Kishi

2 hours ago, Everstorm said:

Should last through the weekend, I think.  It's due to get hot again next week though.  How was lunch?

Hasn't happened yet! It's for this Saturday.

On 4/22/2024 at 10:23 AM, WhiteGhost said:

"How was school?"

 - "Same as usual"

"Do you have any homework?"

 - "Some"

"What do you want for dinner?"

 - "Food"

Come to think of it, I did this exact thing to my parents when I was about that age. Huh. It's a phase. It'll pass.

I really admire that you and H are able to be solitary with each other like that. I can see myself needing something like time away but I wouldn't know how to ask for it or even to trust that I could. That's really cool to me and something to strive for.

Seriously, more of this weather, please. I'm going out to lunch with my folks at my mom's favorite local Greek place, and she loves the outdoor seating. I hope it lasts.

5 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I ate like a goblin yesterday. No wheat, but lots of peanut butter and Nutella, a little bit of chips, no real protein to speak of. I did make some rice and roasted some sweet potato for supper and ate it with some mango and ginger Stilton and some baby cucumbers. Delicious components, slightly weird all together. But it could have been worse, so I will take the win such as it is and move on. Today is a new day and I can do different things with it. 

I've had a couple of days like that lately myself, where I'm just trying to make the macros fit together while still eating colorfully and getting protein. It's led to odd bedfellows: whey protein and Greek yogurt and riced cauliflower and spiced broccoli and, somehow, it fits my macros. Can't say I fully get how this happens, but, as you say, it could be worse.

On 4/19/2024 at 7:47 AM, Jarric said:

So at the moment, physio exercises are:

 - single-leg, bent-leg calf raises - 1x20ish

 - single-leg squats, focusing on glute engagement, straight back, knees not tracking past toes - 1x12ish

 

Doing that every day is easy, I mostly do them betweent sets at the gym, and as it's only 1 set of each it doesn't take long if not. The call I had with a different physio to book the MRI suggested doing them less than daily (maybe 3x per week), but doing 3-5 sets. I haven't implemented that yet; would need to find a good way to fit it in.

Gotcha. It sounds like you're feeling better doing what you're doing, so I wouldn't want to present my advice as something to challenge what you're doing or to replace it or anything like that. Maybe just another optional approach, if you want:

• RE: the calf raises, I would suggest maybe doing a set of single-leg straight-leg calf raises of similar volume, since they apparently hit the calf muscle a bit different and a mix of these along with bent leg can have some therapeutic/bulletproofing effects. If you're comfortable, you can build up to doing these at a deficit too, so you do these over a longer range of motion. Or you can add weight to these. Or both.
• Also, I'd advise experimenting with tibial raises. Tibs work out to being a kind of balancing structure against the calves, and they're a stabilizer for sudden changes in running, like when you run up and have to gather your legs under yourself to spring. You could totally superset these with the calf raises: both movements will draw blood and metabolites to the affected regions and may promote healing over a long enough period of time.
• RE: the single-leg squats, I do pretty much the same thing right now. It's dope.  My approach has been to do them touchdown style off an elevated surface. At first, I had to use a stick to help deload the movement, and I would step down from a stair onto a yoga block. I'm now doing that without the stick. My next step from here is to play with height; if I can't go lower without pain even with assistance, then I'll be switching up to adding sets for a while at my present height. I dunno what yours look like yet; if you can do pistols, you're probably a lot stronger with these than I am, but hopefully this gives you something useful in terms of assistance and avoiding pain.
• If you're comfortable with it - if you can find a high enough surface and enough assistance - maybe try doing some split squats with an emphasis on driving the knee forward. Go up on the ball of that front foot. Get real deep into it. Again, though, physical comfort is key; if you can't do this without any kind of pain at all, it's not a good idea and you should avoid this tip.

On 4/19/2024 at 7:47 AM, Jarric said:

Doing that every day is easy, I mostly do them betweent sets at the gym, and as it's only 1 set of each it doesn't take long if not. The call I had with a different physio to book the MRI suggested doing them less than daily (maybe 3x per week), but doing 3-5 sets. I haven't implemented that yet; would need to find a good way to fit it in.

Yeah, as someone who's on a 3x per week approach, I can confirm that you're pretty much obligated to make the kneehab its own thing at that dosage. It's up to you. You'd definitely get more volume on 3x per week and 3-5 sets per exercise, but more is only better to a point, and past that it's... not. So, I dunno. I'd honestly say to give your present program 12 weeks or so and see if you feel better or worse. Unless something changes suddenly out of nowhere, there's no reason not to take what benefit you can while you can. You can always add volume later.

On 4/19/2024 at 7:47 AM, Jarric said:

I also decided last weekend to try and do some ankle exercises when I've got free evenings sat on the sofa - specifically these ones from GMB: https://gmb.io/feet/ . So far I've only done them twice, but it feels like even a couple of times per week they might be useful. I've also noticed that doing the ankle circles whilst weight bearing on the ball of my foot seems to aggravate the same area of my knee as running, which is interesting.

Yeah, I'd probably watch those weight-bearing ankle circles if I were you. I'd advise finding a ROM that doesn't aggravate your knee and just kind of hang around there for a bit. As you develop and remold those tissues, you should find that your pain-free ROM increases. That borderline isn't something to run away from, to be clear: it's something to run up to and push on so that it expands.

TL;DR, sounds like you're doing fine and you're in good hands. If you want to play more, there's stuff you can do. Just don't work to pain or through pain. Burning in the muscles and ligaments is good. But in the joint? No good.

On 4/16/2024 at 9:56 AM, TimovieMan said:

It's also a good Jake Gyllenhaal movie where Gyllenhaal's physique was basically 0% body fat... 😮

 

Yeah, his training videos have been coming up in my algorithms lately and I gotta admit, I'm really impressed by his commitment to what he does.

6 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Ah, I see. I bet that's an interesting challenge if you're not used to it!

It can be! Especially if you have to switch your own look round-robin style.

2 minutes ago, Mistr said:

I have several utility knives. They range from the cheap promotional razor-blade-in-a-metal-holder (with the name of the place my dad worked on it) to the classic grey handle with angled blades to a newer one with an ergonomic handle. I have to say, the new one with the ergonomic handle is my favorite. It has internal storage for spare blades like the classic one, but you don't need to go find a screwdriver to open it to change blades. Plus it is more comfortable to use. Totally worth spending a few extra bucks for a tool you will use frequently for the rest of your life.

Yeah, I think that might be like the one I'm going for. Ultimately, I was able to find a Milwaukee-brand knife with that storage and a bunch of extra little quality of life things built in that I think will serve well in the long term.

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Goal: 21.5/24

Did some research and realized that a true utility knife has a lot more options than the pocket knife that I have now while requiring a lot less care. I should probably still get something to take care of the pocket knife in the long term, but that's a project for later. Right now, I'm just glad to know where I gotta go next.

Training has been good. My hamstrings, I've come to accept, are really, really sensitive to any kind of loaded work, so I've given up any kind of loaded hamstring work for now while I focus on mobility instead. Which basically means I'm right back where I was in terms of the knee programming I was doing ~14 weeks ago. I'm actually cool with it, though, having worked out some tweaks to optimize it and also having progressed some in terms of the athletic/bulletproofing feats I'm trying to accomplish. I think the next 10+ weeks or so will be productive as far as this goes.

Got some magic happening with the job: we got cleared for more overtime starting next week. A lot more. This is good news. The job being what it is, it really needs 60 hours a week to actually be done proper, but they only pay us for 40 and I don't work beyond what I'm getting paid for. This is a most welcome development.

Just gotta figure out how to make training and mat time work with it. I've been forced to accept in the past few days that I can't train during my workday and hit productivity standards. I could get up early and get shit done, and I could go to the mats after, but most of my OT is nighttime work and that's going to throw a wrench in any attempt I make to get down early to get up early and move. Might need to invest in some light-blocking glasses so that the work computer screen doesn't throw my rhythms off, but even accounting for that there's still the time/effort actually spent doing the job that I'm going to have to account for and work around.

Oh well. It's a good problem this time. It's refreshing.

My God. This exchange reminds me of my job. Except the stationary's prettier.

2 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Twelve days left in this challenge including today and I am feeling completely derailed. I had such high hopes for momentum on this challenge and it has not played out that way. I am trying to be okay with it. This is a long haul project, it can’t speed along all the time. Today’s card was the Ace of Fire and said “you already possess the power you need but may not recognize it in yourself” and I feel called out. One thing this challenge has made very clear is that I “only” seem to make progress when my world is predictable - there is not a lot of plasticity or robustness built in for variation. I think I need to figure out how to bomb-proof some of these habits and routines so I don’t get so derailed when things aren’t going to plan. Long-term horizon, there are some potential big shifts that might be coming (Latvia, I am looking at you) and I don’t want to lose the thread if they come to pass. I am not sure how to go about bomb-proofing, because I think it largely comes down to executive function and will power, two things I am not the best with. Food for thought, anyway. 

I know what this is like. It's frustrating, because there's this place you're trying to get to and now you have to work really hard to spin your wheels and go nowhere closer. It's not fun.

It may help to reframe your situation as one where you have maintained progress even in the face of your obstacles. It's just that your obstacles are pushing you back harder, so the progress keeps you in place rather than sliding back and away from where you want to be.

As far as bomb-proofing things, I'm... still figuring that out myself. ;;; I can't help thinking that there's something useful in the idea of exercise programming where the trainee tries to perform a given pattern of movement and isn't necessarily concerned with the specific move (like, doing a deadlift or a kettlebell swing for a Hinge, for instance). So, maybe having something that you want to accomplish and having a lot of ways to count the thing as being done? But IDK. Mileage is definitely going to vary with that approach depending on the task. There's no substitute for a good night's sleep (but then, maybe napping as a goal to mitigate? Maybe).

4 hours ago, Jarric said:

I think all of it would be helpful. The main thing I can never work out is how to prioritise things so that I'm getting what it is I need without spending 3 hours every day doing every ankle/knee/hip/glute exercise under the sun. Not to mention the eye exercises that my gym coach has recommended for posture  . I'm hoping that an MRI might give me a better idea of what to target, but if you've got any idea how to work it out other than that I'd appreciate the help.

Hey, I'm right there with you. I want to do all the things all the time, and it's hard.

I would be loathe to advise counter to what the physios and doctors and imaging are going to tell you - again, I can't stress enough, I'm just a guy on the internet with impaired information - but in terms of practical/practicable advice I'd probably want to know what it is you're doing before I try to advise you. Maybe if I know what all you're doing, I can give you something useful in terms of cramming it all in or making it more efficient, or maybe even advising around what might not be so necessary.

If you want!

5 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Cross your fingers for me!

Man, I'm sorry to hear your knee's hurting!

I don't know that I have any brilliant ideas beyond what you've been doing as far as getting seen by a couple of physios who have said that it's likely an issue of the surrounding tissues which need to either be strengthened or mobilized or both. Most of what I've been doing has been influenced by the work of the "Squat University" and "Knees Over Toes Guy" YouTube channels - lots of backwards walking and single-leg work, but really doing a lot to strengthen and lengthen the surrounding tissues. That would mean things like tibial raises in addition to calf raises and L-sit progressions as well as learning to split squat super, super deep. I also added on wall-sits at the end, just because isometrics in the context of the work/exhaustion of other strength modalities seem to be useful and help me feel better.

Maybe some of this would help you too? But, you know, take it all with a huge ol' grain of salt. I'm just a stranger on the internet, surfing the algorithmic waves and living out my biases. I hope the consult is productive and that they give you something tailored to your situation which will help you get back to running.

On 4/11/2024 at 10:01 PM, Scaly Freak said:

 

Fingers crossed that it does happen. You'd be good at mentoring.  

I know!  I'm really good at it, and I'd actually like to take over the training department for the agency and just revamp the whole thing. Only problem is, I'd have to unseat a bunch of people to do it, and I don't know how to navigate it in the wild event that that happens.

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Sadly I agree. But better companies will care more about your long term productivity and that includes more care for your mental and physical wellbeing. I... I just think you really deserve to be treated with respect, that's all.

 

I'm not going to press the subject, these decisions are hard and take time. But maybe it could be useful to at some point read through past challenges to see if it really is an acute bout. 

I promise you, as someone intimately aware of my work history, that every job sucks in its own ways. A "better" job will not suck less. It'll just suck differently, which I'm willing to put up with if the math (read: money/benefits) checks out. I just want to be careful and calculating about it.

But you are right. This job could have lost me many times over by now. @Mistr's been pitching me on that for years now. This latest pitch is different because I hadn't considered that my skillset would transfer to project management, which is why I'm much more receptive now than I was before. Credit to her for pointing that out. ❤️

I just don't want to hop out of the frying pan into the fire, you know what I mean?

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Exciting news about the mentoring, it sounds like it could be a great thing for you! Sometimes changing position can be just as good as changing company. 

Yeah, especially since they cut down on my new case assignments while I'm mentoring! That alone would make the promotion worth it.

3 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Yay! What's a southpaw?

"Southpaw" is a colloquial term for a striker (boxer) who is left-hand dominant as opposed to right-hand. Generally, that means they stand different than normal and they feed different "looks" to you that you have to account for and react/respond differently to.

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Goal: 19.5/22

Cool, all right, gonna catch this up.

Cleaning up has happened and while I can't really say much about the main living space where my main computer is, the work space is remarkably cleaner and feels better. I rewarded myself on Saturday with a trip to the hardware store and bought a 11-in-1 screwdriver. This is the first step in me building a dedicated toolbox rather than me just going at it haphazardly depending on what breaks when. Felt good to get out and get that done. Makes the whole long term project feel more real.

I'm not sure what my next tool is yet because I'm thinking of a utility knife, but I might already have one and I just need to care better for it? Worth researching a bit. I'll give myself the gift of a deadline and say this has to be done by Saturday, assuming I keep up with my clean-up.

Managed to make it out to the mats the past couple of days. Got to work on my escapes against someone who didn't want me to escape and pulled it off, which was awesome! Not sure if I want to stick to that more for a bit or if I want to move on to the next kind of escapes; if I was making mat time more it'd be a no-brainer since I'd just focus on hitting that as much as I could for like a month before moving on, but I'm not regular enough for that to be a thing that I should just assume is going to work out, so. Decisions, decisions.

Speaking of, this week is the last week of budgeted OT before it cuts off, so I'll be working late this week to make sure that happens. We'll see what happens next month; I'm hoping that they'll give us more  than 10 hours/week so that, hypothetically, I can do mat time at noon and do my lifting in the evening with a clear conscience. But it remains to be seen.

Goal: 14.5/17

Was about yesterday, but not necessarily on my own topic. Need to figure out what the balance is in terms of being here and checking in on folk. Feel like I'm a touch closer to the balance that I want, although I can't say with absolute certainty.

But, uh, yeah.

Hit another gray area with the training. The way the ATG programs were working - that I was doing, they're not all like this - is that it was 5 days a week on the weekdays with the weekends off. I'm playing a little more casually with that - 5 days, 3 knee-focused and 2 upper-body focused - but letting rest days come as they do. Hit the end of the first 5-day block and the next day I had the chance to start another. But I figured I should give myself a rest day between those 2 since it'd be 2 knee-focused days in a row and I thought that volume would be a bit harder to take. So I took a rest and instead got out on the mats for striking work. Getting away from the job and into a space where I was doing something I liked was really good for me, even if I felt a little clumsy. Lot of high-volume work in a three-partner circle with a newbie and a southpaw. Definitely crossed some wires, but that kind of focus and problem-solving and wayfinding was a lot of fun. I've missed it.

Some job drama resolved yesterday in a way that I'm not satisfied with but confirms a lot of what I think about how this place works. It's useful, although I don't know how to make use of it yet. Might just be something to hold on to for next time. As well as the knowledge that there will be a next time no matter what I do about it.

I also got word from my boss that if I keep up with the work, I may be up for another promotion in 6 months. In addition to the pay bump, it would also mean more mentorship opportunities, a prospect that I'm surprised to find excites me. I'd specifically be mentoring folk who are like what I used to be, with high caseloads and no way out. I've benefitted from that kind of thing before, and there is a part of me that wants to pay it forward. That'd be neat. We'll see what happens.

Got to bed relatively on time last night but I must have needed sleep. I got up with my alarm, used the restroom, went back to bed to close my eyes for a bit and woke up a couple hours later. Guess my body got what it needed though; I feel great.  Cheerful and with a proper sense of what deserves emotional investment.

I'm going to hit some leg work today. Dunno what that means in terms of mat time tonight. We'll see.

I'm sorry for your loss. You sound like you're bearing it well, but it must be borne, and I sympathize with you for that.

And hey, glad to hear that the cancer wasn't able to sneak by with your parent. That fight is winnable, and I will be rooting for you from here.

11 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I did! I started going backwards but using only one part of my foot, trying to move as softly as possible and not kathunking all over. Surprisingly tricky, especially on the heels. Then I did the same with duckwalks, but I quickly got distracted and started spinning around instead. I don't remember what else I did. But I had fun experimenting.

Cool! Glad to hear that the strange things I talk about here let you have some fun.

11 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

To be blunt, from what I've been reading your workplace seems to mostly suck and they treat you like shit. It reminds me of my old job. As I see it changing jobs wouldn't be an impulsive emotional response as it's been brewing for many, many months. It might make sense to work there either if the work itself was amazingly awesome/important, or if they payed you loads and you could restrict it for a fixed time. But is it really worth your mental and physical wellbeing? 

Well, to be really blunt, nobody gets out of life alive, and no job is going to care about my mental and physical wellbeing beyond what it takes for me to be productive. That's going to be true no matter where I go, so it doesn't make sense to just jump away from where I am and have faith that things will somehow magically be better wherever I land. That's just not a thing.

A job change can be a reasonable response to things, but I don't think I'll be served well if I do it as a reaction to a particularly acute bout of suck on the job's part.

42 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

 

Those are all things worth holding on too. the trick is to recognize when the job demands so much that it stop being worth the stress and the long-term effects that stress will have. But you knew that already, so I'll shut up now.  

But you're right, though! Jumping to another job because of my frustration is an emotional response, but so is staying because of fear of loss.

So, gotta figure out what I've got and what I can get and if it's worth it or not. I figure, go about it slow and sober-like, right?

2 hours ago, Mistr said:

Yay for having a good time at the retreat in spite of challenges!

2 minutes ago, Everstorm said:

Glad no-sleep didn't derail your weekend. Sounds like it was a good one!

Thanks, y'all! Yeah, it was pretty dope. I like the people I hung out with and I spent my days doing stuff I wanted to do.

2 hours ago, Mistr said:

I have found that earplugs and an eye mask are essential for me sleeping in strange places. I strongly dislike using both of them, but they are better than the alternative. 

Yeah, those might not be a bad idea for next time no matter what next time looks like.

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

My sympathy on the job woes. So much suck.

 

In a sane world, your department would have enough people to handle the caseload so that people could take the time off they are promised as part of their compensation package. 

In a sane world, I would contend that the department wouldn't exist at all. 😈

As it is, my unit's fully staffed, but there's only a few of us who are trained in such a way to work the cases that I was assigned while I was out. And it so happens that I took time when the other 2 people who are trained on my case types were out for their own reasons, so one of my bosses was stuck opening up all of our cases and working the loads. Frankly, I think the powers that be could have stopped our assignments and ought to do so whenever we have situations like this come up because as it stands - and as I've complained here before, and I'm sure you remember - we are basically penalized for it whenever we use any of the benefits we're supposedly entitled to.

Like I have all this vacation time that I never use, and while it rolls over to sick time, that never applies because I can just work from home if sick. I use my sick leave now for dr's appointments and mental health days, and it's never good to use it because in those cases, nobody helps with my caseload at all so I'm stuck making up the lost day all by myself.

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

The skills you have developed in communication and case handling could easily be transferred to project management at a private company. Just sayin.

2 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

No need to do anything about it right now, but keep that resume current...  

Hmm. That is a thought. Definitely worth looking into. I think I'm paranoid about losing my insurance and pension, as well as the public servant student loan forgiveness, but OTOH I'd boost my pay by about 30-50%, and that is not insignificant.

Not something to rush into until I have a sober grasp of the facts of my situation and what I'd be getting into. But definitely worth looking at, and not a direction I thought to go in. Thanks for that. 

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Goal: 13.5/16

Percentages are looking better! I keep this up, I'll be taking inventory of my tools and taking a trip to Lowe's to get what I need for what I gotta get done with around here.

Think my sleep deficit is doing better. Woke up and felt human for the first time in the past few days. Kind of groggy, but the normal amount. Trained late last night because I got an itch to do so, so I did arms and some elbow-specific ATG rehab. Trying to play around some with what my elbow can handle and what it can't. The rehab stuff thankfully doesn't set anything off but I'm doing ring rows and assisted dips and something in that combination is aggravating my elbow some. It's actually kind of hard to parse just what exactly is, so the plan is to play with range of motion and figure out what doesn't hurt. Stay there for a good 12 weeks or so and then reassess.

The only bad part about today from that perspective was that I was up in the morning too late to do all the morning stuff I wanted to do. Did most of it, but didn't train, and I prioritize that over mat time since it helps me feel better. So no mat time tonight, even though it was possible since my friends were off for the evening. Boooo.

OTOH, weight's down below 90kg for the second time in the past few weeks. Kind of surprised that caloric restriction is working. Figured out, though, that I wasn't using my scale properly and finally managed to set it down some place so that it would give me consistent measurements. That's... really gratifying to know.

I'll do some knee/leg work tonight and call it, I think.

3 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I just realized that if Houseguest stays until the 20th, Dave leaves on the 21st for two weeks, leaving me with no alone time with him to decompress after the extended visit. Argh. 

That sounds deeply frustrating. I wish things were better, but it sounds like you're dealing with it as well as you can be given the circumstances. The idea that there's more to endure beyond the time of this houseguest... I'd feel that in my chest if I were in your position.

It sounds like you're making the most of what time you have and that you're doing the best you could under the circumstances. You seem to have good control over the things you can control, and you seem to be working these for as much good as you can. That's awesome. Sorry you're going to have to endure more past the point that you wanted to, but you're tough, and you can do it.

And we're here to give you space and grace for it as you need. ❤️

Goal: 12.5/15

83.3%. Repeating, of course~.

Howdy, folks! Back up north after retreating down south for to write.

It was mostly an awesome time. I got a ton of work done and I learned a lot about what it takes for me to feel good about life. I think I've ironed out a morning routine that will help me with that, although it's been hard to implement the past couple of days because I didn't really sleep the 2 days I was down.

Which means I've been going to bed early and getting up relatively late to make up that wee little deficit I picked up.

Why didn't I sleep? I mean, I've always had trouble sleeping when traveling or when in new environs. And in this instance, I stayed in my friend's apartment. He only had a particularly uncomfortable couch to sleep on with lots of external light and the noise of his snoring to keep me up. About all I could do was just rest my eyes for 8 hours, which... wasn't fun.

But the retreat was not defined by this! This retreat was very different from last time because we had twice as many people. 1st morning was supposed to be free and clear but my friend I was staying with got called into the library because he forgot to get someone to cover his opening shift. We got there and found that everything was covered and the place hadn't burnt down, so we took a long walk in Charleston to go to a breakfast spot to meet the other friends.

After that, the day was meditation, free-writing, then project/draft work all day with breaks for chess, which I contend is not a break at all given how much energy that uses up. Saturday was more of the same before we had to get on the road. The drive back was pretty painful given how tired I was, but I made it back safe and sound.

Sunday, I got up and went to roll, which was fun. Went to visit my folks in the afternoon. Dad did steaks on the grill because he thought I had worked very had and deserved it, which, just. ❤️

Anyway, that brings me to today. The job still sucks and I'm not going to get any OT for last week because I didn't work a full week, so the extra hours I worked are basically just folded in. And I was deprived today of a tool/process I was using to close cases more easily for no real reason at all. So, the job still sucks. But that's nothing new.

Haven't really eaten yet today. Hm. Need to do something about that.

11 hours ago, Sovalis said:

I really hope it ends up being refreshing and amazing and everything you need it to be. 

Me too! It already helps that I didn't have to get up to go do my job this morning.

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Goal: 9.5/12

Got through the job last night. Got messaged by my boss that one of my other coworkers is going to be out the next couple of days too, so they're gonna have a chaotic time managing our caseloads. I actually do feel for her with that. The job assigns cases to analysts regardless of whether they're there to work those cases or not. It's part of the reason I have such a hard time taking time away from the job; everyone's getting smashed all the time and nobody's ever really able to help as much as help is really needed. It used to be that every day off I took meant I'd have three days of work to catch back up. Thankfully, I've got a lot better since then, and I can get it done in one now, but it's a hell of a damn day to come back to between phone calls from sick and hurting claimants and so many emails from the bosses and the call center about how everything's on fire and this thing needed to be done yesterday.

My friends did offer to postpone the retreat when we were first planning it, but I was actually the one who pressed them to keep it here and now, when things are this bad, because they're always this bad, and later will be worse because I'll have less money (I'm only paid once a month) and still have all this shit to come back to. So, might as well do it now.

But like I said, waking up this morning without the job to do was the first step of this retreat being worthwhile.  Didn't get up in time to get training done since I'm going to be playing chauffeur for one of my friends, so I gotta go pack and get on the road. I did get some training done last night - push ups, scap pull ups, band pull aparts, and a bunch of stuff for my elbows. Did the elbow movements without any kind of weight which actually felt kind of silly, but also made the tendons feel nice and warm instead of that icy lightning feeling when they're mad at me. The move, again, is to add reps nice and slow.

And today would have been another day of hamstring training, but it'll keep. And anyway, it gives me more time to suss out the nuances of hamstring training to make sure that when I come back, I don't get hurt again. I already know that Ben Patrick, Mr. Toes, doesn't push for doing certain movements more than one time per week, which makes me think that I need to start approaching hamstring work as having one working set with lots of warm up sets to get to the weight I'm trying to move. Which is a long term problem to worry about since ATM I'm just moving with light weight, like not even 45 lbs.

It's just something to keep thinking about. I'll have time.

13 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

This reasoning makes absolutely no sense to me, but it's a great idea for my weird gym antics. 😄

Then give it a shot. See what happens.

4 hours ago, Mistr said:

I think your new training program makes sense. Having happier knees is a great thing.

I'm certainly enjoying it!

4 hours ago, Mistr said:

I get it about being happy for NC State winning against bigger schools. I have been in Ames when Iowa State played Univ. of Iowa, and you could hear the cheering a mile from the stadium.

I bet! It's kind of novel around here.

*

Goal: 8.5/11

Got back late last night and elected to focus on getting down early rather than train and wake myself up. Guess I get to explore the gray area this week as far as programming goes. I originally had an idea that I would do some upper body stuff and the lower body stuff both today, but decided against it because sticking to schedule like that would leave me under-rested for any kind of potential work tomorrow.

Not much to say about today. It's just been work and do a little cleaning. I keep telling myself I'm going to train, but the job keeps being more important, so it's eating up my time. It's frustrating to have stuff I want to do and not be able to despite ostensibly being allowed to do so.

Between that and the sense that I'm working really, really hard to get nowhere, I'm actually pretty frustrated today, and that frustration's coloring my perceptions of a lot including the next couple days. Going off on retreat doesn't feel like fun right now; it just feels like more work. Which, to be fair, it is, but it's work I actually want to do with people I like, and that's... hard for me to remember at the moment. But I'm trying.

Besides, if I caved to my emotions and tried to back out now, what would be the point of everything I gave up to get here? It's not like it'll be better later. It'll actually be worse. So, best to just put my head down and get done what's gotta get done.

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Boo about the strain, but it's cool that you've learned enough to spot issues in programming!

Yeah, just not wise enough to do something about it before it's too late.

*

Goal: 7.5/10

Not there yet. It's gonna be a tight squeeze if I don't keep up with this. But I have got back on track the past couple days, and my place is looking better as I go. Or at least a bit more organized.

Yesterday was also the 1st day of the new lifting program! I'm kind of building the plane in the air as I fall, but so far I think it's OK?

So, the idea of this program if summed up in a single sentence is: "Balanced strength at length built from the ground up." Basically, it's about getting strong on as many possible ends of a given movement as one possibly can, with the idea being to build and remodel tendons and muscles literally from the toes and ankles on up. To give you an example, ATG folk would say that we do plenty of walking forward, but we don't do enough walking backward, so backwards mobility is a huge component of warming up and mobilizing tissues. From there, with the feet warmed up, you move on to tibial raises and calf raises, with the idea being to do these both straight and bent if possible.

It carries on from there. And I'm not spreading anything that they haven't talked about publicly on their channels already. For me, this came out looking like:

-Reverse Farmer's Carries

-Kettlebell Tib Raises

-Straight Leg Calf Raise

-Bent Leg Seated Kettlebell Calf Raise

-Touchdown Single Leg Squat

-ATG Split Squat

-Nordic Hamstring Curl

-L-sit Practice

-Single Leg Wall Sits

-Stretch/Cooldown

Takes about an hour to do, but that's about what the ATG programs normally take. The big idea with most of these is to get to 2-3 sets of 25 each. There's no hurry. Greater priority is on getting there without any of my joints hurting and with real emphasis on mastery of whatever weight I'm working with.

Too soon to say if it's any good or not, but it's a good start and no complaints yet.

Was hoping to do some upper body stuff today, but I got up late and the job snared me before I could get to it. Gotta stay late tonight at the office and then it'll be off to sci fi night. Could save the training for tomorrow but I don't really want to. Although, that kind of scheduling flexibility is a gray area now, isn't it? I mean, after all, if I miss in the morning and it's acceptable to skip, then I could go to BJJ and it not be any kind of issue at all. But that could lead to me neglecting my training here and getting banged up more, which is the thing I'm trying to solve.

I dunno how it's gonna work out yet. But this is the week for catching as catch can, it seems.

5 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

 

I'm there. I had one final frustration and started crying. Not a normal day.

I mean, all the Little Problems being part of a gestalt phenomenon known as A Problem is legit.