now I can barely get on the foam without screaming like a little girl. No wonder I'm having issues with mobility and just walking around.

I've been doing nothing but foam and movement prep type stuff for a few days now.

I have good news for you, the trigger points go away faster this time around.

[RedLefty]

I fear the foam. I have the black elite roller in the closet. It taunts me.

Dangit. Why you gotta bring up this crap that I was perfectly happy leaving in denial land.

[Phaedrus49er]

You know the rule: if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. Too bad that rule doesn't work here.

Actually, I may be doing more SMR than previously thought. I've had what I thought was a bone bruise in the ball of my right foot, which accounts for some of my calf fatigue disparities (compensation). If it doesn't improve in the next week or so, I'll start rolling the bottom of my foot as well. Good times, good times.

In other news, I will most likely be re-reading Zebras with pen and paper at my side. It sucks that this book is so good since it's taking away from my CSCS stuff (though lately I've been leaning toward perhaps an IYCA instead or at least first; we'll see).

[Lost Dog]

Just start rolling the bottom of your foot anyway. Roll it on a little ball when you're sitting on the sofa.

Maybe it's a plantar wart or plantar fasciitis?

[Phaedrus49er]

1-DB push press, 90RI
--4 @ 60, 4 @ 65, 4 @ 70, 4 @ 75 (per arm)

BB power clean
--5 @ 135, 5 @ 135, 5 @ 135, 5 @ 135

SUPERSET
DB step-up, 0RI
--6 @ 30s, 6 @ 30s, 6 @ 30s, 6 @ 35s (per leg)
+
DB RDL, 60RI
--8 @ 30s, 8 @ 30s, 8 @ 30s, 8 @ 35s

SUPERSET
pull-up, 0RI
--5 @ BW, 5 @ BW, 4 @ BW, 3 @ BW
+
push-up, 60RI
--15 @ BW, 10 @ BW, 8 @ BW, 6 @ BW



Notes:
--I've decided just to bold any increases from last time from here on out. It's easier and cleaner than discussing every individual thing if a little difficult to read. We'll see how it goes (my eyesight sucks).
--I will, however, again point your attention to the upper-body superset: compared to five weeks ago, two more pull-ups and four more push-ups; compared to the last iteration by itself, I dropped two push-ups, but overall, I'm trending upward on this setup.
--No finisher this time as I was pretty wiped out from those push-presses. Seriously, that seemingly innocuous movement felt like it sapped me for the rest of the workout despite the improved numbers.
--Right foot pain is becoming more noticable and common, though after rolling yesterday, I noticed last night that my left TFL pain has subsided significantly. Guess I'll be getting my feet on a tennis ball ASAP.

[RedLefty]

I keep a golf ball in my office and roll my feet on it from time to time. Gets good reactions from people.

[Phaedrus49er]

Your feet or the ball?

I tried a tennis ball and a baseball this morning, but hardwood floors are a little slick for keeping everything in place. I'll figure something out, though I did hit it pretty well, but there was/is no change in location or intensity of pain. Hell, the way I've been going, this could be another fracture if not a deep bruise.

[gobbla]

The rolling stuff tends to leave me worse off than when I started. My typical solution is stretching...say a pike calf stretch. Hold it for 3min or so. Of course I'm non-flexible to the point that my heals don't touch so it may not serve the same for you.

[Phaedrus49er]

Circuit x 5, 30RI
--burpees x 30sec
--jumping jacks x 30sec
--split jumps x 30sec
--burpees x 30sec
--jumping jacks x 30sec
--mountain climbers x 30sec

Core circuit x 3, 60RI
--Turkish get-ups x 3 per side @ 40lbs*
--V-ups x 5
--Supermans x 5
--DL twists x 5 per side @ 40lbs



Notes:
--Third go-round for this one. Nothing substantial to report performance-wise other than using DBs of comparable weight to my KBs is a lot more difficult due to the higher center of gravity. *Also, since I played a spirited round of disc golf yesterday, my right shoulder was fried, so I did descending (3, 2, 1) reps for my right arm for each set but three each for my left arm.
--Foot update: Even though the above routine is probably a little counter-indicated for my particular pain, I did have a "eureka" moment early on. Please direct your attention to the graphic below:



The item on the left is how my left foot lands (I'm thinking particularly of my single-leg rope skipping work). As you can see, the foot lands well onto the pad of the ball, using the calf muscle to arrest the downward motion and lightly landing on the heel. The item on the right is how my right foot lands. Here, you see a more pronounced plantarflexion, and the force of my weight is landing more squarely in-line with the metatarsal bones. This is why I'm thinking I have a bone bruise/fracture rather than a soft tissue issue. This would also explain the greater fatigue--and greater strength?--in the left calf. Oddly, there's is no visible discrepancy in their respective ROMs, so it may just be a quirk of my lower body. I'll focus on landing more properly on my right foot (once the pain subsides) and see what happens. That's not to say I won't do other SMR work as well.

[Lost Dog]

I'd see a doctor about the degree of toe bend in those pics.

[Aoife]

I find that on long walks (over an hour or so) on uneven terrain with the vibrams, I wind up with issues, and I wear those buggers near constantly. It usually goes away after a bit though, although sometimes I end up with a callus that hurts for longer. But usually it'd be gone by now (the pain at least) so I guess it's not the same as your issue.

[Phaedrus49er]

Walking and running haven't been problems, probably just because of the different footstrike position from vertical jumping. Probably hasn't helped that most of that has been on firm flooring (wooden aerobics studio floor or wooden back deck). I don't remember having this problem when I was doing more work on grass. I just want to have it gone by the time some mountain hikes get here in another month or so, but I don't know if I'm willing to concede rope skipping or burpees.

[Aoife]

Yeah, I had issues where basically I'd repeatedly wrap my foot around a rock or something, and the ground at the zoo is terrible (fake molded "fossils" and crap, ugh).

Do they have mats you can do them on? Simulate softer turf.

[Lost Dog]

Maybe your feet aren't ready for so little padding. You've been padding them for your whole life, then you started the vibrams and started doing burpees and rope jumping. That's a lot for your feet to take.

More padding.

Do either of these fit?

Pain Under Your Three Smallest Toes Description:
Pain under your three small toes. If you press with your fingers between the toes and balls of your feet, you feel pain.
Likely causes:
Too much pounding. You're probably coming down too hard on this area of your foot when you run. As a result bursitis may have developed, with your foot building a cushion called a bursa to protect the area. The pain you feel is the bursa getting irritated.
Remedy:
Take the pressure off of this area with some foot pads. You can probably find some metatarsal pads in the footcare section of your drug store, but a piece of felt or foam rubber will do the trick, too -- about 1/4" thick, two or three inches long. The idea is to put padding behind the balls of your feet so that you won't pound them so hard. Bend your toes back and press until you find the spots that hurt; tape the padding to the area just behind (that's on the heel side of the pain, not the toe side). This should take care of the symptoms, but the cause itself is probably due to an imbalance in your foot. Visit a podiatrist, preferably a runner, to see if orthotics may help.

Soreness Under the Ball of the Big Toe
(Bruised or broken sesamoids) Description:
Tiny bones called sesamoids are located under the ball of your big toe (where the toe connects to your foot). These bones sometimes bruise -- it's a hassle, but it's also a warning system; they start aching before you damage the bones of your big toe. To see if you've bruised these little guys, press hard on the head of your big toe with your thumb. If you're howling in pain, that pretty much confirms that you've bruised, maybe even broken, your sesamoids.
Likely Causes:
Increased mileage, maybe new hillwork or speedwork. Whatever the cause, you are running too much on the balls of your feet. Also, it is possible that your running surface is responsible -- too much hard pavement. A final possibility is that you are doing nothing wrong at all, but you may have been betrayed by your own bone structure (i.e. you have bony feet without much fat padding).
Remedy:
Ice your foot, putting it on ice for ten minutes, off for ten minutes, and repeat. Do this often, maybe four times per day. This, of course, only treats the symptoms. You also have to treat the root cause and stop pounding the balls of your feet into pulp. Reduce hillwork and speedwork, and also take a look at your stride. Your heel should hit the ground first, rolling through the middle of your foot and then springing off from your toes. You should not be landing on the balls of your feet.
The problem can further be avoided in the future by padding around the ball of your foot to take pressure off of it. Get a piece of felt or foam rubber (try using a Dr. Scholl's heel pad, for example). It should be 1/4" thick and about 2" square. Cut a shallow "U" out of the pad so that it fits snugly behind (not over) the ball of your foot. Behind, incidentally, means on the heel side, not the toe side. The pad should fit right behind the painful area. You'll know you've got it right when you try it out and walk around -- the pressure will be off the bone, and the pain will be far reduced. Tape the padding to your foot and wear it in your daytime shoes as well as your running shoes.
You should be able to hit the road immediately, and the pain will likely disappear in about two weeks. If it does not, you may need custom orthotics. See a podiatrist, preferably one who is also a runner.

[Phaedrus49er]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Maybe your feet aren't ready for so little padding. You've been padding them for your whole life, then you started the vibrams and started doing burpees and rope jumping. That's a lot for your feet to take.

More padding.

Do either of these fit?

Not really, no. The pain is localized to the ends of the second and third metatarsals, and it was fine this morning, just a little tender. The pain radiates after I do a lot of jumping on harder surfaces, though not as badly today (or yesterday) since I paid attention to my landings. Tomorrow hopefully will give a better indication of what may or may not be an issue since I'm supposed to be running.

[gobbla]

lose some weight fatty

...assuming you've got weight to lose. When I'm under 160 I have no foot issues. 160-170 it's hit and miss. 170+ means something is pretty well jacked up at all times.

[Phaedrus49er]

I used to have a few lower-body issues when I was above 200, but both my strength and conditioning have improved a lot since then (probably at least a year ago when I was doing nothing but running), so I'd put that limit at no lower than 225--I'm a lot more athletic at 211ish now (or at any other time in my life, truth be told). I could lose some weight if I wanted to [try to] get ripped, but since that'll never happen (plenty of childhood leftovers), I just eat healthily to stay healthy--I tend to get sick more easily if I'm on much of a caloric deficit for some reason.

[Phaedrus49er]

2-DB split snatch (from sides), 60RI
--3 @ 35s, 3 @ 35s, 3 @ 35s, 3 @ 40s, 3 @ 40s

2-DB push press, 60RI
--3 @ 55s, 3 @ 55s, 3 @ 55s, 3 @ 60s, 3 @ 60s

SUPERSET
1-arm inclined push-up, 0RI
--5 @ BW, 5 @ BW, 5 @ BW, 5 @ BW (each arm)
+
medicine ball plyo push-up, 60RI
--8 @ BW, 8 @ BW, 6 @ BW, 6 @ BW

SUPERSET
DB lunge, 0RI
--5 @ 40s, 5 @ 40s, 5 @ 40s, 5 @ 40s (each leg)
+
lunge jump, 90RI
--5 @ BW, 5 @ BW, 5 @ BW, 5 @ BW (each leg)

2-DB swing, 30RI
--15 @ 20s, 15 @ 20s, 15 @ 20s



Notes:
--Some increases from last time, most notably the plyo push-ups, which I think were mostly because I was in front of a large fan doing these and so wasn't dripping sweat like usual, meaning the ball wasn't as slippery.
--Some poor logistical planning on my part is going to make this an interesting training week. I'm still not used to my new work schedule combined with the girl's schedule, so I ended up not working out Wednesday or Thursday this week, so I'll likely do my Warrior Challenge stuff here at home tomorrow, then sprint work Sunday, then start up the next week on Monday per usual but train Monday through Wednesday and take Thursday off since that seems to be the easiest thing overall. That still doesn't absolve me from what will become a 630am workout on Fridays. Speaking of which...
--When did early mornings at the gym become as bad as the after-work crowd? Bro-tard-ery... I guess I'll need to shoot for 5am to avoid that mess, but we'll see how the next few weeks go as people wind down from the summer and back-to-school stuff and really get into the holiday malaise.
--Oh yeah, the new proposed schedule: Mon - strength (anytime), Tue - GPP (anytime), Wed - intervals (AM), Thur - off, Fri - strength (AM), Sat - Warrior Challenge (varies by weekend), Sun - off. At least there looks to be more apparent opportunities (mostly while at work) to get in some SMR work.
--Leftover boiled potatoes diced and seared in peanut oil = awsum.

[Mahler]

That's what you get for wearing foot gloves.

Ben,
The workouts are looking pretty damned good.

[Phaedrus49er]

Originally Posted by Mahler

That's what you get for wearing foot gloves.

Ben,
The workouts are looking pretty damned good.

If a little temporary foot pain is all that happens from wearing my toe socks on crack, I'll take it And thanks. I'm really enjoying this setup I'm on. I'll be busting out full pistol squats at the summit next year (in my "foot gloves")

I forgot to mention that I spent some time yesterday going over the questions I missed in that first practice exam from a week or so ago. There were a half-dozen or so that were legitimate wrong answers on my part; the rest were fairly subjective, including the "choose the BEST answer" items. A couple were understandably missed, but I took issue with most of the rest. I'll roll through the other two practice exams fairly soon, especially since I'm doing all the CPR stuff on Tuesday, but if I continue to have such reservations with the exam questions, regardless of the sentiment of needing to study for the test rather than the real world, I'm going to have a harder time ignoring the Kool-Aid enough to get through the exam, and Charlotte may be getting its first IYCA-affiliated trainer

[LisaS]

OMG ... xkcd today ... made me think of you

[Phaedrus49er]

I was giddy over that one today

[Phaedrus49er]

Circuit x 5 for time
--ring pull-ups x 5
--medicine ball slams x 10 @ 6lbs
--burpees x 15
--jumping jacks x 20

TIME: 17:59



Notes:
--I reached WAY back for this one, being the very first Warrior Challenge-esque workout I attempted on this training regimen. That time, I was in a nice, air-conditioned gym; this time, I was outside in an 88F heat index with no wind and the aromas of citronella and Off filling my nostrils (recent rains + thick grass + sweat + brightly-colored shirt = skeeter magnet).
--You may note from last time that this is supposed to be ten rounds started on the even minutes. Yeah, still not that good and won't be for awhile, though I did get close on the second round. I could've shaved another 15-30 seconds off my time if not for having to chase the medicine ball down from glancing bounces off hidden contours under the grass, but whatever.
--Took the second CSCS practice exam and did worse than the first one, though it might help if I actually read the questions all the way through One more to go, but it's easily looking like my weaknesses were pinpointed in that first practice exam. Blah blah blah.
--Oh yeah, not to be left out, I did face my manga today at work. It was that slow. I will likely not be sharing

[Phaedrus49er]

Sprint intervals
--4 x 800m, 90RI (active)
+90RI
--4 x 50yd, 0RI

Total time - 28:38

Core circuit x 3, 60RI
--KB waiters carry x 25yd @ 18kg (left arm)
--flag x 3 negatives
--double bent-knee reverse kickbacks* x 5
--KB waiters carry x 25yd @ 18kg (right arm)
--KB twist x 10 per side @ 18kg



Notes:
--Hmmm... an oddly longer time than last time despite a shorter rest interval between the 800m runs and the 50yd sprints and it being dark and cool this round, as in way past sundown with just enough distant streetlights to barely show the track lanes. Of course, that meant I couldn't see for shit, so I was probably (a) weaving and (b) unaware of my pace or progress. I attribute some of the malaise to having been at a friend's house for the Panthers/Chargers game and eating absolute crap food for the first three quarters (NO BEER!!! just a Diet Mountain Dew and water).
--*I did these before but didn't really describe them and don't know a common name for them. Basically, I laid prone on the end of a bleacher with the edge at my waistline, hips and knees both flexed at 90 degrees, then kicked back to where my body was in a straight line. These particularly suck after sprints.

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus49er

--double bent-knee reverse kickbacks* x 5

--*I did these before but didn't really describe them and don't know a common name for them. Basically, I laid prone on the end of a bleacher with the edge at my waistline, hips and knees both flexed at 90 degrees, then kicked back to where my body was in a straight line. These particularly suck after sprints.

I don't know any official name, but it'd be called some type of hip extension. Kickbacks just reeks of triceps and sounds wimpy and inappropriate in your otherwise awesome list of movements.

[Aoife]

Sounds like butt blaster to me.

[Phaedrus49er]

Prone reverse back extensions? I'd do them with straight legs if I could, which would make them reverse hypers, right? But, seeing as how there's not enough ground clearance, I have to bend the knees at the bottom.

FYI, there was not, is not, and won't be any butt blasting going on in this log

[Aoife]

if you say so. *patpatt on head*