Great Weekend.....7th Wedding Anniversary

My wife and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary over the weekend. We took from Friday noon until today OFF from work and it felt great. It's amazing how stopping on friday and not working on Saturday makes you feel like you have much more of a weekend. We always work saturday mornings and frankly, I think we're done working weekends. Now don't get me wrong, I love what I do, much taking time off to recuperate and enjoy life is what it is all about. The highlight of the weekend were two incredible hikes up Cowles mountain, San Diego's tallest peak. What a workout and what an incredible view. Yoana and I are hooked!

Today

A-1 Clean and Press
28kg 3/3, 2/2, 1/1
32kg 2/2, 1/1, 1/1

B-1 PVC Pipe Elevated Push Ups (feet on bench)
BW 3 sets x 10 reps

B-2 Single Arm Bent Over Row
28kg 3 sets x 6/6

C-1 MB slams
12lb MB 4 sets x 25 reps

D-1 Farmer's Walks
2 x 20kg 3 x 90 yards

Friday

KB Snatch
24kg 10/10 x 6 = 120 reps

Pull Ups
32kg 2/2/2/2/2 = 10 reps

Hamstring is still healing. It definitely feels much better than it did last week although I still cannot use my left leg explosively,

Thursday Training and a VIDEO of the Captain

Still rehabing the Left hamstring. It is functioning better. Thank God for my active job as it is allowing me to actively rehab it training clients. I couldn't imagine sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day. God Bless those people that have to, ouch!

Training

Single Leg Deadlifts (Right leg only)
28kg 8 sets x 5 reps
S/S
KB Double Military Press
2 x 20kg 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

Farmers Walk 90 yards
2 x 20kg x 3 rounds

Chin Ups (BW)
2 x 10

Here is a video from the Gym Jones website featuring Vincent, who played the captain in the movie 300. Talk about a transformation in 8 weeks, WOW!

VIDEO

100 meters

Last weekend I competed again in the 100 meters as well as the 200 meters at the UCSD Triton Invitational. The good news was that I won my heat in the 100 meters and substantially improved my time. Two weekends ago in Phoenix I ran a pedestrian 12.04 in the 100 meters. This meet I ran an 11.74. Although rather slow compared to my PR of 10.72 seconds in 1999, for not having seriously trained for 8 years I will take it. I can feel my speed coming back and feel I can return to the days of running 10.9 or 10.8 seconds.

The challenge came when I strained my left hamstring (semi-tendinosis) in the 200 meters. My start was great and I passed the first two guys in lane two and three. As soon as I hit the straight away I felt hamstring pull violently and I immediately stopped running. PAIN! The funny thing was that I wasn't even planning on doing the 200 meters but I felt so excited after the 100 meters I decided to enter the 200. They stuck me in lane 1. For those of you who have experience in track meets you all know how tight of a lane it is because it is the innermost lane on the track. My hamstrings and calves were already fatigued after a hour and half warm up and the 100 meters. I should have stopped there but my damn EGO got the best of me.

Major lesson learned: Start small and think baby steps. Take it one step at a time and don't try do things you are not prepared to do.

This week is a recovery week as I am icing and rehabing the muscle strain. Walking is difficult but getting better every day. Thank God I stopped as soon as I felt it because it could have been way worse.

Tuesday:
Pistols (right leg only) 3 x 5 (research shows that if you train the well limb there is carry over to the injured limb)
See Saw Press 24's 5 sets x 5/5
Explosive Pull ups to sternum 5 sets x 5

Weekend in Phoenix.....Cadaver Lab....NMT Seminar

I Went to an amazing seminar in Phoenix last Weekend:

Neuromuscular Therapy / Care of soft tissue pain and dysfunction (American Version developed my Judith DeLany NMT. The course was LOWER EXTREMITY

In the late 90's I took a couple of the Paul St. John's NMT seminars but in many ways this seminar was more digestible, easier to understand and taught in a very precise yet clear format. You can't go wrong either one but I have decided to go ahead and take all 5 of their courses and become certified through them.

Friday: Friday morning was a cadaver lab which was optional but I decided to do it since I have never studied on a cadaver. There were 4 different bodies and I must admit that initially it a little creepy. I changed my mentality, focused quickly, put on my gloves and morphed into scientific mode. The bodies were predisected so that muscles of the leg and pelvis were easily accessible and easy to seperate. I must say that seeing the muslces and touching them without the skin is the BEST way to learn anatomy. Talk about a visual. Here a couple of things that really surprised be about general anatomy that I never realized.

1) I never realized how small the quadriceps actually are. When you think of legs you think of hams and quads and how they provide the bulk of muscle in the legs. WRONG! The quadriceps are not even close to being the biggest muscles in the leg. It may appear that way because they are the most superficial. The biggest muscles in the leg are the addcutors, and mainly the ADDUCTOR MAGNUS. The Magnus is so thick and once you pick it up in your hands you get an appreciation of how powerful and big this muscle is. The Magnus is what gives you the girth and thickness. The instructor for the course, an amazing teacher named Don Kelley,says that the Vastus Lateralis and the Adductor Magnus are in competition with each other for the biggest muscle in the leg. Either way, both the lateralis and magnus are big honking muscles.

2) The hamstrings are puny little guys as well. I always thought they were these giant muscles, not so. Perhaps they can be but they just do not have the bulk or size of the previous two muscles we talked about.

3) I was shocked on how big the GLUTE MEDIUS is. In fact it the glute medius that gives the butt the rounds shape. The glute maximus in thick but doesn't have the attachments high on the illum like the medius does. What I never appreciated before was how low on the femur the distal portion of the glute maximum attaches to. To fully treat the maximus you have to go fairly low on the femur to treat it.

4)The Sciatic nerve is fricking big. You could almost pick up the entire body by pulling on this nerve. I didn't realize how big it actually id.

5)Remeber this acronym; VAN. Veins, arteries and nerves. They almost always travel together in the body and seeing that in a body drives the point home.

6)We always hear about how fascially wrapped muscles are in the body but I never knew to how great of an extent that is true. Your body, organs, muscles, ligaments and tendons are so wrapped in fascial connective tissue that it showed me how essential fascia is and what a forgotten component it is in therapy, exercise and stretching.

Overall the seminar was a life changing for me. I am so excited to be re-learning my anatomy because I am in a time in my life where my focus is much better. I plan on doing as many cadaver labs as I can in the next two years and hopefully next year I will travel to Florida to do a week long course in cadaver disection where each team gets a fresh body and gets to disect layer by layer for one week. I would recommend any therapist and strength coach to get into some cadaver disections to REALLY learn the anatomy. It can only make you a better coach and therapist.

The rest of Friday was a lecture on the principles of NMT.

SAT and SUN: These days we went over all the routines for the lower extremity.
The Routines:
Anterior Thigh
Medial Thigh
Pubic Attachments
Pes Anserinus
Anterior Leg
Lateral Leg
Lateral Thigh
Lateral Hip
Hip Rotators
Posterior Thigh
Posterior Knee
Posterior Leg
Achilles Tendon
Plantar Foot
Dorsal Foot
Structure and Examination of the foot
Osseous Structures of the lower extremity

Track meet Results 100 meter - 12.04 seconds - 4th place in my heat

Overall the track meet was fun. My time was a second slower than I usually run but I think the lack of training and focus on high tension exercises the last 4 years has really slowed me down. I am axcited to start sprinting more and focus less on high tension exercises and more on ballistic (high rate of force development), stability exercises and mobility movements. I have another track meet this weekend at UCSD - The triton inviatioan - one of the biggest meets in the country. Should be fun.

God bless all those souls who lost their lives yesteryday in the Virginia Tech Shootings. May God's holy spirit minister to the families who lost children and to the Virginia Tech students!

Be well, enjoy life..it is short!

Revolution Newsletter

If you haven't read the interview we have with Dr. Eric Cobb, do yourself a favor and read this incredible article!

Newsletter # 17

Cortisol...overtraining...burn out!

I took last week off completely from training as I felt trashed. My training the last month had been good but with a very busy work schedule my body was in a chronic state of overtraining and adrenal exhaustion. And with elevated levels of CORTISOL you can experience some pretty bad symptoms that lead to poor health. I have discoverd that with a busy work schedule I need to limit my volume and my intensity. What are some of the signs of adrenal exhaustion? Here is are some:

* Poor sleep at night
* Poor immunity
* Constant soreness in muscles
* Negative response to all intense exercise
* High resting heart rate upon rise
* General Malaise, depression and hopelessness
* Apathy and an overall negative outlook on life

The bottom line: too many stressors in your life lead to higher cortisol levels and that leads to disastrous results. Read below!

The following info is taken from www.biodia.com

Physiology
Cortisol, which is best known for stimulating gluconeogenesis, is essential for normal glycogenolysis. Cortisol affects the heart, vasculature, blood pressure, water excretion, and electrolyte balance. It mobilizes protein stores in all tissues except the liver; it mobilizes fatty acids from adipose; it is the precursor of cortisone and acts as an anti-inflammatory; and it is the primary hormone directing immune function. Cortisol can stimulate or inhibit gene transcription, promote apoptosis, and affect bone metabolism and calcium dynamics. It affects behavior, mood, neural activity, and a variety of central nervous system biochemical processes. Cortisol affects the eyes, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive function, and the production and clearance of other classes of hormones. It is a major marker of the complex control loops regulating the sex hormones. The general effect of excess cortisol is usually stimulatory and catabolic; a deficiency of cortisol usually results in a slowing of physiology.
The salivary free fraction of the adrenal cortisol output is reported because of its high clinical correlation to accurately assess adrenal function. To determine the cortisol circadian rhythm, four individual cortisol levels is taken at specified intervals throughout the day: in the morning between 6 and 8 a.m., between 12 and 1 p.m., in the late afternoon around 4 or 5 p.m., and at nighttime between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m.

In the presence of stressors, the body almost immediately attempts to increase cortisol levels. This increase is associated with both endocrine and autonomic responses in preparing the body to defend itself normally. However, elevated cortisol levels for extended periods negatively affect virtually every aspect of physiology. For example, it becomes more difficult to maintain proper blood sugar levels; to slow down for rest, recovery, and repair; to get good quality sleep; to balance other hormones; to maintain mucosal immune integrity; to maintain bone mass, to produce effective general immune function; to effectively regulate inflammatory processes; or to detoxify the body. Without proper intervention, continued high adrenal stimulation can lead to adrenal exhaustion and lowered cortisol levels. Eventually adrenal or cardiac failure can occur.

DHEA is the major precursor of testosterone and the estrogens. It becomes active at puberty. In this profile, the more stable, sulfated form of DHEA, DHEA-S is measured, providing a more reliable measure of DHEA levels than measuring DHEA directly. DHEA is an important modulator of many physiological processes. It promotes the growth and repair of protein tissue (especially muscle), and acts as a counter-regulatory agent to cortisol, negating many of the harmful effects of continued excess cortisol. When increased demand for cortisol is prolonged, DHEA levels decline. DHEA then is no longer able to balance the negative effects of excess cortisol. Depressed DHEA levels serve as an early warning of potential adrenal exhaustion. In fact, adrenal exhaustion is evidenced by an elevated ratio of the sum of the four cortisol measurements to the DHEA-S average. (The ideal level of the aforementioned ratio is 5 or 6:1)

A chronic imbalance between adrenal stimulation and cortisol and/or DHEA output is associated with a multitude of both clinical and subclinical systemic disorders. Chronically depressed DHEA output results in an imbalance in sex hormones. Abnormal cortisol and/or DHEA values (either elevated or depressed) result in a decrease in the activity of the immunocytes that produce secretory IgA (sIgA). SIgA provides a mucosal first-line immune defense against virtually every pathogen, including parasites, protozoa, yeasts, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. SIgA also provides a normal immune response to regularly encountered food proteins. Dysfunctional mucosal immunity is associated with an increased risk of infections and of adverse food reactions.

Clinical Use
The degree and timing of cortisol imbalances provide the healthcare professional with valuable insights into the nature of causative stressors, and allow the practitioner to formulate remedial protocols (refer to BioHealth's Adrenal and Metabolic Interpretive Guide). Readily identifiable inducers of increased adrenal stimulation include stressors such as tissue damage, inflammation, pain, and mental or emotional stress. Other significant physiological stressors can be subclinical, and include intolerance to the gliadin fraction of gluten protein, lactose or sucrose intolerance, glycemic dysregulation, delayed food sensitivity, and infection with viruses, bacteria parasites and/or other pathogens. Additional testing may be necessary to rule out the possibility of these and other factors interfering with digestion and absorption and creating inflammation and stress on adrenal glands. These types of problems could impede absorption and assimilation of essential nutrients, and the maintenance of normal blood sugar. Chronic dysfunction of any of these processes is a sufficient cause of adrenal exhaustion. Physiological pathways, organs, or systems identified as being the major cause of some other disorder may concurrently serve as causative agents in adrenal exhaustion. In most cases, regardless of the priority given to another pathway, organ, or system as being dysfunctional--and virtually regardless of the condition identified--adrenal exhaustion resulting from excessive stress must be addressed and rectified in order to restore normal physiology or function.

Conditions Assessed
Conditions that may be assessed include adrenal exhaustion, often misdiagnosed as hypothyroid, but may include a hypothyroid condition as well; systemic hyper- or hypo-excitability, whether of suspected neural or hormonal origin, including suspected thyroid, pancreatic, and sex hormone disorders; states of immunodeficiency; and states of abnormal physiological response to any of a variety of stimuli including foods in the normal diet.

That is some serious reading if you got through it.

Going to focus less on weight training for now and more on track work/sprints.

Competitions coming up: This Friday and next Saturday. I will be competing in the 100 meters. It has been one year since I have competed. We'll se what happens as it should be fun.

That's it!

The Old School Dumbbells

Yoana and I have a friend named Enrique Hernandez, a former world champion Powerlifter, who owns a used fitness equipment store in Chula Vista, CA. The cool thing about his store is that in the back he has a "dungeon" gym; no mirros, no fancy equipment, just hardcore weights and iron. He has an old set of the round circus looking dumbbells from the turn of the last century. Just walking into his gym makes you feel stronger. He had a set of 150 pound dumbbells that I picked up one a time; damn those things were heavy. I imagine the feeling I get walking into Enrique's gym is similar to what I would get when I walk into Westside or all the other powerlifting underground dungeons in the rest of the world. You know that when there is GIANT bowl of chalk that there is some serious lifting going on.

Amen to the DUNGEON gyms that are out there. No fluff, just serious, hardcore training!

Saturday

I decided to take Yoana's saturday morning class and it was a cooker. It was right out of our book and DVD's the Revolution KB Fat Loss Program.

It was the Level II, Routine A:

Double Attack Jump + Double Clean + Double Military Press 5
Windmill 3/3
Single Bent Over Row 8/8
One Arm Swing Ladder 1,1 2,2 3,3 4,4 5,5

x 3 sets

Prone Bear Walk with KB's 6/6
Single Leg Deadlift 5/5
Farmer's Walk down the block
Star Jumps 5
Triceps (didn't do these - didn't want to)

x 3 sets

I used the double 24kg's on all lifts - very challenging. I forgot what a butt kicker these workout are from our program.

If you have not bought our book and DVD, what are you waiting for. These workout will absolutely get you into AMAZING shape and with summer right around the corner, why wait. You can get the book and DVD by clicking this link:

Revolution KB Fat Loss Program Book and DVD