Training & Update

 Been a tough road for the past month or so as my sciatica came back and with a vengeance. It started up again slowly while I was in Lake Tahoe visiting family. Was able to walk around and swim and all that but the moment we left, I was in various amounts of pain and when we got home, it hit me like an aluminum bat over and over on the right side of my body. The pain got so bad that often times, standing upright felt impossible and it took a toll on my physical and mental faculties. Bathing was excruciating and getting food to eat was unbearable to the point where I had little to no appetite. 

Mentally, it made me irritable, frustrated, angry and even depressed. I got no one to blame but myself for this and have been beating myself up over it. I'm not saying to make anyone feel sorry for me and not using it to throw a pity party, I'm saying this because this can happen to anybody; young or old even to world class athletes and we aren't 100% immune to it. It has been so painful that it nearly takes the cake over my broken leg injuries all those years ago. Am I showing my age? Maybe, but I'm certainly not dead and would never want anyone experiencing this, even those who've talked shit about me. I have a lot to make up for once I'm better and have made a vow to double my efforts to make up for lost time recovering.

Despite the pain and the emotional toll, I still train everyday no matter what, even if its for a couple minutes just stretching and/or do beginner level animal moves. Is it getting better? Slowly, yes and my flexibility, strength and agility is coming back in micro steps. I've done nothing but stretching, casually walking until I need to squat down and doing increments of the animal exercises from Vahva Fitness. Sometimes I do push through the pain but anybody can only tolerate so much. I know it has taken a toll on my wife and I'm just so grateful for her and what she has done to take care of me, she's strong and pushes me to get better everyday. She truly is my best friend and not just a companion but the ying to my yang, the crazy that matches my crazy and the far better half. I tell her everyday since this happened that the moment this thing is over, she'll be treated beyond the level of a goddess than I already do and going to make up for all things I was meant to do for her, even the little things. My mom has always seen us as the Bobbsey Twins and is quick to remind us of that often. We take care of each other and always have each other's back, I couldn't ask for such an amazingly awesome woman.

Although the workouts are brief, I know I'm getting stronger. I'm standing upright longer now, lasting better in my walking and have taken measures to stretch using my Isometric Belt to generate greater flexibility and even doing certain stretches Isometrically targeting my hips, hamstrings and glutes. I'm definitely feeling it but it's no where near as painful as it was in the beginning. I've only talked about this closely online with the Facebook Group Vim Vigor & Vitality that consists of those who practice Isometrics and other alternative forms of exercise and fitness. These guys are so supportive and have made awesome suggestions. One guy in particular, Batman O'Brien told me that because of what I was going through, he wrote up a series of exercises for me personally to keep up on and that he couldn't let this thing with me go on and insisted on helping me. It was such a powerful gesture and most of what he sent me I was already doing except a few things here and there. He even called me a legend in the Physical Culture world, the guy is twice the author and fitness advocate than I'll ever be and he calls some dude from Santa Cruz a legend. That was so profound and humbling to me that I told him that as much as I appreciate the gesture, I would never refer myself as that because to me, I don't feel worthy of that word. 

It may not be over yet, but soon, I'll be back doing what I love and making it more of a habit to keep up the maintenance so I can be at the type of strength and conditioning I know I can be in. This has been the worst I've felt in years but I can't give up nor can I allow this to go on. Pain may tell you you're not dead but pain can change your brain chemistry and turn you into something you don't want to be. It can be depression, full of negative emotions and it can make you mean at times and it's not right, it's not natural and sure as hell isn't someone I want to become. We're all human and we all have lived with some sort of pain in our lives but it's not natural to feel pain especially heavy sciatica pain 24/7 for the rest of your life. Take care of yourself and be amazingly awesome.    

Pain Is A Powerful Lesson

 Been one of the hardest months of my life physically as this Sciatica injury is just kicking my ass. All the stretching, the rehabbing and doing everything possible gets frustrating and full of doubt. This is quite possibly the worst injury that involves so much pain for so long since my accident with my legs. Talk about misalignment and the feeling down your leg feels like getting a mobster taking shots with a baseball bat. 

For small periods there is little pain but other times, might as well be debilitating. The reality is, I know it'll end sooner or later and what I'm doing is helping, it's just hard as hell to be patient and let it heal. I also can't give up on myself either and stop training because without training, I'm not me and that vow I made to myself a long time ago that the day I can't do anything training wise is either when I'm dead or in a coma. The pain is excruciating but I can't just stop. When it becomes so painful that putting on clothes or even standing to do dishes becomes a difficult task, there's something not right there.

I don't believe I tore anything or ruptured anything otherwise I wouldn't be able to walk at all but yeah, I have a fucked up joint in my hip that shoots down my leg. No I'm not looking for sympathy or want anyone to feel sorry for me, I did it to myself and I can't blame anyone. Facing it head on is hard enough and beating myself up comes with the territory with me. I don't wish this amount of pain on anyone, not even the ones I have issues with. Pain is a powerful lesson but it also gives you an opportunity to find out what you can do despite the pain. When you feel so limited, it feels like defeat even though it really isn't. Fighting to get back is a road that takes many turns and the paths can go anywhere. There are signs that point you in a direction but what you choose becomes a defining factor of when the destination hits a standstill. There is doubt, frustration, anger, thoughts of giving up, wishing you had morphine on hand and doing anything possible to not feel pain but you keep fighting anyway because the moment you give in to any of those things, you failed and I can't fail no matter how many times they're thrown at me. 

I don't deserve special treatment or deserve to be helped. A part of me wants to suffer and deserves to suffer because I let it happen. Another part of me understands that I can't control 100% of the time what happens to me because injuries can occur at any moment and no matter how good we are at training or how much knowledge we have about avoiding injuries, it creeps up on you and the moment it does, you're tested to see what is possible while you recover. You're hurting and beat up but like Rocky, you keep going, you keep fighting until you can't anymore. Even though it's painful, I'm still in the fight and as Captain America would say "I can do this all day" and do whatever it is you have to to get back to being your true self again. 

Even Batman gets hurt and with all those bruises, shiners, busted ribs at times and taking on tasks that most humans couldn't even do at 1% of their best, its important to realize we're all still human and we can't heal like a a Wolverine or Deadpool even though we wish we could. Pain is a bitch of a teacher, but every teacher gives us an opportunity to learn and grow. The struggle is real but the journey is part of that struggle and you keep moving forward inch by inch if you have to. 

Healing Up Well

 Training to get back to your full strength is never easy and can be frustrating because you're at limited capacity. Some of the simplest tasks can be difficult but you push through because you don't to just lay around and not do a damn thing. With the way my hip has gone, it's healing up pretty damn well. Been seeing a chiropractor and going for a few more adjustments and had a massage yesterday which really loosened everything up.

Little by little I'm doing what is helping with recovery like the Isometrics, Stretching, Step Ups, some Crawling and other things. Yesterday, I did some sledge striking for the first time in a while with my 31 lb Giants Hammer, getting in 120 reps. Could easily do more but didn't want to push it any further than I had to. I felt it for sure but I wasn't in pain (merely discomfort). I expect things out of myself and not to prove how tough I 'am or trying to hide the pain but to progress little by little while being aware of what I can and can't do. Sometimes we push ourselves beyond what we know is right to do and rarely it comes out good, most of the time it ends up biting us in the ass.

It's not just knowing your limits either, it's about understanding them and finding ways to adjust so you can maintain or get better as time goes on. It's easy to act all macho and that pain is temporary and keeping that "pain is telling you you're not dead" mentality but unless it's under severe circumstances, for normal everyday life, there are ways to make the pain worse and add time onto it and not get rid of it completely. Learn the difference between pushing through pain as if your life depended on it and recovering so you can be efficient. 

My hip is getting better to the point where my flexibility is coming back and it's not shooting down my leg so much along with not being able to sit right. When you know things are working, it gets better as time goes on. When it's not working, you need to reassess so you can find the right "formula" for you to recover. Experiment and be aware of what feels right and what doesn't. We all recover differently and it's not a good idea to push the same direction of a method because some things don't work for certain people and injuries and pain tolerance is different. Work with your own style to get back to your strongest again without pain and suffering.

Train to be efficient, don't train to suffer more pain than what you're already dealing with because that could lead to problems not just in the physical but the mental as well. I know what it's like to be in pain but also take the frustration with that pain onto others which is never a good idea cause you might say things in the heat of a moment that can never be taken back. Pain can do a number on us and no matter how much we deny it, it can put us on a path that hurts others along with ourselves in the end. So train to get yourself out of pain so it doesn't cost you more time later. 

Keep being amazingly awesome and have a kick ass day.   

Healing The Joints For Super Human Health

Was there ever a time in your life when you didn’t have nagging joint pain? Most likely when you were born and as you got older and less active or pushed yourself too much you developed it. I know a thing or 2 about joint pain. Imagine being 19 or 20 years old and waking up some days being so stiff and in pain that every inch you made, some joints will crack in odd places. That was me before I had my major leg injury.

 Joint pain is not good on the body and you’re certainly not healthy from a physical stand point. I’m sure you’ve tried pain killers, morphine, aspirin and inflammatory medication at one point. All those are made to only ease the pain, not cure it and certainly will get you addicted if you keep taking them, now you have all these chemicals in your body that are really not that good for you. There are people that have no choice but to be on meds since the pain is too severe and need it. The majority of you however should work on more exercise and watch what you eat.

 One of the key secrets of building great strength both physically and mentally is to have powerful tendons and ligaments. The reason why that is, is because when your joints are powerful, your muscles will be even stronger. The tendons are what help hold the skeletal structure together. Too many people rely more on muscle building then tendon training and look what happens to them, nagging joint pain, injuries, broken bones and tears that shouldn’t even happen in the first place. Now I realize injuries happen and are common in sports and the work place but if you practiced building your joints, you will be less prone to those common injuries.

 One method of training called Internal Power which means that you build strength from the inside and build strength in the internal organs, bones, ligaments and joints.  Learning to harness the power of your chi (life force) can in fact help you build power in the places you need. In China there are some systems like qi gong, tai chi and various postures you hold that target certain areas of the body that can heal the joints that give you pain. Some stretching programs for example the one you see here, gives you the chance to unlock the unreachable in your flexible and have you become reachable.

 Once you learn to unlock the door to pain-free joints, your body will have a blissful feeling of power, strength and major flexibility that you can use however you want whether it be sports, military and the workplace or just for everyday life. Having a pain-free body means you can play with your kids, take care of your groceries, reach in a high place to get something, run faster, jump higher and have more stamina. All these things can be done if you have good strong joints and if you’re into weights, look out for how much strength you can develop if you kept your joints healthy.