Sasha, our dog, was sitting in the kitchen because of course it was food time!
I was eating a sausage patty, and her eyes were glued to the patty in my hands.
When Wife tossed a bit of sausage at Sasha, it bounced off her head (Sasha’s very good about catching food in mid-air)… because her eyes were glued to my sausage patty.
This is what we call “target fixation”, and how it can cause you to miss important things in life. 🙂
Back in the saddle… sorta.
The Ankle Injury Sessions
First session back in the gym after my ankle injury. I did wear my brace boot, and also a running shoe because the boot has such a high sole and the running show gives a lot more evenness, tho it’s still shorter than the boot. Besides, why do I need a flat-shoed shoe? not like I’m doing any lower body work for a while.
Given that, I figured the best course of action for right now was to just go in and see what I could and couldn’t do. I’m healing decently since the initial injury a week ago, but things still aren’t stable. So I knew things like t-bar rows weren’t going to happen due to the pressure that’d put on my ankle. But seated cable rows weren’t so bad because the boot stablized most of it and there just isn’t the added pressure of the bar and my bodyweight.
I decided that I’d bench and just work up to a “heavy” triple. 215 is far from heavy, but I can’t tuck my feet nor generate much leg drive. I just opted to put X on the bar then go up in 20# increments. And I thought I could then try 225 but opted against it because 215 was a hair hard to get off my chest with no leg drive. No sense in pushing it.
Otherwise, the rest of the session went about normal, which was cool. I am liking the flared arm DB extensions.
You know I’ve been considering the Cube Method for a while. While now is not the time for Cube, I thought I could play with concepts some.
So my general approach — for now — is going to be: Monday bench dynamic, Friday bench heavy, Wednesday do some “light bodybuilding” stuff. All upper body, and doing what I have to do to keep pressure off the foot/ankle. Just going to wing it. I mean, I finally got the MRI scheduled, then that plus the post-MRI consult with the doc… maybe just a week left? So hey, winging it for a week is fine. Once I know more about what’s going on, I can make a better decision about exactly how I want to proceed with the lifting.
In other news… CarbNite.
I’m still frustrated, but I may see a glimmer of hope.
I still do not need any progress on the scale. That’s frustrating. Because while maybe I am losing fat and perhaps gaining muscle, the reality is if I am aiming to drop 40# of fat, there’s no way I’m going to put on 40# of muscle in exchange — just won’t happen. So I NEED to see some sort of actual drop in scale weight. So that I’m not is really getting to me.
But I’ve been taking weekly pictures and when I took one a couple days ago… well…. comparing to my start pictures, I swear there’s a difference. Looking at my torso, it looks like there’s not as much “roundness” on the sides. Wife looked and she sees it to.
So… that gives me some hope to carry on here. It’s only been a month, and I did expect more dramatic results by now, but well, even if it’s slow so long as it’s coming. I guess I’ll see where things are in another month.
Talking with Wife about the concept of “follow through” (in this case, as it pertained to shooting a handgun).
She said, “Yeah… follow through… it’s what you do for all those years after you say ‘I do.'”.
Heh. 🙂
Well, still no training.
I actually wanted to go to the gym today, but when I woke up it wasn’t happening. My ankle is getting better every day, but something just said “leave it” and give it a few more days to rest. Fair enough. I’m at a point where I’m nervous about what’s wrong, and really don’t want to risk making the problem worse. I really don’t want to have problems walking for the rest of my life, y’know? Hopefully it’s not that bad, but better safe than sorry.
That said, my plan was to wing it.
I am going to formally abandon 5/3/1 for now, tho I’m sure I’ll have principles still with me. I was going to just go in, bench press and work up to a “heavy” triple. No idea what that would be, because I don’t know how much lower body involvement I can have. Certainly can’t tuck my feet back and push into an arch. After that, probably do some close-grip benches, and see what back work I could do. I’m sure I can do pulldowns, but rows would depend. I thought maybe I could sit on a bench and do some seated shrugs with dumbbells. That’d be about it.
Point is, there wouldn’t be much structure to the session. It’d be more about figuring out what I can and cannot do.
I also thought if all I can really do is bench (as a main movement), I might start to try some Cube-inspired approach. I thought maybe Monday work up heavy, on Friday work on speed. Wednesday could be some sort of lighter rep day doing other things, like seated overhead presses or some such. I don’t know. It might be too much for me given the diet restriction. But at this point, it’s just temporary while I wait to see how the MRI goes. No long-term plans being made, just gotta get through until there’s more information.
Speaking of diet, I am frustrated. I just don’t feel like I’m shedding. I’m hovering at weight. Body doesn’t look much different. Clothing doesn’t feel much different. I’m annoyed and not sure what I’m failing at. But that all said, I’m staying the course with CarbNite. However, depending what the MRI shows, I may go off it. I mean, if I need surgery, I will need to focus on recovery there, and there’s no sense in depriving myself when my body will need it. But again, no plans, just thinking out loud.
We’ll see how things go.
…if people were attuned to the causes of the overwhelming majority of gun deaths (guns and gangs, not mass shootings, with handguns, not rifles), the focus on gun control efforts would be very different. But ignorance redirects the focus to regulating law-abiding citizens with weapons seldom used in gun deaths.
– Josh Blackman, as a comment upon Ilya Somin’s article on Gun Control, Mass Shootings, and Political Ignorance.
(h/t Karl Rehn)
But I guess on this topic, ignorance is an acceptable excuse and solid foundation upon which to build policy and law.
Go figure.
So my ankle problem?
Doctor puts me in one of those brace boot things.
I see on the form: $375. But they are quick to say “no, that’s not the price you pay… that’s just the price we put on there for the insurance. You just pay $58.”.
And right there folks, is the crux of the problem with our “health care system”.
A horrible event in Houston. A woman is jogging, is followed into the bathroom by two scumbags, and they rob and sexually assault her.
And as usual when things like this happen, “advice” is offered up on how to stay safe:
They are urging people who use Terry Hershey Park to make sure they walk, jog or bike with a friend and always carry a cell phone programmed with emergency numbers.
I’m not sure who “they” are (the police, the neighborhood association, or the coffee shop employees… the article’s use of pronouns wasn’t the best), but regardless, what use is that advice?
Watch the first 30 seconds of this video:
(h/t Chuck Rives)
The key I want you to focus on is how fast an attack unfolds.
In fact, watch the rest of the video and see how one thing the attackee (defender) has is a gun, but he’s never able to deploy it. Attacks happen so fast.
Do you really think having a cell phone programmed with emergency numbers is going to help you? If the national average police response time is 11 minutes, how is that going to do you any good when you’re being sexually assaulted right now?
Please, someone explain this to me, me because apparently I fail to grasp this concept.
What if instead the woman had pepper spray? In fact, while jogging she should have the can of spray in her hand ready to go. This would actually be a better first step than even having a gun, because you can’t go jogging with a gun in your hand to gain that advantage; but pepper spray you certainly can and I dare anyone to deny a woman to carry pepper spray in a readily-deployable manner. I’m not saying it would have stopped the attack, but it’s likely to have given her a better chance.
Also, what was awareness like? Many people jog with headphones on. Was there awareness of being followed? Did she make herself more vulnerable by being unaware of her surroundings? I don’t know, and I’m not trying to scold nor minimize what this woman went through, but I am hoping we can use it as a learning experience so others do not have to undergo what she did.
Where’s advice on fighting back? Where’s advice on how to prevail? Where’s advice on how to avoid being a victim in the first place? Bullshit suggestions like “jog in pairs” and “carry a mobile phone” are certainly useful things, but when you consider the actual reality of what goes on, they really don’t do much to help you avoid problems in the first place, nor deal with the problems if they happen. If we really want to reduce violent victimization, let’s start giving — and then heeding — actual useful advice, eh?
Managed to see Dr. Arush K. Angriasa with the SW Orthopaedic Group. I figured a podiatrist would be the right person to see. I don’t know him from Adam, but searching around seemed to have a lot of positive review and comment and seems to be well-regarded. So why not.
Exactly what my problem is, hard to say at this time. But based upon the examination it’s one (or more) of three things:
1. some ligaments on the outside of my ankle are highly inflamed and could even be calcify.
2. there are some tendons that run down the back of the calf under the ankle, which could be in play.
3. I may have lost some cartilage between the end of my fibula and top of my foot. Can happen with martial arts, due to all the impact of kicking.
Please don’t quiz me on this… I could be getting some details wrong, but basically it’s some soft tissue problems. Massive swelling. And yes, it’s probably my old injury coming back to haunt me.
For now, I have to wear one of those “boots” to restrict my movement. I’ll be getting an MRI done to see what it looks like, and based upon that, we’ll see where to go.
I asked about lifting. I can’t do anything lower body. Not even stupid leg extensions and curls. Nothing. Ugh. I even know some upper body work shouldn’t happen, like pressing (since that’s done standing). But I might modify it to use dumbbells and sit down, or try the smith machine or something. Ugh. I really don’t know yet what I’ll do and how I’ll modify things, but it’s safe to say I’m somewhat on the shelf for a bit. I will figure something out so I can at least do SOMETHING.
Really, now would be the time I’d do something like Smolov Jr and see about kicking my bench press into high gear. But with the diet focus, that won’t happen. It is enough to make me want to come off the diet. 😉
There is no training log. Not today.
About 8.5 years ago I had a nasty injury to my left ankle. It was back when I was doing Kuk Sool martial arts. It was a night of “endless” kicking. In particular, you do a jump 360º spin kick, then when you land you drop all the way down to the ground and do the same down low. Well, after so many kicks I was exhausted and when I came down landed wrong on my left foot and crumpled to the ground. X-rays were taken and while no bones were broken, certainly there was ligament damage. I should have sought a better treatment option than what was offered to me, but whatever… water under the bridge.
My ankle has never been the same and never been fully “normal” since then. Most of the time it’s a non-issue. But every so often something happens to make it flare up (last I can remember was when I chased some coyotes from my front yard… hiking boots, pavement, too much stiff impact). And sometimes weird things just happen, like I cannot extend my foot all the way without pain, like a ligament is hung up on something; eventually goes away. I don’t think much of it any more, I just deal with the pain and issues when they crop up and they eventually go away.
For maybe the last month or so, the left foot has had pain. You can see the ankle is puffy and more swollen than the right foot/ankle. There’s also been a constant ache in my heel area. I figured to let it go, this stuff happens: ice, Advil, rest, and it’s usually gone. But this wasn’t going away so I was thinking about a doctor.
Then this past Saturday night, I’m lying in bed reading a book, rotated my left foot to do some “ankle circles” and a sharp pain shot through me. It went away, but a few minutes later when I stuck my toes under the sheets so I could scoot my foot under the covers, the pain shot through me again and didn’t go away. Despite a long night of rest and 4 Advil, the pain persisted in the morning. I cannot walk without pain, and have taken to walking with a cane. It’s that bad, it’s that debilitating.
So no deadlifting today. 🙂
I found a podiatrist that seems to be well-regarded. I reckon this type of thing is right up his alley, so we’ll see what comes of it. As of this writing no appointment has been made, but will be done. This is too painful, it cannot wait. Something is wrong.
The crazy part is that all I’m thinking about is how I’m going to handle lifting! Obviously I cannot squat nor deadlift. *sigh* Are my lower body days going to be just stuff like leg extensions, leg curls, and hyperextensions? Ugh. I doubt I can overhead press. Even bench pressing could be difficult. I don’t know what I’ll do… it’ll depend in part on what the problem winds up being.
But I always said to myself that if I got injured, it would be a time to try alternative programs that allowed me to specialize. For example, doing Smolov Jr for bench press.
Of course, the problem with that is the whole CarbNite fat loss issue. There’s no way to do such a specialization program without eating big and resting big. And depending what’s wrong with me, my body may well be happier to not be killed by lifting so instead it can focus on healing the ankle.
I must wonder if CarbNite is part of my problem. I’m depriving my body of a lot of things, and I can feel the effects. My joints are under a LOT more inflammation and pain throughout my body. Carbs can be anti-inflamatory. I even wondered with my heel pain if there’s some sort of gout-like issue going on due to the dietary change and consumption. I just don’t know. There’s no question I need to drop the weight, but who knows… it may have to go to a more Carb Backloading approach with VERY modest carb consumption, and stretching out the fat loss over the course of many more months.
I just don’t know. Right now I have more questions than answers. Not letting it bother me too much tho… gotta see what the doctor says first.
When Metal-Rules.com posted their Top 30 Metal Albums 1990-2000, I thought it’d make a fun list for Sunday Metal.
#29 – Paradise Lost – Gothic
“Gothic”
Stuff From Hsoi 