May 24th: Sports Conditioning (A personal best)

This class was by far my strongest class ever. We did a good combination of exercises, lots sprint, longer and mid range runs with stairs. There was also a good deal of things like pushups, 7 point pushups, dips, lunges, squats. I knew that something had changed when I was able to do the crawling and mt. climbers without struggling. Also, I was able to stay near the front of the group during our longer runs. This class felt really good. I can tell that I am improving a lot, and it feels like I am on the verge of a breakthrough.

May 23rd: Treadmill time

All I wanted to do on his day was run on the treadmill. I looked forward to it all day. I couldn't wait to turn on my I-pod and just and shutout the world for 30 mins. It's always a good run when I can just pick one thing in the room in front of me and just lock on to it. It can be anything from a spot on the wall to a locker key dangling from an exercise bike. It doesn't matter. Once, I am locked into it, my mind just shuts down, and I feel like my existence has been reduced to nothing more than an intense gaze. I'm at the edge of drifting off into nothingness and the only thing keeping me connected to myself is the intensity of my stare. When I get like this, it feels like the human body was designed for running, and I am fulfilling my purpose.

I got to this place today for a short time, not for the whole run but part of it, and that's really all that is need for it to be a really good day.

Treadmill: 5 mins 3.6, 10 mins 6.2, 5 mins 3.6, 5 mins 6.2, 5 mins 6.5

May 21st: Friday Muscle Class -- Urgh!!!

This class is my least favorite class at the Y, and I go to it on rare occasions. The class is a combination of aerobics and weight training but neither component is really challenging. The weights we use are light: body bars and dumbbells, and the aerobic portion of the workout is at a level appropriate for chain smokers and asthmatics. Also, my personal preference naturally lean towards class that have us running around and moving about more, therefore standing in lines in a small rooming doing what really amounts to nothing more than a warm up is not how I normally spend my workout time. I am out to punish myself for years of inactivity, not give myself a workout that is the equivalent of afternoon tea. In addition to all of this, the thing that really makes me nuts about this class is that it never changes. The songs are the same, the warm up is the same, the exercises never change, and the instructor seems to not notice that most of the people in the class know her routine better than she does. I hadn't taken this class in five months, but could have told you the exercises we were going to do, in order, before the class even started.

So, why did I go? Well two reasons: one, I know that the muscle classes are good for focusing attention on muscle groups and working them in a more controlled manner, which I need because I have been doing only intensive conditioning classes, and I am starting to see a lot of fatigue injuries. Two, there was suppose to be a different instructor on that morning, and when she teaches the class it is truly a strengthening class. She eliminates the aerobics aspects and focuses on giving you an intensive muscle strengthening workout. However, something happened and the original instructor showed up instead of the sub and I ended up doing a light warm up. The only good thing about this class was that I had put in a pretty heavy workout week, and I needed a light day. Honestly, the just sucked. The instructor for some reason even noticed that I was wearing my Washington Capitals shirt and thought that I might want to chat about how they got bounced out of the playoffs in the first round. Really? Who wants to talk about how their team got embarrassed at 5:30am with a room full strangers will your doing a geriatric home workout routine? Not me!! Anyway, I made the best of it, and next time I go to the muscle class I'll wait for the instructor to enter the room before I go in. Lesson learned.

Thursday Plycore: May 20th, Queue the Rocky music!!

Yes here comes the obligatory Rocky Post on my workout blog . . . but if you don't like it . . . I . . .uh . . . don't care . . . so, here it goes . . .


Trying hard now
It's so hard now
Trying hard now

Getting strong now
Won't be long now
Getting strong now

Gonna fly now
Flying high now
Gonna fly, fly, fly...

Ok . . . Ok . . . It's better with the music, but you know it . . . This workout left me with a real sense of accomplishment because I can just tell how far I have come is just a few short months. We ran two long laps outside, did 200 crunches, 50 push ups, 50 dips, 100 arm extensions, 25 chin ups (assisted for me), 10 box jumps, then we ran 20 flights of stairs up and down. All of this was followed by a nice ab session just for shits and giggles. The reason for making my obligatory Rocky Post now isn't because I finished at the front of the group (because I didn't) or because I crushed this workout (because I didn't do that either), it is because I went the distance. I wouldn't let myself quit, and for me that is a whole world of change. And that change is something that I've coveted for such a long time. To see it happening, to live it, brings me a personal joy that only comes from struggling to accomplish what you thought, deep down inside, that you would never have enough fortitude to accomplish. Somewhere in the midst of climbing all of those stairs, a feeling of self pride began to just take over and I could have climbed 100 flights before any inkling of giving up would have entered my mind. The rest of the class was just gravy at that point because I knew that those would have had me in a world of hurt two months ago, but on this day it was nothing but clear blue North Carolina Sky when I left the gym.

Weds. 19th Sports Conditioning: Repetition

I think that when you workout repetition is one of you biggest enemies.  I doesn't matter how much you enjoy something, repetition will finally wear you down. and you'll either need a change or a break in order to really enjoy it again.  That is what I am fighting against with my Weds. morning Sports Conditioning class.  I really like it, but it doesn't change that often, so it has just gotten a bit stale.  I've either missed classes on the other days of the week or the instructors have rotated, so I have been able to avoided burning out on them, but Weds. Sports Conditioning has the one class that I have made most often and the instructor runs on swiss time, so she is alway there.

So what I am saying is that I did the class this week, and it was pretty much the same always.  I am going to start gong to some other classes and rotating this one out, so that I can enjoy it more.

Tuesday 18th: Plycore (non)-Crossfit

I don't think that we are allowed to call this class Crossfit because of some copy right law, but it's pretty much a crossfit class. 30 to 40 mins short and sweet, but a good workout. Planks with 25 lbs weights, pull-ups, kettleball dead lifts, walking on treadmills with your hands from a plank position, abs with a weighted ball toss. Lots of fun! I like taking this class everyone in a while, but I know that I need more muscle and weight classes, so I will be attending more often in the next few weeks.

Monday the 17th: Kickboxing Aerobics & a Run

I attempted to work out on Sunday, even made it to the gym and skipped rope for a little while, but I just had nothing left in the tank. I tried to run, but my legs were having none of it. The next day, I wasn't able to attend the morning Plycore class because I had to go to work earlier than normal, and my wife wanted to go to the gym after work. We used to attend a kickboxing aerobics class together that is offered on Monday evenings, but we stopped attending the class because of my wife's work schedule and my morning class attendance. But, we decided today would be a good time to go. However, we had about 45 mins. to kill before the class, so we just decided to run on the treadmills. The class itself is not that challenging, but it offers a lot of stretching, punching, and kicking drills. We also do things like jumping jack and punch combinations and things like that. The last 10 mins. we do a punching and kicking on a standing heavy bag.


I enjoyed the class because it was a really good change of pace from the workouts that I had been doing, which I know that I need. Also, this class would have tired me out before, but now I was able to run and take the class back to back, so it is nice to see that my conditioning has so visibly improved.

The workout:

Tread Mill: 5 mins. 3.6, 10 mins. 6.2, 5. mins 3.6, 5 mins 6.2, 5 mins. 6.5
45 mins. Kickboxing Aerobics Class

Saturday the 15th: 12 Days of Christmas Part 2 & A Ride on a Hot Day

So after nearly getting sick on Thursday, I took Friday off. I hadn't planned it that way, but it was really needed. However, by Saturday I wanted to do something big and different at the gym. Looking over my blog, I noticed that I had not done a 12 Days of Christmas routine in sometime, and I figured that it was time to get my crazy on! I also was planning to ride bikes with my wife to two art exhibits that were going on in downtown Raleigh, so I knew that it was going to be a big day considering the temperature was forecast for the low 90's. I started out drinking lots of H2O early in the morning and avoided drinking a lot of coffee because I knew that dehydration would be a risk considering everything that I had planned to do that day.

I kicked off my 12 Days with a Grand Tour, which is where I basiclly run all over the building. Down two flights of stairs, from one end othe basement to the other, up the other stairwell two flights, and around the track, hence the name: Grand Tour.

So here is my 12 days workout song:

Round One: A Grand Tour

Round Two: Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Three: Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Four: Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Five: Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Six: Plank with Six Arm Raises on each side, Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Seven: Seven Bird dogs, a Plank with Six Arm Raises on each side, Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Eight: Eight Prisoner Squats w/leg ups, Seven Bird dogs, a Plank with Six Arm Raises on each side, Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Nine: Nine Push ups, Eight Prisoner Squats w/leg ups, Seven Bird dogs, a Plank with Six Arm Raises on each side, Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Ten: Ten Arm Extensions, Nine Push ups, Eight Prisoner Squats w/leg ups, Seven Bird dogs, a Plank with Six Arm Raises on each side, Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Round Eleven: Eleven Mt. Climbers, Ten Arm Extensions, Nine Push ups, Eight Prisoner Squats w/leg ups, Seven Bird dogs, a Plank with Six Arm Raises on each side, Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

Twelve: Twelve Bicycle, Eleven Mt. Climbers, Ten Arm Extensions, Nine Push ups, Eight Pirsoner Squats w/leg ups, Seven Birddogs, a Plank with Six Arm Raises on each side, Five Crunches, Four Burpees, Three Step ups on each leg, Two Sprints up & down a basketball court, and a Grand Tour

I was not feeling very festive after I completed my 12 days, but I was proud of myself because this was the first time that I did this on my own and not as part of a class.  I was also glad that I didn't shy away from burpees.  I thought that putting them in round four was a good place for them.  however, next time I think that the will go in round 5. 

After this, my wife and I went on an 8.5 mile bike ride, and when I got home, I was done.  Shower and Sleep were about all that I could manage.

Thursday May 13th Plycore: The Closest thing to Vomiting.

The fact that I did not vomit in this class was enough to be proud of for me. I could have puked and felt good about it, but I didn't. Last week, I made a commitment to attacking my workouts, and I attempted to live up to this on Thursday.

We started this workout with two laps around the building, and this week I once again tried to push myself to run those laps all out. However, after the laps, we went right in to running stairs. We run up the fire stairs at the Y, so the stairwell is sealed off with heavy fire doors. It gets pretty musty and a little smelly when you have 15 or so people in stairwell running stairs at the same time. The Y is a three story building and each flight has a landing in between flights where you must make a 90 degree turn in order to continue to the next level. So to climb the two flights, you must four cases of stairs. That morning we had to climb up to the top and down 10 times without stopping. I was dizzy by the time I finished and really wished that I had not drunk my morning ice coffee before going to the Y. Once we finished we had several exercise to do to complete our warm up and it didn't matter which one we chose first, so I decided to do the 100 crunches next, which was wise because gravity was about to force my big ass to the floor regardless of my feeling on the matter. I finished the crunches and the rest of the warm up menu. And, I was able to keep up during the class group exercises, but then we went outside for Indian runs, and I was toast. I kept up for my first run, but as we started to run up hill, I was done. Toast! I went back inside and did some more while I waited for the rest of the class to come back, and as luck would have it, when they got back the instructor said it was time to do abs! So considering I had been doing abs already, this was the last thing that I wanted to hear. By the end, that ice coffee really wanted to make an encore, and when I got home, I had to wait for a while before I could eat anything. However, I really felt good about this workout and my ability to keep it together.

Weds. May 12th: Two-a-Day

I decided that I needed a Two-a-Day, and I had some errands to run, so I took some time off in the afternoon in order to fit in the afternoon jump rope class. My wife really liked the class when she took it a few weeks ago, and her work was ending just in time for us to make it to class. I took the morning sports conditioning class, and it was a nice workout. The abs portion in particular was challenging, and the one legged squats were as harsh as always, but after the class I still wanted to work out in the afternoon. Jump rope class is only 30 mins, so it is just about the perfect class for a Two-a-Day. The only problem that I had was that we did another small abs session in the jump rope class and some more pushups, which really put a hurting on my abs, biceps, and shoulders. Also, I knew that Thursday's class would be more than likely kick my butt; however, I just figured that I would cross that bridge when it came and enjoy these class as much as I could. Both my wife and I had a great time again in the jump rope class and have said that we are going to go whenever we can make it work with our work.

Monday May 10th Plycore: Quad Hell Day

Lots of quad work: Lunges, lunges, lunges, and step ups, step ups, step ups.  We did a bunch of other exercises and worked other parts of the body, but the quads got most of the work.  It was a good workout with very little running, which is surprising considering our plycore instructor loves to run.  In fact, I felt a little out of sorts because I had prepared myself for a lot of runnning that morning.  But all in all I needed th quad work because I know that I need to strenghten the muscels around my knees if I want to have any hope of running outside for any distance.  However, the bike rides home and to work were kind of rough after this workout.

Saturday May 8th: Ropin' & Runnin' two shirt Sweat Fest!

On Friday, I went for a bike ride that was pretty long, not strenuous, but loads of fun.  It was Raleigh's First Friday Bicycle ride, and it was just a little slice of awesome! Below is a link to my video of the ride.

First Friday Video

Saturday's workout was simple and sweaty:

Jump rope: 15 90 sec. intervals with 15 second rests

change shirt

Treadmill: 5mins 3.6

10mins. 6.2

5 mins. 3.6

10mins. 6.2

What really rocked about this workout is that two months ago either portion would have knocked me on my ass.  But, this time I still felt good.  Progress! 

Thursday May 6th Plycore: Listening to Pre!

This was the first class that I attended since I hurt my rotator cuff. I had been working out, but I avoided classes because I wanted to avoid exercises, which might cause me to put too much strain on my shoulder. I was pretty eager to take this class because I had missed it the week before. Also, I had taken Wednesday off so my legs were feeling really fresh. I arrived at the gym early and started warming up with my jump rope, and as I did, I began to think about the way I had been working out recently. I realized that I hadn't been attacking my workouts. I had just been trying to set a pace for myself that would allow me to keep up with the pace of the class and finish the workout at or about the time that class ended. However, as I jumped rope, I started feeling really focused, the music from my i-pod fit my mood perfectly, and a sense of determination took hold of me. And, I knew that I need to attack this work! Not just this workout but every workout from the very start. It will be alright if I exhaust myself halfway through the workout. In fact, that should be my goal.

Steve Prefontaine said,

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. "

This is how I need to work out. I don't want to injure myself, but I want to punish myself! Push myself farther and harder than I want to be pushed. If I am unwilling to do that then I am just wasting my time. So, we started out this class with two laps around the building, and normally I would hand around the middle of the pack and try not to be winded for our next exercise, but on this morning I sprinted out ahead of the rest of the class and pushed myself to run out the whole two laps. No slowing down or easing up. I was sucking wind by the time we got back inside, but I felt really good. Dizzy and maybe a little sick, but I felt good. Now, I would love to tell you that I was able to keep up that pace for the whole class and I found a new strength that I never knew was there, but life isn't like that as often as TV and movies would like us to think. By the end of class, I was wasted and nearly the last one to complete the workout, but I felt like I had worked harder than I've worked in some time.

Tues. May 4th: The Wheel

I changed this workout up some because I was still having shoulder problems when I did it.  I enjoyed adding an interval protion to it because it kept me on a good pace.  Not that much to say here, I was just trying to get in a good sweat because I knew that I would be resting the next day.

The Workout:
Jump Rope 200 skips
One Long Lap
Four flights of stairs ( up & down)
2 laps around the gym
Crunches (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Left (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest

Crossover Crunch Right (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Bird dogs (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Fire Hydrants w/leg extentionJump Rope 200 skips

One Long Lap
Four flights of stairs ( up & down)
2 laps around the gym
Crunches (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Left (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Right (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Bird dogs (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Fire Hydrants w/leg extentionJump Rope 200 skips

One Long Lap
Four flights of stairs ( up & down)
2 laps around the gym
Crunches (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Left (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Right (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Bird dogs (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Fire Hydrants w/leg extention

Monday 5/3: Changes for the Better Workout!

I am proud of myself for this workout.  Not because it was difficult, but because I had every reason to skip out on this workout and didn't.  Last year, there would have been no way that I would have drug my sorry ass into the gym after such along hike on a hot and nearly two weeks of injuries and ailments.  But, I did.  I didn't make it to the morning class, but I had no intention of going to that class anyway, so I didn't feel bad.  My shoulder was just starting to feel better, and Monday's class was being taught by Kim, which just made it too unpredictable to risk.  Also, my feet were really sore in the morning, so I needed to give them some extra rest.  But, after work, I went to the gym with very little effort.  I really wanted to go, and the only thing that gave me any pause was the risk of aggravating my shoulder.

My workout was a little on the short side but it produced a good sweat.

Jump Rope: 15 intervals 90 seconds work and 15 seconds rest
Treadmill: 5 mins 3.6 and 10 mins at 6.5

This was followed by a nice stretch and some ice for my knees and shoulders.

Sunday Hike: May 2nd

My wife and I went to Umstead Park and hiked 7.2 miles. I hadn't been to Umstead since last summer, and I could feel a huge difference in myself as I hiked along the trail. My body felt so much lighter and stronger. I wasn't gasping for air even though I was carrying a backpack and it was 95 degrees outside. I did sweat like a beast of burden, but that is about par for the course. It just felt so good to be out enjoying my life. I really had a wonderful weekend and can't wait to do it again. The only drawback was that my feet were sore for nearly two days because of the hike. But, I didn't let it stand in my way because I was right back in the gym on Monday. Last year our first hike was less than 5 miles and left me so tired that I couldn't workout for two days. Also, my wife use to have to stop and wait for me when we did these hike, but now I don't have any problem keeping up with her. I am so happy that I am not holding her back and keeping her from doing the things that she loves at a pace that is enjoyable to her.

Run of the Pink Balloon: 5/1

Saturday I chose to run to the gym for the first time in nearly a year. The last time I ran to the gym was last summer, and I was pretty foolish about it. I got over excited about being able to run outside and ran to the gym three consecutive days. By the third day me knees were stiff and popping anytime I climbed stairs, and they were so sore after workouts that I had to alter my workouts to reduce the stress on them. Now, I am considerably lighter, stronger, and wiser, so I felt pretty good about the idea of running outside. Also, I had done a lot of research about footwear since my last run outside, and I have invested in a pretty good pair Asics 2150's, which got the Editors Choice Award from Runner's World, so I had a good feeling about moving towards running outside. But, I was still on edge a little because my rotator cuff had just started to heal up. I was still worried about it, and the last thing I needed was another injury. But, I really wanted to run outside.

I am not sure why this is, but whenever I see people running outside, I always feel envious of them. My guess is that I was in such bad shape for so long that I started to idealize the people that I saw running through neighborhoods, along trails, and in parks. I desperately wished that I could do the same thing. I always imagine that they run every day for endless hours on end, just pounding out the miles with hardly any effort. Now, I know that is in no way so, but when you are deeply dissatisfied with yourself, it is really easy to let your mind wander to extremes. When I am driving along, I always notice the people that I see running. An ex-girlfriend of mine used to get mad at me because she thought that I was just checking out some girl. She didn't get it, and I never tried to explain that there was something more to it than me just ogling girls in a sports bra . . . Really . . . I've felt this deep seeded dissatisfaction with myself for so long because I truly want to be the type of person who can be physically active, to compete, to push myself.

I see that I am close to being the type of person who can run, push themselves, and enjoy the physical aspects of life. However, what honestly worries me is that I've waited too long and done too much damage to my body to truly do all of the things that I have wanted to do for so long, and I can't forgive myself for waiting this long. I am glad that I am doing this now, without a doubt, but every day I write down on the colander what I did that day there creeps in a small voice of regret asking me: why? Why did you wait so long? And sadly, I don't have any answers that aren't bullshit other than: I didn't want to put in the work that I knew was need . . . I was lazy, and I let life slide past me and embrace excuses.

On Saturday, despite last year’s mistake, my injured shoulder, and the prospect of feeling every step in my jaw because of the wisdom tooth that had been removed less than two weeks ago, I decided to run to the gym. I got my I-pod and stretched outside of my apartment and thought about the route that I would take to the gym. I have mapped it out on  USATF   and knew that it would be 4.06 miles round trip. I planned on stopping at the gym and doing some abs before running the return. Also I decided that if I something went wrong that I would just walk to my wife’s work, which is near the gym and drive home.

The run start out nicely. I began with a slow jog for the first few blocks, which were uphill, but as the ground began to level out my pace began to pickup. My jaw felt alright with just a bit of throbbing from the vibrations of my stride. I crossed several streets, ran down my first little hill, and past people watering their lawns and playing with their kids, and I felt strong, my legs were stable and I wasn't gasping for air . . . I was enjoying myself. I was still worried about my arm, but it everything was fine. As I approached  The Raleigh Rose Garden at The Raleigh Little Theater, I noticed that someone had put out some helium balloons. I thought maybe there was a going to be a birthday party or a wedding in the Garden but when I looked down the hillside I couldn't tell. But as I rounded the corner to go around the back of the garden, I saw to girls and a guy tying balloons to the fence. They were in their teens and seemed to be having a good time. As I ran past them the guy held out his hand and offered me a pink balloon as a joke. I don't think that he thought I would take it and at first nearly ignored him, but for some reason, I just thought why not, so without stopping, slowing down, or looking back, I took it and saying only "thanks." At first I thought about just letting it go and watching it fly off, but instead I decided to keep it. I tied it to my right wrist, which was the arm that was hurt. By this time, I was back on the main street and there were lots of cars, so I thought the balloon would help people notice me when I crossed the street. At first I was really conscious of what people might be thinking as I ran by with this pink balloon tied to my wrist. I wondered if they thought that it was for breast cancer awareness of if I had just had a daughter, and I began to notice people in car giving strange looks as they drove past me, but as I continued to run those thoughts passed away as I became increasingly concerned for the safety of the balloon. I did want it to slip away or get popped by low hanging pine needles or some rose bush that was growing over a fence. And as the gym got closer, I realized that my arm felt good. It seemed like the balloon was helping to hold it up, my pace had gotten stronger, and I wasn't worried about my knees. Instead, I was thinking about what I should do with my balloon while I worked out. When I got to the Y I asked if I could leave the balloon at the fitness desk while I worked out.

I did some crunches and fire hydrants -- nothing much -- just enough to justify the stop at the gym. The pink balloon was waiting for me when I finished, and I again tied it to my wrist while I jogged home. The jog home was pretty easy. And, I did notice some people looking at me, but I just turned on Explosions in the Sky and it all seemed to melt away. It was such a peaceful run. When I got home, I went inside and got a camera and took a picture of the pink balloon tied to my shoe. Then I did some stretching and iced my knees. It just was a wonderful feeling to have completed this run. However, I plan to take baby steps with my running because I know that it could all go very wrong quickly if I get careless.

Wed. 27th Sports Conditioning: injury

I woke up on Weds. morning and felt a little stiffness in my shoulder. It had been sore on Tuesday, but I took the day off, so I was hopeful that it would be all right to workout weds. morning. I was wrong. Everything went well with the warm up. Jumping rope seemed to help the stiffness go away, and my range of motion seemed fine, but I could feel the shoulder getting more and more sore as the workout progressed. I made it through the 45 min. of class but still had more stuff to do, but when I tried to do some burpees, I knew that it was time to shut it down. I stretched pretty well, but I neglected to put ice on it, which I think was a big mistake. When I got home, I took a hot shower, put on some flexall, and took some medicine, but my shoulder got worse as the day progressed. I couldn't extend my arm out to my side and lift it any higher than my shoulder without feel pain. It got worse over the course of the day no matter how much I stretched. I have had this same problem before, but I thought that the source of the pain was in me deltoid, but it is the rotator cuff. It is an annoying injury because it feels fine for most of the time then bam!! Lift your arm too high and when you start to bring it down the whole damn thing feels like it about to fall off. This injury would cause me to miss the gym on both Thursday and Friday and really limit what I could do. However, I was able to find some good videos on YouTube, which described which trigger points in my shoulder needed attention. Once I understood what to do it stated to improve almost instantaneously.

Supraspinatus Massage

Monday April 25th Plycore: Pushups Hell Day

Push up Hell day didn't start off as a with push ups or as a hell day, but it turned into one.  I warm up with some jump rope and was looking forward to class.  Monday Plycore is always a good way to start off a week. But, even though I enjoyed this class a lot, this week would prove to be a frustrating one. My jaw gave me some trouble during this class, and I would strain my Rotator Cuff just enough to set myself up for another minor injury later in the week.

We started this class off with 4 laps around the gym and then moved into running lines: sprints and side shuffles followed by 50 mt. climbers, then alternating leap frogs and burpees across half a basketball court. We did this 3 or 4 times. After that we went outside and did long lap indian runs. Each long lap is .36 of a mile. We did two laps with everyone sprint once per lap. My first sprint came just as we reached to a hill, so I had to sprint uphill. Following the indian runs, we went back into the gym where had different stations. One station for Dips, push ups with one hand on a basketball, and incline pushups, another for resistance running, abs, and push up patty cake (do a push up and slap hands with your partner). Everything was fine except that I got so sweaty that while doing push up patty cake my palms got really sweaty and my hand slipped causing me to tweak my rotator cuff. I didn't even realize that I was injured until much later in the day when my shoulder started to fell sore. Following this we went outside and did sprints up the sloping drive way at the Y. Butt kicks, high knees, skips, and an all out sprint. We did each one twice and jogged down the hill. Afterward we did another long lap.

My jaw was fin until the sprints started, but once they started I felt very step right in my jaw. I was nearly in tears by the time I finished my long lap. This may also have been why I didn't notice that my shoulder was hurt. This was a great workout, but it was also a troublesome workout.