Health & Physical Fitness/Training Thread

And here's to no one getting injured. Henry, what's up with your shoulder? I have a shoulder issue from years of tennis and softball and it's been flaring up lately. My dad just gave me another cortisone injection last night, 2nd injection in the past 6 months. Suck. However, I was joking with him that I'd take 20 more of those over yesterday's cardio workout, lol.

It started aching last year when I started doing pull-ups for the first time since high school. I took it as carefully as I could. Warmed up and stretched out before doing any upper body work, and by the end of my Tough Mudder training I could do about five pull-ups (which is insanely good for me :) ) but the ache never really went away.

After the Mudder was over I stopped upper body work altogether and the ache went away. Then about three months ago, for no reason at all, it just started hurting again ... and worse than when I was actually using it. I went to the doctor and he said basically this:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzEhoyXpqzQ[/media]

Seriously. He said "are you left handed?" (the ache was my left shoulder)

I said "no."

He said "Well that's good. Don't use that arm too much."

He referred me to a sports medicine guy and said I could take a cortisone shot if it got real bad, but that I could just endure the pain if I wanted, because, you know, I'm old and stuff just hurts sometimes.

So that's what I do. It's not injured. It just aches. So I just deal.
 
my wrists hurt almost every night when I lay down. My girl laughs because she says in the middle of the night I will be on my back and suddenly lift both arms above my chest and its like bubble wrap. It is both shoulders, elbows, both wrists numerous times, and all fingers just pop when I do it. Too many years with a hammer, wrench, and keyboard have finally caught up with me.

My ankles are horrible, too when they ache. I had one broken when I was 13 playing "pickle" and my friend slid straight thru me. The other one was one a double pump layup when I was 23 and when I came down it just buckled. I could see the skin swell over the sock and just knew it was bad..

but I've never gotten a shot. Id love to go to a chiropractor one of these days but it scares me at the same time. I dont want to become addicted to it or (paranoid thought) have my back slip and severe my spinal cord making me paralyzed.


I have those exact same thoughts on the chiropractor. My wife swears its the only thing that helps her when she gets vertigo, but I still have this lingering fear that I'll either get broken or end up with eternal appointments.
 
That Louis CK "Turning 40" bit cracks me up every time.
 
Then about three months ago, for no reason at all, it just started hurting again ... and worse than when I was actually using it. I went to the doctor and he said basically this:

Seriously. He said "are you left handed?" (the ache was my left shoulder)

I said "no."

He said "Well that's good. Don't use that arm too much."

He referred me to a sports medicine guy and said I could take a cortisone shot if it got real bad, but that I could just endure the pain if I wanted, because, you know, I'm old and stuff just hurts sometimes.

So that's what I do. It's not injured. It just aches. So I just deal.
Lol, sounds like a great 30 second appointment, haha. That is weird to have the pain on your left side since you're not left dominant. Hope it starts feeling better soon. I'm left foot dominant and did 10 years of gymnastics with that leg dominating and now that hip definitely is starting to show some issues. Nothing bad, I just know in another decade or two it's going to get painful :(

@ spec K. that Nike Fuelband sounds interesting! I'll have to check that out too.
Yeah, check it out and let me know if you get one! This could be fun :laugh:

my wrists hurt almost every night when I lay down. My girl laughs because she says in the middle of the night I will be on my back and suddenly lift both arms above my chest and its like bubble wrap. It is both shoulders, elbows, both wrists numerous times, and all fingers just pop when I do it. Too many years with a hammer, wrench, and keyboard have finally caught up with me.

My ankles are horrible, too when they ache. I had one broken when I was 13 playing "pickle" and my friend slid straight thru me. The other one was one a double pump layup when I was 23 and when I came down it just buckled. I could see the skin swell over the sock and just knew it was bad..

but I've never gotten a shot. Id love to go to a chiropractor one of these days but it scares me at the same time. I dont want to become addicted to it or (paranoid thought) have my back slip and severe my spinal cord making me paralyzed.
Good Lawdy Mike. Your feet and wrists sound like a mess! Maybe PT or something may help if you don't want to be a wimp like me and get a shot, lol. I don't think I'd be opting for this if my dad weren't able to inject me at home. I'm in between insurances now and don't feel like paying for an arthrogram out of pocket. I'm kind of using it as a stopgap until I get insurance and can get it properly checked out. I don't think you can get addicted to cortisone as it's a steroid and you have to wait a few months in between shots. But, hey, talk to me at the end of the year and see if I'm singing that same tune :laugh: I share your paranoia of chiropractors though. Doesn't help that my dad has stories of some of his patients he's treated who were screwed up and incorrectly treated by chiropractors, but I know there are good ones out there. Just not ready to make that jump yet. Maybe in another decade :D
 
Man, day 3 of P90X - I really had to 'will' myself to even do it tonight. Sapped and sore, but went ahead and actually had a pretty good workout. Yoga tomorrow night. THAT will be brutal :)

I'm interested in the fitness tracker bands. I'd stumbled onto a version of one when I bought a Jawbone Jambox (see my post in the 'favorite products' thread). They make a bracelet device called 'Up' that tracks your activity, your sleep patterns, calories, etc... thought it was an interesting idea. Cool looking bracelet but downside is you have to plug it into your iPhone or other device to upload info. That's too much work in the bluetooth era :) I really like the Nike device and am looking on that (thanks for the run-down Katie). I like that it gives you info right on the device and is more goal-oriented than some of the other products. I've also looked at a version called 'Fitbit' that does a lot of what I'd want, but right now it only comes as a pocket version, although they are coming out with a fitbit flex bracelet version soon. Only thing none of these have is a heartrate monitor function. A shame Nike didn't incorporate that as I would like to be able to track mine when I'm really exerting myself. The other downside is that none of these can capture cycling miles without having to log into an app and enter it manually.

Might pull the trigger on the Nike one - although there are as many negative reviews as positive (mostly focused on technical issues and the fact that the calculations do not seem very accurate).
 
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Been trying some squat thrusts, push ups, sit ups and jogging lately. Kinda old school but I feel a lot better and the pants are starting to loosen up.

Oh and for those of you who never jump rope you should give it a go. That extra calf strength seems to help out when I'm running...and I need all the help I can get there.
 
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John, I've read many of the reviews on the Nike FuelBand too. The negative reviews are legit and I am hoping that they come out with a 2nd version in the next year or 2 that has a heart rate monitor at least. I don't like the fact that biking is not calculated b/c I like to mountain bike as well. I agree with the numbers likely not being precise, but, I think some of the people complaining are pretty serious athletes. I think this was designed more for the regular person who's living is not made by competing in endurance sports. It's more of a tool to keep the user aware of their activity level and motivate them to be more active through competition (with themselves or others). As long as the calculation methods remain consistent each day I wear it, I can use it to identify my baseline and track my progress and goals. Kind of like a scale. Might not be accurate, but you can still calculate the pounds or fat% lost by using it under the same conditions and weighing yourself at the same time and wearing the same thing whenever you weigh yourself. As for the tech bugs, I haven't experienced any nor have any of my friends. So I can't speak to that.

Been trying some squat thrusts, push ups, sit ups and jogging lately. Kinda old school but I feel a lot better and the pants are starting to loosen up.

Oh and for those of you who never jump rope you should give it a go. That extra calf strength seems to help out when I'm running...and I need all the help I can get there.
I know you say that those are old-school, but they are really good exercises. We do everything you mentioned in our CrossFit classes. There's one workout called "Fran." If you have access to a pull-up bar, you can do it. It's 21 Squat Thrusters, 21 pull-ups, 15 Squat Thrusters, 15 pull-ups, 9 Squat Thrusters, 9 pull-ups. You do it for time, so as fast as you can without breaks. Don't worry, non-superhumans have to take at least minimal breaks, and several of us girls still needed to use bands to help us with out pull-ups. It's definitely an insane workout, even if you are going as fast as the pros and have to stop to catch your breath, lol.


Played an hour pf softball tonight. I need ibuprofen and a beer STAT!
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What?!?! You should be drinking beer during the softball game! Why would you play in a softball rec league without beer? I'm disappointed in you, Mike :laugh:

My workout of the day: setting up and taking down all the gymnastics mats and equipment for one of the gymnastics classes I teach @ the YMCA because the freaking front desk staff "forgot." Oh yeah, and spotting (aka picking up) 6 year-olds for an hour. Then running an hour and a half softball practice for the Ponytail team I coach: running the bases with the girls, hitting to them and running around to different positions telling them what they are doing put me at over 6,000 Nike fuel points by 7pm, lol. I was going to do light cardio afterward, but said screw it after the pounding headache I acquired by the end of practice.
 
It's all good K, i'm old and like the old school lol. Yeah we have a couple nice ass gyms here on base and have just about every thing imaginable workout wise. Pretty darn nice to have access to all the stuff.

I actually prefer a crossfit style workout over anything else. I do like the quick pace with minimal time spent in the gym. I'm sure you have already been there but there's a lot of good info on this site along with step by step videos.

http://crossfit.com/

Here's a link to one of the gyms on base, it's a converted Hangar btw.
http://www.arcticcrossfit.org/#


Oh and how long have you been crossfitting for now?
 
Wow Win, that looks like a great CrossFit gym! Way nicer than anything we have to workout in. Mine's run at our YMCA and we're using a new sports center wing added this past year and we also do a lot of exercises outside.

I've only been CrossFitting for 3 months (2-3 times per week), but I'm already noticing significant results. I think I prefer this type of exercise because it really pushes me. I've done weight training and sports-specific training off and on since high school and I've found I like this type of high intensity workout that's done in a shorter amount of time, more than any routine I've been put on in my life. I like the focus on compound and functional resistance exercises as well as plyometrics. Spend 25-30 minutes as full force as you can, then you're done with your weight training and high intensity cardio. You can do low intensity some other time in the day for more calorie burn, but the CrossFit classes definitely wear me out the days I do them. Finally, as a female, the best thing for me for fat loss is to perform high intensity or circuit resistance training. High intensity is just what I've found to be the most important variable in my training. Anyway, definitely looking forward to seeing how my body responds this next year...if I don't injure myself, haha.
 
Missed class today so I did the Kenpo X disk instead. It's a comparable workout, though it's got more punching and less kicking than I usually get. The Shoulder is not entirely pleased with that. Off to find some Advil.
 
Oh no doubt it's a top of the line fitness center. It was only put into service last year.

I too like the crossfit style workouts a lot and see more and more women doing it. A fit female crossfitter is a tad distracting tho, lol. Over the years I've done a ton of shoulder work, favorite body part to work out. Now a have a torn labrum and degenerated AC joint. I had to look both up.
 
Grudgingly took the night off tonight - exhausted. But back on the horse tomorrow :)
 
Been a while since I've been on BGO. But I saw someone mention it on Facebook so thought I'd check back in. Boone, not sure if this is coincidence or not but I am doing P90X again with a couple of guys from the ES tailgate -and we also are on day 4 today. Tweaked my neck yesterday so looking forward to yoga. Lol
 
TLC is proof that sh*t works...saw him in New Orleans, and he's half the size I remember and jacked up to boot!
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Glad to see you TLC ... Don't be a stranger :). P90X is brutal for the first month but once you get past that, man it really works.

Keep pressing play! And glad to see you.
 
I'm in, Boone. I'll probably start back w/ Day One on Sunday (that way my day off is Saturday, which is a long day at this house for the next 7 weeks or so).

I had to quit working out early last summer when I hurt my right shoulder (Henry and I make a match set!). To this day I still don't know what I did but push-ups were totally out of the question for 6 months or more and a number of other excercises were bad as well. Heck, if I threw the covers off the wrong way getting out of bed in the morning the shoulder was useless for a couple of hours.

But it is better now and I have been meaning to start working out again. Now is as good a time as any.
 
Today's workout:

3 400m "sprints" with 3 min. break between each

Set 1 (4 min)
Kettle bell swing
Goblet squat
Reps 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4

Rest 4 min.

Set 2
Same Exercises for 4 min.
Focused on beating the # of reps I did in set 1

10 minutes
- Burpee to box jump (20)
- Reverse lunges with kettle bell (15)
* Did as many as I could in the 10 min. time

ABS
Plank
Side plank
situps
 
Think I'm gonna give the deck of cards workout a go tomorrow. Basically each suit represents an exercise and the reps are the card number. Maybe spades are squat thrusts, hearts sit ups, diamonds push ups clubs, or something.
 
90 minutes of Yoga tonight. And let me tell you - this involves some hilarity in ways I can't even describe.
 
LMAO!

I'm worse at yoga poses than I am keeping rhythm in step aerobics classes, which is saying something. My sister-in-law is this insanely fit professional yoga instructor and sometimes my sister and I take her power yoga class. I think it goes without saying that our giggles screwed up everyone's "chi" in that class. :laugh: Yoga's a great workout though, I need to do incorporate more of that into my schedule.
 

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