Still Rehabing..........

My low back is healing nicely. I can still feel the "wound" and still have plenty of awkward and vulnerable positions I encounter throughout the day. Strength wise my legs are coming back, although my legs feel as skinny as a Kenyan marathoner. It's been six weeks since my back injury and that is just enough time for the legs to get a little scrawny. Asthetic goals and functional goals do not always see eye to eye, but I'm convinced that in a couple more months my legs will come back up. That last two weeks I did throw in one session of static lunges with bodyweight and than this week with an 8kg. Man did that make me sore!!!


Here is a progression form the previous rehab exercises. They did their job and I am a believer in in these types of exercises when injured. My lumbar spine is more stable and feeling stronger although if I'm on my feet all day working with clients my back is sore by the mid-afternoon.

Low Back Disorders......in my case..the disc

Intelligent Quote of the Month:
"To me, the sign of a really excellent routine is one which places great demands on the athlete, yet produces progressive long-term improvement without soreness, injury or the athlete ever feeling thoroughly depleted. Any fool can create a program that is so demanding that it would virtually kill the toughest marine or hardiest of elite athletes, but not any fool can create a tough program that produces progress without unnecessary pain."
Dr. Mel C. Siff

This quote is great. My twin brother Keats recently put it in his excellent newsletter. If you have not signed up for his newsletter, you can do so at www.keatssnideman.com
I agree with the late Mel Siff. How easy it is to design a program that can easily SMOKE somebody. But how difficult is to design a program that get someone super strong yet with no injuries. Something to think about, espeically me with my back issues.

Disc Injuries -

The majority of disc injuries are caused by repeated flexion with rotation. I'm not sure this was my reason for injury, although with heavy deadlifts (which is what injured my spine this time)I know I lose lumbar lordosis. However the majority of disc disorders are caused by poor habits and lazy postures. I wouldn't consider my posture to be lazy, although I have established some poor work habits while working with my clients. Flexing my lumbar spine while doing bodywork, picking up dumbbells and weight plates with a flexed spine. Done once or twice is not a big deal, but done repeatedly day after day for years will destroy the integrity of the disc. I'm convinced that 95% or more of back injuries are result of bad lifting and postural habits. These injuries can be prevented with correct postural exercises and changing habitual movement patterns.

Spinal Instability -
Tissue is damaged from joint laxity, and joint laxity leads to instability. With decreased disc height comes ligament laxity which causes this instability. So when people injure their backs they often feel that there back is too tight, which is often a total fallacy. These same people will try to "stretch" out their pain and this often makes their condition worse. I have experienced this in my own body. The more I stretch my lumbar spine, the more I hurt. If I do too much Joint mobility, Z-heatlh, etc..., I hurt. Most people need more stiffness in thier lumbar spine, not less, especially if they are lifting weight and playing sports. The older I get the more I benefit from stability exercises in the lumbar area where the focus is maintaining a neutral spine.

Much more to come on this topic.......

Congratulations to Mark Reifkind, New Sr. RKC!!

My firend and colleague Mark Reifkind was just announced new Senior RKC of the amazing Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certification program. This school of strength has and continues to produce some of the best Strength Coaches in the world, and Mark is certainly one of them. Yoana and I want to congratulate Mark for his incredible achievement. Dragon Door and the RKC system are lucky to have a coach like Mark on board, check out his bio at the following web site.

Mark's Bio

You rock Mark!!!!

Back on the Blog!

Finally life is starting to come back to normal as I am able to walk and do daily activities again. Almost am pain free :) It has been 4 weeks since I hurt my back and the time I have spent recovering has taught me alot about life and the importance of being good to your body. Accidents are one thing, but when an injury comes from over doing it and shere neglegence, it makes you questions things are little more strongly. Let's just say this injury has been a life changing injury on many levels, primarily spiritually, mentally and then physically. With the help of Derek Samuel, a mentor of mine and the best Physical Therapist I have ever met, I am back in training. Although this training is my rehab.

The primary objective of the therapy: to re-educate my abdominal and back muscles to maitain neutral spine during movement.

Exercise One: Standing Double Cable Pulldows (with arms straight)

Exercise Two: Seated SB Hip Flexion (maintaining Neutral spine)

Exercise Three: Seated SB Shoulder Flexion (maintaining neutral spine)

Exercise Four: Seated SB Hip abduction with theraband (maintaining neutral spine) *

* This exercise seems to be helping quite a bit. Being able to turn on my glutes (glute medius, TFL, and maximus) while keeping my lumbar spine from moving is a skill I need to keep me healthy. You would be surprised how such easy looking exercises become very challenging when you are injured. These exercises have made an immediate difference in gettiing me re-connected with my abdominals and spine again. For a while there I felt so disconnected and unstable in my low back. My body is able to tolerate daily movemetns and some flexion. The name of the game: take it slow, and use this as an opportunity to improve my weaknesses and build some health promoting habits. Thank yo God for giving me another chance with my back and with my life!!!

Healing....and feeling better!!!

Well, I'm finally off the narcotics and have swtiched to 2400mg of Ibuprofin (that stuff works - big time.) The cortisone shot the Doc gave me kicked in and I am feeling so much better. Now it's time to let the healting begin and to take a more "conservative" approach to training. As much I love lifting heavy loads on the deadlifts, playing around with the bulldog and Beast, it's time for me to put things in persepctive! I cannot affort to takes weeks off for healing. The reaility of the situation is that I am not a professional athlete and I have nothing to prove. Trying to stroke my ego by being a big shot is a potentially lethal mistake. Here are some of the things I have learned about myself and life during the past two weeks:

1) Find the Sweet spot in training. In other words find the optimal loading Zone of tissues. Tissue breakdown occurs as a result of either insufficient or excessive load. In my case it is from excessive load. Seeing 8 to 10 clients a day, doing bodywork on alot of them, stretching them, running sprints with them at the track. I was doing way TOO MUCH. That is my probelm, I do too much and my body eventually gives up. As much fun as pusing your body is, there is always a pay off. You must and will always "pay the piper" for everything you do. Do too litlle in training, and you waste your time. Do too much and you risk injury and total burnout.

2) Listen to your body. The older you get and more training experience you have, the stress of repetitive movements accumulates and they do take their toll. Become a master at listening to subtle signals your body gives you. If something feels off and your body is telling you not to push it, don't push it. This is where Ihave failed. My bonehead attitude of pushing through pain has only left me injured, frustrated and on my back with an ice pack. I think I finally learned that this type of attitude has done nothing for my long term orthopedic health and mental state.

3) Think Long Term. How do you want your joints and spine to be in 10 years? 20 years? 40 years? Ken Black has turned me on to the concept of finding ways to make lighter weights feels heavy through unconventional means such as grip changes, angle modification and most importantly, creativity. After seeing my MRI I now know have a much deeper appreciation for taking care of my spine. My disc at the L-4 level is pancaked and highly degenerative. In fact I am a great spinal fusion surgery canditate in the future. I do not want to get spinal surgery, therefore I must think long term.

4) Be Humble and appreciate good health! It is amazing how much I appreciate normal body function and health once it is taken away. When you can barely walk and have unbearable pain, your outlook on life changes quickly. All that matters is your health at the moment. Enjoy life and thank your CREATOR every day for the grace and blessings He showers upon you. Life is gift, and having the free will to choose and make good decisions that lead you to a better life is amazing. My injury was my fault and I must take accountability and responsibility for my injury and spine.

Slowly I will start introduce some Phase One exercises (little to no loads at all) and get my training back on track. That's it for now. It is so nice to have less pain and to be able to walk again.

Healing...

My low back has been jacked up for over a week. The herniation I had in 2001 at L-4 is back again rearing its' ugly head. I will see a spine MD tomorrow to talk about it. Will keep everyone posted!

Be well and don't be a bonehead like I was. Listen to your body and learn when to back off (something I must learn how to do)!!!!

Track Day

Speed Day

WARM UP = 25 minutes
Hip Mobility
Track Drills

3 x 30 meters

3 x 40 meters

2 x 150 meters

Left SI Joint hurts. Slept too long Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning with a stiff low back. If I lie in bed more than 8 hours I get back pain. If I sleep 8 hours or less, low back always feels great.

40 random thoughts...

by Eric Cressey. This is Good.

40 Random Thoughts

Saturday Training

Elbow is getting better. The light resistance is helping my elbow. Blood flow is a good thing.

Military Press (right arm only)

26kg 20 reps / 10 reps

Clean and Press (left arm only)

32kg 1 rep x 4 sets

Snatches (right arm)

16kg 20 reps x 3 sets = 60 reps
24kg (left arm) 20 reps x 3 sets = 60 reps

I can tell that my left arm is getting stronger. 32kg feels lighter than it has in a while. Sometimes we can turn injuries into blessings!!!!! :)

Ken Black is a Genious!

You would think as a Strength Coach I would apply what I know to be true and what I teach my clients. Guess again. After talking to Ken Black yesterday he asked my "Why aren't you at leat performing some light KB moves for your injured right elbow".....................Good point Ken! I tried some light presses and rows and instantly my elbow started feeling better. And today it feels the best it has felt in weeks. Thanks Ken! The recent interview of the Stretch Band guy on T-nation talks about the importance of getting blood flow to the injured area ASAP. It's practical and it makes sense

Deadlifts

135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1 x 5

Clean and Press

24kg 5 x 5 sets (left arm only)
8kg 10 x 3 sets (right arm)
12kg 10 x 1 (right arm)

Single Arm Bent Over Rows

32kg 6 x 5 sets (left arm only)
16kg 10 x 5 sets (right arm only)

Deadlifts felt pretty good and no pain in the elbow. Have not performed deadlifts in quite some time. Felt good to pull a little iron off the floor. Low back feels fine today.

Tuesday and Wednesday workouts

Wednesday

Track day = tempo running

Warm Up
Track drills
Hip Mobility

8 x 150 = these felt rather slow - but that's okay. I think I've been running these too fast lately and that is not the idea. The CNS must be left in-tact, and if I sprint them too fast, my CNS reserves become depleted. Need to remember to RELAX and not push the tempo runs!

Tuesday night = Kettlebell Presses and Snatches

I am only using my left arm. Right elbow needs more rest. That whole elbow tendinitis garbage:(

Clean and Press

24kg 3 reps x 3 sets
28kg 1 reps x 3 sets
32 kg 1 reps x 3 sets

Snatches

24kg 10 reps x 6 sets = 60 reps

I am feeling like I've lost some muslce in my upper body. Perhaps I could be the next poster child for the Somalian marathon team :)

Friday Speed

Knee is feeling much better. Time to put on the spikes and run some fast ones.

WARM UP
DRILLS
DYNAMIC Hip mobility

3 x 30 meters

1 x 60 meters

2 x 150 meters

Wow, that felt good. My hammies and glutes are going to be SORE! The speed is starting to come but I realize that taking almost 6 years off was a mistake. Lost alot! I am confident that I will get it back, however, it will take a much more disciplined approach and effort. The quality that is the most easily lost is Power and speed, that ability to produce force quickly. I just don't have the POP I had 6 years ago. At times I can sense that it's coming back and other times it feels like it's gone. This is my objective, to get it back and keep it.

Thursday Training

This week has pretty much been a back off week - nothing to intense. My right elbow is giving me fits as well so that's an issue I need to work through.

Clean and Press (left arm only)

24kg 2 reps x 3 sets
28kg 1 rep x 3 sets
32kg 1 rep x 3 sets

Snatches (left arm only)

32kg x 10 reps x 2 sets

Snatches felt great. Focused on power and speed. No GS style on these ones.

Fun time Pressing

Revolution's new kid on the block John Vandenbrink RKC and myself had a great experimential session of odd types of overhead lifts. I must say that I am impressed with John and how fast he has progressed in some of the more difficult KB lifts. At 6 feett 9 inches tall, his body presents a challenge in many movements for obvious reasons. Never the less, he is becoming much more "Connected" in his body. Check out some of the picks. It was great seeing him experiment and you could see how much joy he had trying new things. It was tons of fun as we were two kids in the candy store tyring to find new ways of pressing objects.

Monday night Training

Elbows have been hurting so no heavy KB's right now. I feel very flat and like I need to tweak my training a bit. Doing presses, snatches, and pull ups is getting very boring and I can feel my body regressing. HMMMMM. Perhaps all I need is more restful sleep?


Walking Lunges
2 x 20kg KB's 5 x 5

Rope Waves 20 waves x 5 sets

Halo's 6/direction x 3 sets

Swings
32kg 5/10/15/20

that was it. That was not too hard.

Saturday Tempo Running

I was planning on doing a speed workout on the track today but during the warm up my right knee had a sharp pain in it. Weird? Maybe from sitting in the car too much during the week or sitting at the computer. Tempo running is a great substitute!

Warm Up = 25 minutes
10 x 100 yards (bodyweight GPP in the end zones)

Felt great. Knee had ZERO problems. For those of you wanting to lean up. get busy doing some tempo running!

Article on T-nation by Keats Snideman

Here is an article that my brother Keats Snideman and Charles Staley co-authored on pulling.

T-nation article

Tempo Day / Snath Day

Wednesday

I decided to add a couple of reps of bench press to excite the nervous system and see if it improved my snatches. Yes, it worked.

Flat Bench Press

135 x 5
185 x 1
205 x 1
210 x 1

Snatches

24kg 5/5 10/10 15/15 10/10 10/10

100 reps = felt great


Tuesday /TEMPO RUNNING

Warm up
Track Drills/ Hip Mobilty
10 x 100 yards

Back from Vacation - back into the saddle!

My wife and I were privelaged to go on a cruise with her entire family through the Caribbean. The cruise was awesome., the service was outstanding and spending time with her family is always fun. With that being said, it feels great to back home, back to our Fitness Studio, and back in the groove. And, we didn't gain any weight because we worked out every day on the cruise. (the average weight gain per person for a 7 day cruise is around 7 pounds - yikes!!!)

Haven't touched a KB in over a week. It feels good to pick one up again, I'm sure many of you can relate to this.

I decided to try the ETK format.

A-1 Clean and Press
24kg x 1/2/3 x 3 sets

A-2 Weighted Pull Ups
24kg x 1/2/3 x 3 sets

B-1 Front Squats
2 x 24kg KB's 5 x 5

C-1 Rope Waves
3 x 30 seconds waves (explosive)

D-1 AB Sit Ups

10lb MB x 15 reps x 2 sets

Snatches

This week had been unbelievably busy. Saw 10 clients today and will see 9 tomorrow. Why? I am leaving on a cruise this weekend so am trying to get everyone in before we leave. Have not trained since last week with weights due to my intense schedule and my SORE body from sprinting. The last sprint session I did worked me BIG TIME! What it really means is that I am finally starting to sprint fast. Every time I run faster in practive it SMOKES my nervous system and it takes me longer to recover. But today I felt unusually strong with the snatch. So I powered in a quick workout before my KB classe at 6pm.

SNATCHES

40kg 3/3 5/5 5/5 felt Great = 26 reps
24kg 30/30 = 60 reps

That was enough!!!! I for sure feel better with less frequent workouts, just works for me better. So there goes my 4 days of weight training per week :) 3 days is plenty.