chri5tina

Reporting back! I babied it for a week, and the location of the discomfort moved from the inside of my wrist to the backside, still pinky side. Didn't do any push-up-like positions (bent wrist and load bearing). Got impatient and did some deadlifts and power cleans last night... and all went well! It had been bothering me a bit before I lifted, and the discomfort actually subsided post-lift. I was uncertain how it would take a front rack position for the cleans, but it didn't bother it during or after (I tested the position first with just the bar). I think the mousing issue had to do with poor form (bent wrist resting on mouse pad rather than straight elevated wrist, see top left "wrong" illustration in the picture); I used the eraser from my whiteboard to support my wrist and force it to be straight and it didn't bother me any more. My yoga instructor also noted the tendency that I, and people in general have, to collapse outward and put more pressure on the pinky side of the hand rather than supporting weight on all "four corners" of the hand i.e. evenly distributing weight over the whole hand. So, progress in the right direction!

Somehow I have managed to anger my right wrist. It started in yoga the week before camp. During camp it didn't bother me, but I came home, went to yoga again and it blew up at me. Initially it was the heel of my hand hurting (pinky side), but then the pain moved to my wrist, pinky side still. It didn't want to be bent in a push up like position and bear weight. It also got very offended at the idea of false grip on the rings. Then it started hurting while using my mouse at work. I've got it in a brace now, I've been icing it, and just took some ibuprofen. But tonight is a lifting night, and I want to lift, but without making things worse. So the strategy I have in mind is to avoid "push" type things, like push up, bench press, overhead press, and to do "pull" type things like deadlifts, pull ups, and rows. I'm debating squats, because there is no squat rack in my gym, so I have to clean anything first in order to do front squats, and I don't know how my wrist will tolerate a front racked position. You know what, pistol squats are probably the way to go here. Does anyone have experience with this type of thing? Does anyone's experience tell them that trying to lift things with my hands is a bad idea, even if I try to compensate by avoiding certain exercises? Or will it be potentially good for me? Suggestions for exercises I can do while avoiding aggravating my wrist?

Phew, super late, but whatever. Adopting the daily habit of stretching has been tough, but I'm getting better and I'm still at it. Now I also have an accountabilibuddy, who is also working on mobility/stretching, and having to personally admit to someone that I missed a day helps a lot towards getting it done. What I learned from this challenge is that when I don't have a routine, like on weekdays, I tend to forget about it, like on weekends. This applies to a lot of behaviors, so I'm going to think about how to create a weekend routine, which will aid me in remembering to complete certain tasks.

So! I have stretched consistently with only 4 failures in the past 3 weeks. 3 of those were in a row, and the result of conference + a cold + a conference roommate with a broken foot who needed my assistance with stuff, like not being alone going back to the hotel at night. That was August 30, 31 and September 1. Then I simply forgot last Friday, which was lame, no excuse for that one. Thus, I have stretched 19 of 23 days of the challenge so far, and I got measured again on Sunday.... 3 week mark crotch-to-floor measurements: 14.5 cm with right leg forward (0.5 cm improvement) 15.75 cm with left leg forward (-0.25 cm worsening) (assumed accuracy is +/-0.5 cm) So, improved on one leg and worse on the other? Really, they're both within the uncertainty of the 1st measurement, so we'll have to see where I'm at at the end of this week/the challenge! Got a little bumpy and distracted, but I do FEEL like I'm improving and getting more limber, even if my measurement isn't showing much yet... Onward to victory! And splits! (From 1990... did you guess 1990? Because... well... who wouldn't?)

Tuesday, August 23rd, Day 3 of Challenge: stretched!

I have a confession to make: Jean-Claude Van Damme was my first celebrity crush. (Okay, okay it may have been Harrison Ford as Han Solo, but... for the sake of this post, it was Van Damme). I think it was Universal Soldier that got my little 'tween heart all aflutter. It was long forgotten until recently I saw Bloodsport for the first time... And I remembered what all the fuss is about. If you haven't seen Bloodsport, it is basically a film dedicated to Jean-Claude Van Damme's ability to do the splits... ...and make ridiculous yelling faces... (This is me on Monday morning, ready to crush it (yeah, sure)) And there was a little of this... Now I'm just getting distracted.... My challenge is to stretch EVERY DAY, no skips, no excuses. (while channeling Jean-Claude as my inspiration) The goal is to work towards my front splits. I started on Sunday, I just didn't have a chance to post until now. I am 2 for 2 so far. I am going to use my crotch-to-floor distance as a metric for progress (with the help of my other half, cause I can't manage that measurement alone), and measure every week. I'm hoping I'll get a measurable change by the end of the challenge. Starting crotch-to-floor measurements: 15 cm with right leg forward 15.5 cm with left leg forward (assumed accuracy is +/-0.5 cm) And away we go!!!

Alright, just gonna wrap up the past week... Week 4 in review: 1) Drinking: succeeded 4 of 5 applicable nights, okay 2) Bedtime: got to bed by 10:15 pm 3 of 5 applicable nights, okay 3) Fitness plan: perfect! 4) Steps: I averaged 12k+ steps daily, but totally flubbed Sunday with only ~5k steps (sleeping in & cooking don't involve a lot of walking...): okay 5) Stretching: stretched 5 of 7 days, okay So this week is again an okay/acceptable, which I suppose translates in a C? Maybe I'll be charitable and call it a C+. Yeah, we'll go with that. Lessons learned: -Obvs getting to bed on time is the hardest thing, need to find a way to hack my evenings to get myself asleep on time. -The not drinking close to bedtime was hard to do perfectly, but overall not as tough as anticipated, yay! -Remembering to stretch consistently when not associated with a yoga or lifting session was tough. Figuring out how to remember it at other times will be the secret to making it a true habit. -It seems the physical activity portion of the challenge was the most straight forward for me. It's my behavioral challenges that seems to be the problem! I have a behavior problem?

Report for Monday, August 8 1) 1/4 of a drink exactly 2h before bed - okay 2) In bed by 10:15 on the nose - success! 3) Monday was a rest day 4) 9,899 steps - close enough, success! 5) kind of short stretch - okay Report for Tuesday, August 9 1) No drinks - success! 2) In bed by 10:35 - bad 3) Tuesday was a yoga day! 4) 10, 588 steps - success! 5) stretched, because yoga - success!

Alright, this past week fsrs got away from me, like oh no you didn't! I'm just going to do the week in review at this point. Week 3 in review: 1) Drinking: succeeded 4 of 5 applicable nights, okay 2) Bedtime: got to bed by 10:15 pm 3 of 5 applicable nights, okay 3) Fitness plan: Things got a little discombobulated, but ran 1x, lifted x1, yoga'd x1, and bike ride x1, shy a work out, but okay 4) Steps: I averaged 13k+ steps per day, but missed one day by almost 2k steps, still I'm going to give it a good 5) Stretching: stretched 5 of 7 days, okay Overall weekly score: A solid "okay". Best week so far with the bedtimes though!

Report for Friday, July 29 1) Last drink >2 hrs before bed 2) N/A on weekend 3) Friday was a rest day! 4) 11,562 steps - success! 5) feel asleep on the sofa and forgot - bad Report for Saturday, July 30 1) No drinks near bedtime (day drinking FTW) 2) N/A on weekend 3) Saturday was a yoga day! 4) 12,367 steps - success! 5) stretched, because yoga - success! Report for Sunday, July 31 1) No drinks near bedtime 2) In bed by 10:13 pm - success! (a first! omg why is this so hard?) 3) Sunday was a lifting day! 4) 9,095 - okay 5) stretched after lifting - success! Week 2 in review: 1) Drinking: Good! 2) Bedtime: Okay- (an improvement over week 1, but still not great) 3) Fitness plan: Perfect! 4) Steps: Acceptable 5) Stretching: Acceptable, stretched 5 of 7 days Overall weekly score: I'll give it a "good". Bedtimes continue to be a battle.

Report for Wednesday, July 27 1) No drinks - success! 2) In bed by 10:35 pm - bad 3) Wednesday was a yoga day! 4) 13,024 steps - success! 5) stretched because yoga - success! Report for Thursday, July 27 1) Beers! stopping at about 9:15pm - bad 2) In bed by 11:05 pm - bad 3) Thursday was a hashing day! 4) 19,785 - excellent 5) did not stretch - bad Obvs hashing clashes with several of my goals, but I figure if I can remember to get my stretch in anyway, and get to bed on time most other nights, it being the exception won't be so bad. So goal on hashing days: remember to stretch even though I will get stared at/bugged by hashers, and get to bed on time the rest of the week! Oh, and its Friday!

Report for Tuesday, July 26 1) No drinks - success! 2) In bed by 10:25 pm - okay 3) Tuesday was a lifting day! 4) 12,155 steps - success! 5) stretched - success! Still the bed time is the trickiest thing...

Report for Monday, July 25 1) No drinks - success! 2) In bed by 10:21 pm - okay 3) Monday was a rest day 4) 7,737 - bad 5) stretched - success! Bummer, first day I didn't hit my step goal, but overall not too bad. I cooked a rockin' dinner and several lunches, even after getting home late from work. (not a big Twilight fan, but honestly, I couldn't resist this gif)

Report for Friday-Sunday, July 22-24 It was a very hashy weekend, which means bedtimes & drinking rules go out the window... 1) N/A 2) N/A 3) Fri/Sat were running days, Sunday was a rest day 4) All three days involved a lot of running and walking (and swimming/wading) so I didn't wear my band, but I am certain I met/exceeded 10k 5) only managed to stretch on Saturday, not Friday or Sunday But I got a special treat on Sunday when I ran into the tail end of DC NF meet up on accident! Great to see you guys! So first week in review: 1) Drinking: Acceptable 2) Bedtime: Poor 3) Fitness plan: Acceptable, but not according to plan (1x lift, 3x running) 4) Steps: Great, met and exceeded goal every day 5) Stretching: Acceptable, stretched 5 of 7 days Overall weekly score: I'll give it an acceptable. Bedtimes are clearly the hardest thing for me so far.

Report for Thursday, July 21 1) Drinks ending at 9:30 pm - bad+* 2) In bed by 11:55 pm - bad** 3) Thursday was a hashing (running) day - success! 4) 18,698 steps - awesome! 5) stretched - success! *it's a hashing day, so actually, this isn't too bad (for a hashing day...) **final bits of last minute packing had to be done for the hash trip this weekend. Ah, to be organized enough to be packed the weekend before...

And here's where my challenge falls apart for a few days... Report for Wednesday, July 20 1) Drinks ending at 8:45 pm - okay* 2) In bed by 10:45 pm - bad 3) Wednesday was a rest day* 4) 12,496 steps - awesome! 5) a bit of a lame stretch, but a stretch none the less - acceptable * - my commute ended up being 2 HOURS LONG (one way! on the way home) because of WMATA's lovely repair surge (#5 is the worst! [so far]), and thus date night started late, creating a cascade of non-optimal, but since date night is just once a month, I'm being forgiving (and this is also why Wednesday is a rest day this week). Thursday is a hashing day, and this weekend is a hashing camp out, so I should still be getting exercise Thurs/Fri/Saturday in the form of running, I won't be sticking to my projected challenge schedule this week, but I'm going to do my best, and will hopefully get back to my regularly scheduled programming next week. ON-ON!

So you're right, I can see how that makes total sense for the back squat. I'm just imagining an awkward quasi-spooning situation occurring with one person is spotting from behind for someone doing front squats as they try to get the weight slowly back to the ground... awwwkward. And as you say, it doesn't really make sense anyway, since that's an easy-bail situation because the bar is in front. As an update, I saw dude-bro again last night. I didn't even let myself hesitate and spoke to him immediately after he showed up. It was something along the lines of "Please don't spot me unless I ask, an offer for a spot is welcome, but an un-requested spot is startling." And he said something like "okay, its all good." Honestly, from the look on his face when I was speaking, you'd think I wasn't speaking English, but whatever, I feel like I have discharged my duty in attempting to gym-socialize this guy.

Report for Tuesday, July 19 1) No drinks - success! 2) In bed by 10:21 - okay 3) Tuesday was a lifting day 4) 10,506 steps - success! 5) Got a solid stretch in post-lift

Thanks for the encouragement guys! Here's my report for yesterday: Monday, July 18th: 1) Had no drinks - success! 2) Bed by 10:20 pm - okay 3) Monday was a rest day! 4) 10,265 steps - success! 5) Only managed a quick stretch, but a stretch none-the-less - success! Not too shabby!

Sleep is my friend. Without a consistent average of 8 hours stuff starts to fall apart (and by stuff I mean me, and my health). I've recently done a bunch of research on the effects of alcohol on sleep and resolved that I should avoid drinking within 2 hours of bedtime. Now, with my long commute, then a work out once home, I'm then within 2 hours of bedtime, and thus, effectively I can't drink on weeknights if I adhere to this. Since I favor a beer or a glass of wine with dinner, this is a big shift for me, and potentially a tough one. And if I make this change permanent, it effectively means I'm basically a day drinker only, which I'm okay with. I'll just channel Blade (and take any helpful suggestions!) So that's the biggest thing, but there's a few others: Challenge goals: 1) No alcohol within 2 hours of bed 2) In bed by 10:15 pm weeknights 3) Maintain current exercise schedule of: Lift 2x, Yoga 2x, Run 1x per week (Mondays and Fridays being rest days) 4) 10k steps per day as measured by wearable fitness tracker 5) Stretch e'day (splits, I am gunning for you!) Onwards! C

Thanks guys. It's nice to have my surprise validated. I'll definitely make an effort to say something to him the next time I see him at the gym. And if anyone every tries something like that again they're going to get a much more direct response! Spotting a back squat from behind makes total sense to me, but from behind just seems like I wouldn't be able to get away from the weight if something went wrong...

I was doing barbell front squats when someone I hadn't ever seen at the gym before, referred to as "Dude Bro" from here on out, after staring at me do my set decided to offer me an UNREQUESTED spot for my lift on my 4th rep, FROM BEHIND (seriously? If I had to bail how would I be able to drop the weight?). WTF Dude Bro? but I am very non-confrontational when surprised, and so I was just like "Um, I got it, thanks." And then he did it for my fifth rep too! GAH! I have to say, this is a new one. I've met the brosaurus who offers me unwanted lifting advice, and the one who wants to run me off a piece of equipment that I'm using, but this is a first. And I'm certain that he wouldn't have done it if I were a dude, which is extra irritating. He didn't try it again after my first set, but if he had I was recovered enough to be like "No, don't do that again." Honestly though, if I see him again I feel like I should say something like "Hey, offering a spot is nice, but forcing a spot upon me is not cool, dig?" Should I? Should I say that? Or something else? (I want to say that happily, this guy is the exception. The number of guys who behave in an untoward fashion at the gym is vanishingly small.)

Some well meaning soul brought a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts to work and left them in the kitchen for general consumption. There was no one there to witness it, but I saw them, literally said "No.", and did a U-turn without slowing down. Not that I never consume doughnuts, or that I think they should always be avoided.... but I felt very proud of myself. I also found it kind of comical that my knee jerk reaction was to run away from pastries like they were an uncomfortable emotional situation...

I wanted to share this tribute that Anderson Cooper did for the victims of the massacre in Orlando. http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/13/us/anderson-cooper-reads-orlando-shooting-victims-names/ I wish there was more coverage of this kind happening. It made me cry, but I think it's important to mourn and honor the dead however we can. I wish there was something more that I could do.

Yes, wrap up post! Grade for Thursday, April 29: F Grade for Friday, April 30: B Overall average: 1.9 Grade: C- I was hoping for a B, but it looks like I was over ambitious. But! Considering how most nights before the challenge would have been graded "F", a C- is still a significant improvement. And technically a passing grade? But barely. I think this is just a matter or repetition, and building the habit of starting the preparations for bed sooner. If I were to do this particular challenge again, I'd make the grading scale continuous instead of tiered, once I missed a particular grade, I tended to screw around for up to just shy of the next grade, which is not a helpful behavior.