ZachPSU

New hobbies picked up the past 5 months? - Mr. Dadding for my 5 month old and 3.5 year old while my wife wins all of the bread and I seek gainful employment. Least favorite exercise? - Squats (back high or low bar) Favorite video game and why? - FF7? Just a lot of nostalgia, was my first RPG when I was a kid, got it for Christmas while at my grandparents out of state, read the instruction booklet about a thousand times before I could get home to play it. What are you reading? - Nothing sadly, someday soon I hope to have time to read again. Thing you're looking forward to doing again once things calm down? - Just the little things, not running back to the car for the mask, going out to eat with little forethought or planning, not stripping my toddlers clothes off in the hallway before he comes into the house from daycare. Thing you're dreading doing once things calm down? - Small talk. I hate small talk with people so thats been one nice thing about the relative solitude.

Okay, time for a (monthly)-ish review. STRENGTH: 2x BW Deadlift for 1x5. Deadlift 245 1x5. Accomplished. Switched workout program completely immediately after accomplishing this. DEXTERITY: Pain with resisted tricep extension reduced to 0/10. (Resting pain is currently 0/10, passive stretching pain would be about a 2/10. Active it's about a 3/10, with a hangover around 2/10 for 30 mins or so after activity). -Currently 0/10. "Discomfort" when adding some pushing exercises back into the mix, but the discomfort doesn't linger past the end of the set. If it starts to creep back in I will know I need to back it off again. Tendonitis can be a finnicky mistress. CONSTITUTION: Get the diet back on track. I ate like garbage the past 10 days or so stressing about the exam and now coming off of the exam. I haven't flown off the rails, but I've slipped some. I'd say I am succeeding here now. Back on FitnessPal for about 2 weeks pretty religiously. I'm eating on a 400 calorie deficit and I've adjusted my workout away from linear progression/incremental load training for strength to a less volume-intense maintainenace program so that I'm not absolutely murdering my recovery with the deficit. I'm definitely hungry and get a little hangry around the 5-7 period around dinner time in the evening with the kids losing their minds etc., but aside from that I'm doing fine. No noticable changes quite yet but I've only been on the deficit for about 7 days, my first week on MFP was to just see where I was. INTELLIGENCE: TBD, might need some remediation here if I didn't pass boards. Just giving myself green here for no other reason than to bask in the glory of passing boards. Not assigning anything new here. WISDOM: I will knock off items from the giant to-do list (picture incoming), at least one item per day. - Been destroying this to-do- list still. Only thing left on the original is the restraining cords and that's because we are going to move the camera in my toddlers room to the other side of the wall when we drop the front of the crib to convert it to his toddler bed, and will need a different sort of restrain at that time. CHARISMA: Get a fucking job! This doesn't just hinge on passing boards. Even if I didn't pass, I need to get something out of the field to get some income. We cannot go another 3 months on one income. -- Okay, so heres the deal. New York State can f themselves. So they furloughed 3 of the 4 people who work in the office that processes the licensure applications for allied health professions (the full gambit from MD to PT/OT/SLP... maybe nursing too, I'm not sure on nursing.). Apparently this work also cannot be done from home. So despite passing my boards well over a month ago, my actual license for NYS might be approved "tomorrow, or in a few weeks". I've been calling every 2 days to advocate for myself and get my name pushed through hoping the guy gets tired of hearing from me. A staffing agency that wants to place me is calling now too on my behalf. So, hoping that gets sorted quickly. I can still work on a temporary permit sort of deal, but it requires a modest lift from a PT who then has to co-sign all of my notes and shadow me essentially. So, it's not ideal. Also, NYS will make me pay the fee to work on the temp permit (80 bucks) while they sit on their thumbs with months of backlogged applications because they are too archaic to make this something that can be done on a work-from-home basis. /soapbox off. Overall a lot of success this challenge. I haven't been here much but I've been pretty busy with the homestead. I'm thinking about what I want my next challenge to include and it might be more suited to another guild, might not. But I'll be around

On schedule-ish. It's hard to get the bigger projects done because those blocks of time needed (hour here or there) don't exist in my current setup. Baby girl has decided to shorten all of her naps to 48 minutes (precisely). Still chipping away and none of it is super critical stuff at this point (except getting a job). Yes, I'm accepting a per diem position today that pays pretty well. I turned down a full time opportunity last week because the pay was pretty awful, the per diem gig works out to be double the pay (if I ever worked a full schedule, which is not likely with per diem, but possible with vacations, etc). With the market continuing to bounce back, the full time jobs are quickly snatched up by seasoned PTs who have lost their other jobs due to furlough/restructuring of healthcare models in this area. We also got a "caution flag" for our region in New York yesterday, so we'll see how that plays out if cases continue to spike here. The place I'm taking the per diem job is one of the homes that got hit pretty hard here back in March. So, I've been slammed with interviews and watching baby during the day and then baby+toddler in the evening, wife and I just collapse on the couch at the end of the day. Our summer guilty pleasure TV is usually the CBS reality show "Big Brother", but this season is so disappointing already that we are watching an older season on the CBS app. I hope everyone is doing well, I have some phone calls to return and some t's to cross and i's to dot in regards to the per diem gig so I need to run off but wanted to post that I am alive. Keep on keeping on!

I'm actually dragging the bar a whole lot less than I used to on my legs, years ago I used to wear skin guards/tape on my shins because I would break the skin. I think getting my shoulders over the bar at the start has distanced the bar just slightly from my legs so that with my arm/leg/torso dimensions, I get just touch-and-go contact most of the movement. I do notice that I am bending my knees more than I think I am as I setup the lift, it's easy to nitpick but overall my DL feels much more secure and I am more confident, not apprehensive at all with the weight increases to this point.

My only thought, and Im nit picking probably because it isnt truly my max yet or anything, the descent, particularly in the last 2 reps of the 205 video, looks like 2 separate movements, instead of one polished smooth movement. Looks normal enough to not overanalyze? If these are looking good I will reupdate when I fail a rep, within the next few weeks probably with +20lbs/week

Ressurecting this for any pointers as I have passed bodyweight and the weight is getting about to where I'm maybe 2-3 weeks away from a failed rep. I'm including 2 videos here, I'd appreciate your eyes for details I might be missing @Hazard, @Defining, @Harriet. My setup and initial pull has felt 100x more natural, safer, and reduced LBP with the tips of grabbing for the bar w/o bending the knees. However, I'm starting to feel like on my descent with the bar, I'm maybe not getting my hips back far enough? It is probably more evident on the second video. Current weight: 165, first video is last warmup set at 155, and then last video is working weight of 205. Edit: Sorry, for some reason my whole walk-up is included for the second video, didn't save any of my trimmings. It's still under a minute though so I didn't bother trying to re-trim and re-upload.

Theres no time like a Monday fresh off of a week when you are looking to make a change. You can do it!

Nice!

Yes, this sort of PT helps us all look good! Glad you had a good one, and good luck with the progression you are tracking in the chinup thread.

Okay, time for a weekly-ish review. STRENGTH: 2x BW Deadlift for 1x5. Deadlift 245 1x5. I changed this because I actually did the math and, with my current progression, even if I don't miss a lift ( adding 10 lbs per DL, DLing 2xweekly, I will top out at 255 by challenge end. Current BW is around 165, so thats a decent mark off of 2x BW. Set new goal at 245, that gives me wiggle room to have one bad deadlift day where I don't hit my mark. DEXTERITY: Pain with resisted tricep extension reduced to 0/10. (Resting pain is currently 0/10, passive stretching pain would be about a 2/10. Active it's about a 3/10, with a hangover around 2/10 for 30 mins or so after activity). - For now I'd say this is improving. I've made more progress from simply resting it than doing any low load eccentric work, but I have been doing some work on it every few days. Pain is probably currently a 0/10 rest, 1/10 passive stretch, and 1/10 active extension. CONSTITUTION: Get the diet back on track. I ate like garbage the past 10 days or so stressing about the exam and now coming off of the exam. I haven't flown off the rails, but I've slipped some. Let myself enjoy some takeout with the family, and last night ate sushi and brownies and ice cream with some other family to celebrate the passing of the boards. Making good choices for late night snacking for the most part. Could've had seconds on brownie and ice cream last night but went with hot tea instead. INTELLIGENCE: TBD, might need some remediation here if I didn't pass boards. Just giving myself green here for no other reason than to bask in the glory of passing boards. Not assigning anything new here. WISDOM: I will knock off items from the giant to-do list (picture incoming), at least one item per day. - Been destroying this to-do- list. Did a big one over the past 2 days in shampoo the carpets. Had my parents in town to watch my toddler and then wife and I moved all the furniture room by room and did the floors. CHARISMA: Get a fucking job! This doesn't just hinge on passing boards. Even if I didn't pass, I need to get something out of the field to get some income. We cannot go another 3 months on one income. -- Okay, buckling down here now. Got a few applications out this week, going to put a few more out as soon as possible. It's not a fantastic market right now in my area, but it should be rebounding soon. It's mostly per diem work being posted right now which is frustrating but better than nothing. I just hate the unknown with it, that I don't know until that morning where I might be working. I like establishing a connection to my patients, not just being a sub. We will see what happens but right now cash is cash.

This is all. Most of my classmates that passed are celebrating by slamming some serious shots and drinks this evening. I celebrated by deep-cleaning my toddlers booster seat and then having a Thomas the tank engine race with his wooden trains, and I wouldnt have it any other way (also because I used up my liver too fast in college and drinks just don't agree with me anymore). Thank you everyone for all of your support. Now to get a job!

Had to ask the wife, she is the chief architect of the list. It means to secure the cords in toddlers room so he can have more independent play in there, but part of me likes your idea too? Lol

Yeah, in general it takes them so long to vet items for the exam that the exam tests 'best practices' from 5-6 years ago in most cases anyway, so the cutting edge stuff and current flavor of the month in the rehab world will never make it there, well, not until 5-6 years after it is relatively forgotten or abandoned lol. Smallpox though, well, that was more than 5 years ago so I'm not sure on why that was there. I have alot of Canadian students in my cohort (we are close enough that they'd commute across the border for classes), and the Canadian boards are like a 2 day event but way more practical, and includes alot of demonstration and patient interview/roleplay things which are WAY MORE MEANINGFUL than being a good multiple choice test taker and testing recall. Put me in a room and let me talk to someone and use my hands and work with them to figure out whats going on any day.

Next time someone is backseat assembling, begin shouting at the screw to inquire if it feels you have stripped it of its screwiness or bolthood, and demand that the backseat assembler answer for the hardware in a high pitched voice.

Here for the bean recipies We skipped them this year in our garden and tried a new eggplant variety instead. Nice job on the side plank!

Attaching said to-do list. As you can see, its massive. So far I have managed to fix 2 small electrical problems with my wifes car and move around some toddler clothes with wifes close supervision.

Hello Rebels, As the name implies, some of these goals will depend on some news I will receive in a week or two. Anyone following along knows my entire last challenge pretty much hinged on passing my boards for licensure as a DPT. I sat for boards on 7/29 and holy hell did that test suck. Felt like jumping headfirst into a wood chipper. 250 questions ranging from arbitrary practically erradicated illnesses (Smallpox) to parameters down to the frequency and amplitude for modalities nobody really uses in clinics in most cases (ultrasound, for example). So, in essence, I shot my shot and it definitely wasn't a 'swish'. The ball is coming off the backboard, and it might bounce in, or it might bounce out. Retakes for boards are in 3 months, but hopefully that doesn't matter and I get the good news here in a week or so that I passed. I will throw a big fucking party in a post if I pass. Talked to a bunch of my classmates afterwards, most of them younger and smarter than me, and certainly all of them had better sleep leading up to it (courtesy of being a young 20-something without 2 small children crammed into your COVID confined household). Just about everyone feels like it sucked, but the test is designed to just beat you down, so, it remains to be seen. Thankfully I have a giant fucking list of projects around the house that has accumulated to keep me busy and avoiding dwelling on some of the questions that really stumped me, or looking up answers to them and then being miserable about it. STRENGTH: 2x BW Deadlift for 1x5. DEXTERITY: Pain with resisted tricep extension reduced to 0/10. (Resting pain is currently 0/10, passive stretching pain would be about a 2/10. Active it's about a 3/10, with a hangover around 2/10 for 30 mins or so after activity). CONSTITUTION: Get the diet back on track. I ate like garbage the past 10 days or so stressing about the exam and now coming off of the exam. INTELLIGENCE: TBD, might need some remediation here if I didn't pass boards. WISDOM: I will knock off items from the giant to-do list (picture incoming), at least one item per day. CHARISMA: Get a fucking job! This doesn't just hinge on passing boards. Even if I didn't pass, I need to get something out of the field to get some income. We cannot go another 3 months on one income. May the force be with us all! Good vibes appreciated for boards results!

Boards have been hit. I feel like death and like I probably failed, which is what they say you are supposed to feel afterwards. Begin 10 (business) day wait period for results. Gonna have a new challenge thread up soon once I have some goals sorted out. For now it is bingeing Netflix and eating snacks.

Indeed, thanks for checking in. My practice tests have been on the border each time I've taken them, so I've been buckled down and studying hard, otherwise distancing myself from all forms of distractions! The big day is next Wednesday, positive vibes appreciated!

Canadian Geese? The ones here are all assholes!

God I wish there was DFCS approved toddler buckles for indoor restraint taht didnt cause psychological trauma lol

I grew up spending alot of my childhood in Georgia, at a military base just coastal enough to get hot AF, and just inland enough that the coastal breeze ran outta steam just before getting to us. Humid and hot sucks. Im in the northeast now in NY and its been like high 80s low 90s here and humid for a few days and people are starting to blame political leaders lol

Yeah really. My old CIs are in the same boat in the inpatient settings I was in. Not a great system but I guess its what we are working with right now. Wow thats a decent amount of hours. For my DPT program we only needed 30 hours of observation/shadow to apply. Or is this a sort of practical/internship/preceptorship thing? I supervised 2 undergrad students at my last clinic who were doing a 400 hour internship which was just crazy with how limited they technically are in touching patients. I did my best to let them use their brains and help but lots of red tape. Are you able to at least do more than clean, grab supplies etc?

Do they have a rapid test for you guys? Where I am, the tests are about 7-10 days to wait. But hey, at least you'll be immune to nasal swabs by the end of getting your hours done. How many more left?

Okay guys, took the practice test today. Mixed feelings. Some data porn to follow from my results page. I am essentially teetering right on the passing mark today. That's good, I guess since I will be taking it in 2 weeks and have that time to pad weak areas (g*ddamn Cardiopulm). However, with all the other craziness going on, I need to zen myself the f out and really hunker down on this. I will be here significantly less, but I will keep some updates rolling! Appreciate the good vibes and I will check in on your challenges too. Total Score and breakdown by professional item area: Score breakdown by subject area (Cardiopulm is not red here because hearts and blood share that color in most pictures, it's red because I was terribad at it): Finally, scores by section of the test (interesting because I was dragging during the 3rd and 5th sections and it shows. Didn't realize I was on fire in the 4th though! lol