Feeling a little...ranty.

I'm a little sandy today. Just a touch. 2 things I can't stand:
1 - don't get upset when a girl beats you at something. Us women-folk can work just as hard, if not harder, as most men. There's this thing called progress and when a female finally realizes her potential, awesome things can happen!
2 - I am injured. I am still training to the best of physical ability. I am working my ass off. I can't kick 100% on my left leg? Ok, I guess I'll give 110% on my punches, right knee and right kick. I can't run? No big deal, I can row, hop on the air dyne or jump rope. I can still just about make myself throw up, with half a leg. I'm still hitting PR's on kettlebell work. You're healthy and uninjured? Why are you sandbagging shit? Are you afraid of sweat? Hard work? Progress? Why are you willing to give less than your best?

That's all for today.

Finally!

I've been having a craptastic last 2 weeks with kettlebell training. Something has gone wrong in almost every set. My forearms or grip wore out, I rested too long and didn't get close to the reps I set as a goal, my traps or shoulders hurt, just something was always sore or not right. And then FINALLY yesterday happened. I was still ever so slightly sore from last week, but not overly so. But, I warmed up exactly how I wanted and felt decent. Not great, not good, not bad, but decent. "Decent" days are the days I perform best. Too much rest - I burn out too quick, not enough rest - I just suck. So, I finally hit my mark on my 10:00 set on the 16kg. 80 reps! That's AKA Rank 1 if I don't cut any weight, if I do cut a few pounds, that's 4 reps over Rank 1. So very happy! Now, just to figure out my breathing on my right arm so I'm not sprinting 12 reps the last minute. After my set, and laying on the floor for a minute or 5, I even got in some heavy jerks on the 20kg. The 24, however, was not happening yesterday.

And then, more spectacularness! I had my 5x5 push-ups/pull-ups, and I was able to get all 5 pull-ups in a row, no bands needed! Each round!

AND THEN, I went down to Thai class and could kick a little bit harder on my left leg, though it's still pretty weak, it's at least something! And killed everything else! Hands were heavy and right kick felt great.

My knee is a little stiff this morning, but not painful. It mostly feels tired now, like just that leg ran a marathon.

Anyway, I'm glad I got over the last plateau and have been making awesome progress the last few weeks. I've gotten a ton of range of motion back and have been steadily adding in crazier and harder PT work - like single leg squats off of a box and single leg split squat jumps.

Let's hope this week keeps on rockin'.

The world is smaller than my dreams...

Monday and Tuesday of this week sucked. I mentally couldn't get into my kettlebell work, and it suffered big time. I was supposed to do my 10 minute set on the 16 Monday, and my traps were fried, so I did some volume work, but just couldn't focus. I'm pretty sure I also didn't warm up enough, so that affected things as well. Tuesday I tried to do my heavy sets with the 20, and again couldn't get into it mentally, and kept dropping the bell in my sets. I barely got two 1 minute sets in before stopping. Worst thing is, I did a fantastic body weight workout Tuesday before kickboxing, and was feeling amazing, and then crapped out on the kettlebell work. Not happy.

That was amazing contrast compared to last week, when I was hitting 9-10 reps a minute on my sprint sets. I hit 42 reps in 5 minutes on one hand in another session. I felt amazing last week, and killed all my workouts. So maybe the start of this week was just recovery from last week?

Yesterday I took it easy. My traps, lats and rotator cuffs were pretty shot, and my knee wasn't feeling spectacular either. I ended up doing a 5 rounder of 5 pike push-ups and some side-to-side presses and a little ab work.

I also got more needling done. It's gotten progressively "better", or easier to handle. I also had most pain-free week since my knee injury - it didn't start bothering me until Tuesday! Yay! I hit a plateau 2 weeks ago, and have been on a roll the last 2 weeks. I had assisted box steps on a 12" box last week, and progressed to a higher box and no assistance by the beginning of this week. Which is exciting to me. This week I get to start on teeny tiny box jumps on the 12" box, with controlled "falling" off of the box, and single leg squats off of the box too (not to be confused with pistols).

All in all, I'm feeling much better today. Ready to get back to the kettlebell, and check back in mentally.

Suck it up, buttercup

Last week saw a bit of a plateau for my knee. Got some more needling, soft tissue work and new rehab exercises, and I can see a bit more progress. I can also pinpoint exactly where it hurts, but I can't decide if that's a good thing or not.

In the mean time, I've been stepping up my training, and have been trying my best to kill myself on every workout. Gotta push the pace to hit rank 1 in February.

I'm also excited because I get to add in some bag work next week! Yay!!! So starting next week, I'm adding in some low impact cardio on Friday's and bag work on Wednesday's in addition to the regular workouts. And farmer walks...and GHD's...I'm so excited!

Isn't It Ironic...

Everything, except my legs obviously, feels the strongest they've been. Ever. And I'm injured. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say it's because my cardio workouts are virtually non-existent, thus lifting is all I've got right now.

My knee is feeling surprisingly good lately. Must be the squats and lunges working all the cobwebs out.

In regards to kettlebells, I'm finally getting back up there. I was able to push some heavy jerks over the weekend, and today did some heavy LC as well.

Saturday's KB work: 3:00/3:00 jerks on 12kg, 10/10 jerks on 16kg, 5/5 jerks on 20kg

Today: 2:30/2:30 LC on 16kg (pushed 8 reps a minute, need to get the reps up there so I can make rank 1 in February), then 1:00/1:00 LC on the 20kg at 6 reps each hand

Not too shabby, though I'm sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow.

2 Months Post-Injury...

And I can finally squat parallel! And lunge relatively pain free! All with no weights, but one step at a time. Which, again, is so freakin' hard when your mentality just wants to push hard all the time.

How am I getting better? Trigger point dry needling (and following what Mark says). Basically an acupuncture needle is used to get a fast twitch response from your muscles releasing knots or "gunk". It's truly a life saver and I'd be a long way from where I am right now if it weren't for it. I've had a lot of areas needled for various things; shoulders, traps, lats, rotator cuffs from Muay Thai or "touch up" work from kettlebells; the areas next to the spine and lower lat from kettlebells; calves from running or training; quads and IT band for various reasons; and now I can add glute and abductor/adductor to the list. It isn't exactly fun while getting it done, as seen below by my facial expression, but the results are amazing.

So, more of the same for workouts, but I now get to add in weighted single leg deadlifts and body weight squats and lunges.

Kettlebell work is progressing slowly. I tore my hand Monday doing pull-ups, but that was after a blistering snatch sprint set on Friday and and long cycle on Monday. Friday was 6 rounds of 1min each hand followed by a 1min rest on the 12kg. I got 20 each hand on the first set, then 24 each hand the next five rounds with the exception of my very last round with my right hand. I felt my palm shift and decided 6 reps wasn't worth a bloody mess. Monday I got 3mins each hand on LC on the 16kg, just kept a steady 6reps per minute. Wasn't great, but it's mostly my grip and rack at this point. Legs seem to be holding up fine.

So...all in all, I'm feeling better. I long to kick or knee something, but being this much closer to fully functional makes me happy.

Training from last week through today

Doug has started new programming for me, so it's been a strange transition and has had some tweaking going on based on schedule, etc.

Monday & Thursday are chest and back days,
Tuesday & Friday are arms and legs.
Wednesday & Saturday are shoulders and abs.
PT/Rehab work daily.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, still have to get in my kettlebell work, since we are officially going to San Francisco in February!!! Time to get my rank 1 on the 16kg so I can start to work towards the 24kg in November!

I'm now on an A week and B week schedule. Some days are the same each week based on my schedule and my knee's limitations.

So far this week:

• Monday: 10x6 - DB press/DB 1-arm rows, push-ups/pull-ups (I STILL hurt from this, STILL), and 1:00 each arm long cycle sprint sets (x5) on the 16kg
• Tuesday: 10x6 - RDL's/skull crushers
• Wednesday: 2:00 each hand 16KG LC set, 2:00 each hand 14KG Jerks, 10x6 shoulder press/plate raises, then PT in the evening
• Today: 10x6 incline press/BB rows

On the PT, I have much better range of motion of this week. I get to work on properly loading my left knee/glute this week. My needling session last night was AWFUL. I still have sore spots today, but am so close to having the exact same range of motion as my right side!!! YAY! I am happy with the progress I'm making, but still frustrated it's going to be a long process. 8-10 more weeks until I'm close to 100%. That's a hard pill to swallow. But, with how much I do, need to make sure everything is properly prepared to use again. It's absolutely killing me that I can't kick anything. Or squat. Or lunge. Or jump...the list goes on. Just have to remind myself to be patient.

Workouts for 10-25 and 10-26

Workouts from Friday and Saturday of this week.

Friday, supersets of 5x10 (a little pressed for time, hence 5 sets, not 6):

• 15# db curls/20#skull crushers
• women's bar curls/12# double tri extensions
• 25# hammer curls/#40 straight leg deadlifts
• 25# weighted box dips (feet up too)/95# calf raises
• finish: "drop set" on bands chin-ups - 5 no band, 5 with lightest bands, 15 with medium band

Saturday:
 First 10:00 long cycle since Georgia comp! Granted it was on the 12kg, but I made it through without tweaking my knee! Progress! I made sure to push the pace quite a bit, so I got 56 each hand for 112 total!!!

Saturday's weight training, 6 rounds:

• shoulder presses; R1-2 - 15#, R3-4 - 20#, R5-6 - 25#
• plate raises; R1-6 - 20#
• farmer walk, length of gym and back; R1-2 - 20KG, R3-4 - 24KG, R5-6 - 28KG
• Finish: 30 Shrugs at 40#, 30 Wall Ball ABMAT sit-ups at 20#

There are times you want to baby and coddle your injury, and there are times when you just want to tell it to go f*ck itself. Today is one of those days.

Workout from 10-23-2013 with Weights

The workout wasn't bad, but the abs and finish were horrible.

Shoulders and Abs (shoulders are always superset in 10reps/6sets; DB = dumbbell; abs are 3 rounds):

• 15# DB shoulder press/12# DB front raises
• 15# standing rear delt flyes/15# plate raises
• 8# decline rear flyes/15# plate circles
• 12# piston presses/12# side raises
• 25# first round, then 35# next 2 rounds 20/20 standing oblique plate raises
• 20# ball 20 med ball toe touch crunches
• 25# first round, then 35# next 2 round 10 12-6 sit-ups w/ med ball (only 10 because the abmat makes me want to throw up)

Rest.

Cardio, 1 min ea., 5 rounds:

• 12KG KB snatches
• 12KG KB snatches
• 12# sledgehammer hammer tire
• air dyne
• negative leg raises
• rest

Workout notes:

• need to go heavier on shoulder presses
• Ab section was horrible. Instantaneous soreness. So. logically, I put even MORE abs in my FGB portion.
•  FGB finish wasn't bad, but snatches after the above shoulder workout sucked. Hammer tire after the snatches sucked. Air dyne always sucks. And more abs after the above abs also sucked.

I can't wait for some DOMS tomorrow.

Progress Is Sloooooowwwwww...

I'm slowly figuring out what I can and cannot do as my knee is healing. I can do long cycle with the 12kg now, which makes me happy, but it's stupid light so I have to go at breakneck speed in order to work up even a little sweat, and I can't go 10 minutes yet because of the repetitive motion/impact so. I can't squat but I can hi the tire with a hammer, which is very gratifying. I can do straight leg deadlifts, I can use the air dyne and use the rower very slowly to increase my ROM. Yesterday Doug had me start sitting on a bench and getting up again, about 20 reps making sure I don't push through my strong/healthy side too much in order to get my depth on my ROM even better too. Progress is slow though. If I pull my shoe on or off just wrong, it tweaks my knee. If I trip over something or catch my foot on something, it tweaks it. But, I can finally cross my legs!!! Yay!!! As an avid leg crosser at work, this makes me very happy!

Anyway, what are my plans for today? This, and hopefully it'll be as hellacious in real life as it is in my mind.
Shoulders and Abs (shoulders are always superset in 10reps/6sets; DB = dumbbell; abs are 3 rounds):

• DB shoulder press/DB front raises
• rear delt flyes/plate raises
• decline rear flyes/plate circles
• piston presses/side raises
• 20/20 standing oblique plate raises
• 20 med ball toe touch crunches
• 10 12-6 sit-ups w/ med ball (only 10 because the abmat makes me want to throw up)

Rest.

Cardio, 1 min ea., 5 rounds:

• KB snatches
• KB snatches
• hammer tire
• air dyne
• negative leg raises
• rest

Seems like a lot, but let's face it, I haven't done cardio since my knee got injured, so whatever definition (abs, arms, a little on the legs, etc.) I had is long gone. Time to get my ass in gear.

Injured Training Regimen

Here's a look at my super monotonous training regimen while my old lady knee heals. Rehab work every day. And all of my weighted stuff is 6 sets of 10 reps, normally on a superset, so I combine every two exercises and flip flop between them until I hit my 6 sets.

Monday:

• chest press
• 1-arm rows
• incline chest press
• incline DB row
• push-ups
• pull-ups

Then rest bout 10 mins and throw 20 or so snatches on the 10kg bell.

Tuesday:

• DB curls
• skull crushers
• BB curls
• straight leg dead lifts (I don't have to bend my knees, just soften them)

Wednesday:

• shoulder press
• rear delt flyes
• front raises
• side raises
• some sort of ab work
• some sort of ab work

I try to get in small timed sets of KB snatches on the 10kg and the 12kg on Wednesday's too.

Thursday:

• chest press
• bent double DB row
• push-ups
• reverse rows

Friday:

• DB hammer curl
• tricep extension
• BB curl
• skull crushers
• box dips
• chin-ups

I also finish with a longer set of snatches on the 10kg and concentrate on my fixation to burn out my triceps - they are on fire by the end!!!

Saturday:

• shoulder press
• plate raises
• side raises
• plate circles
• abs
• abs

Saturday is when I do sprint sets of snatches, 1:00 each hand, then 1:00 rest, 5-10 sets and push 20 reps a minute.

So, there it is. I've been on this for the past 3 weeks or so. And will be for the foreseeable future. It's all pretty basic, repetitive and a little boring, but it's what I can do at the moment. Good news is at PT yesterday, I can now hold "mini" squats to help get back my squat range of motion. I can hit the tire with the hammer, so I can that to snatches for my bit of cardio. I can also kinda sorta do KB jerks, they're hideous and slow, but I'm working to the best of my ability at the moment. It's all progress, and I'll take it, but it's so slow and patience isn't my strong suit!

2013: Review Through Today

This year has had its share of ups and downs. I've been in the best shape of my life, and right now, I'm drowning a little bit. I've fought for a title, competed in kettlebells, got my Muay Thai Instructor test out of the way, and now I'm injured and can barely squat.

I fought in February for a regional WKA amateur title. I trained my ass off, 2-a-days for 6 days a week, for 4 months. I normally walk around at 112-115lbs, and I weighed in at 102 for a 105lb fight. I think I did really well in my fight, came away with barely any bruises, which is surprising because it was shinguard-less and had no headgear. I can say that WKA politics are CRAP, and I'll more than likely NEVER fight for their organization again. I will also NEVER wear any gear other than gloves and a mouthguard to fight ever again. I've actually been loathe to fight again, I've gotten a bad taste of the politics, and honestly don't know if I'll ever fight stateside. I still love to watch fights, but man, politics come into play too often in the US. If I go to Thailand, absolutely I'd fight, but probably not again in the US.

I've also competed in 2 kettlebell competitions. I loved them both. You meet great people, you lift heavy things repeatedly and there are almost no politics (no politics at the meets, but between organizations, yes). You don't get punched in the head or risk serious injury either, win win. I placed second at the first one in Charlotte, with a 14kg bell. I had no idea what to expect at this one. My form was also crap, and having never made it through 10 minutes on any weight, I had no idea what to expect and was honestly surprised at myself. I took training for the one in Atlanta much more seriously. I moved up to a 16kg bell, and it was like starting over. I could muscle the 14kg for 10 minutes, but not the 16kg. So we made a trip down to Atlanta to see Scott Shetler before the competition to dial in our form and training plans. I made 70 reps on the 16kg, whereas I had only gotten 31 at the first comp on a smaller bell! Yay for first place in my weight division and kettlebell weight category!

One week after the competition I tested for my instructor test. Training for that is almost as bad as fight training, except you don't have to diet, but it's all kicks and knees, no hands. The test is in front of Grandmaster Chai, who brought Thai Boxing to the US, and who founded the Thai Boxing Association of the USA (TBA). You have to demonstrate form, your Wai Kru/Ram Muay (fancy dance to honor your parents, school/instructor, and whichever God you choose), plus go through two 3 minute rounds where you have to get 60 kicks and 35 knees while your feeder punches and kicks you back. There are other things in life which are more fun...going to the dentist, the "icky" doctor...you know, things where you don't get kicked in the head and can't hit the person who kick you. It was rough, but I passed and had my Wai Kru recorded to send out to other schools...whoa!

The next week (Labor Day weekend), Doug and I went to Tybee Island to rest and eat terrible food...much needed terrible food. Key lime pie, pancakes, white potatoes (GASP!), etc. It was glorious. We did bring kettlebells, but only worked out maybe 15 minutes and spent the rest of the time doing nothing.

The week after was level testing at the DHMA (Muay Thai school). There are 3 levels in the TBA, 1 is you know basic form, 2 sis improved form and a basic understanding and ability to perform the Wai Kru/Ram Muay, and 3 is instructor which in turn has several levels of seniority within that level (apprentice, associate, full, senior, ajarn). I was holding for a tester, and tried to cut kick him, my favorite thing to do (you kick their support leg while they are kicking which hurts really bad because all their weight is on it), and got kicked in the side of the knee. Not pleasant. But I thought, well, it kinda felt like I hit my funny bone really hard, it was all tingly, so I tried to "walk it off" because that's what us fighters do, and proceeded to try and hold for the second tester...bad idea. I couldn't put weight on it to punch properly, I could only kick with one leg, I couldn't circle or side shuffle, none of that. Luckily, because I am small, I was holding their first round, so my shitty feeding was more than made up for by the second holder. So, home I went, and iced and ibuprofened myself. I had my leg elevated, and we have "man" sofas which have built in recliners, and I couldn't push the recliner down, so whenever I had to get up, I had to swing myself off to the side and get off the couch on the middle cushion. I knew it was bad when I could barely shuffle to the bathroom,  a whole 20 feet away, and standing up from sitting down while putting ANY weight on my left leg was tear inducing. I has somehow still able to prep dinner and get it in the oven, but when the timer went off, and I tried to get up, I moved the exact opposite way that my knee wanted to and unleashed a blood curdling scream. I've never been in this much pain. I scared the shit out of Doug and his mother. The rest of the night was uneventful, other than I had to scooch up the stairs like a little kid. I had fully planned on going to work the next day...when Doug got up to go to work the next morning, I tried to roll over to reposition myself, again moving in a way that produced the same effing scream...I still got up and got dressed for work, and my mother-in-law came downstairs and would possibly have used force to make me stay at home...see, she's a nurse and retired military. I stayed home, tried to get ahold of my doctor, but ended up going to urgent care after the receptionist was incredibly rude to me. X-rays showed nothing, so pain meds and more rest it is.

I ended up going to an ortho, who did more X-rays and tests, bones look fine, and ligaments and tendons did fine on the stress/bending tests to see if your LCL or MCL are torn (I swore my LCL was torn, but apparently not). Diagnosis: incredible inflammation due to the kick shifting and bruising my knee cap, and if anything is torn, it's my cartilage. On to physical therapy.

Had my first session of PT last Monday. I regained some mobility, I can bend it past 90 degrees now and get it within 1-2 degrees of being as straight as my right leg. Still can't squat or lunge without it feeling like it's going to explode. I go again today, at 11. Good news is, not wearing my knee brace except when sleeping or down at Thai class because I'm barefoot, and the TBA Camp Test isn't kidding, soft canvas makes you tire faster (at least my knee does).

So, what to my workouts look like right now? Seeing as I can't do any leg work, and am limited with my kettlebell work, they are BORING. Basic and simple. Lots of chest, back, shoulder, arm and ab work. I can do kettlebell snatches relatively well, with low weight that is, but I need to be careful not to snap my left leg straight. I can hold mitts and pads for my kickboxing class, but still can't punch and definitely can't kick. I can't really do any cardio, so while I was in the best shape of my life at the beginning of the year, I'm now in the worst shape I've been in in years. So, it's boring and monotonous, but so is sitting at home on the couch - I still do the boring workouts, otherwise the rehab and comeback work will be even harder.

Until next time...

L-R: snatching the 20kg, side by side comparison of left v. right knee (left is slightly more swollen under and to the outside of knee cap), finally being able to bend left knee past 90 degrees.