Snow vs. Graduate School

[Snow]

I've been practicing my stern stare! Hope you're still kicking ass and taking names!!

Hahaha! Thanks Hero!! I've been trying to keep up with everyone's posts, but this past week was so crazy at work, it was all I could do to meet my own goals.

 

 

She lives!!!

 

Awesome pics. That's a lot of burpees. 

Yup, still here! Thanks for checking on me! :-)

 

The lesson I learned from last week is that my goals are really helpful-- when shit hit the fan, I was able to rely on my new schedule to get through and it definitely helped.

[Meta]

The lesson I learned from last week is that my goals are really helpful-- when shit hit the fan, I was able to rely on my new schedule to get through and it definitely helped.

That's awesome that your schedule is helping you so much!

 

Great job on week 2 - and those are some awesome pics!

[TheHalfie]

Snow, my fellow NerdyGirl, you are KILLING it out there. Those Krav Maga pics are sick!

[Hero]

If you come back with anything less than a video of you fighting a bear I will be sad ahahahaha. Jokes aside, hope you're having fun in the woods! Can't wait to hear your week three report!

[Snow]

Week 3 Summary:

 

Goal 1: Gym 4x a week (2+krav maga training) 125%

This week's krav maga sessions stressed aggression and endurance. Monday's class emphasized being able to react to attacks with force (rather than the natural tendency to recoil). On Tuesday, I ran and lifted heavy things at the gym. Wednesday's class emphasized endurance...i.e. non-stop kicks and strikes for an hour with proper form (or you had to do sit-ups/squats/pushups/whatever the instructor yelled at you to do). I took Thursday and Friday off in preparation for camping with the Krav gym at the Neuse River for the level 1 tests.

 

I'll be taking my test in December, so I figured I better go and see what I was in for. Aside from having a great time bonding with people who are about as crazy for fitness as I am, I learned what I'm up against in December. The test started at 9am on Saturday (we camped Friday night in the rain) and the first thing the test-takers were asked to do was 100 burpees in a single set followed by sprints and another 100 burpees. What followed after could only be described as hell... 2 hours (in the rain) of punching, kicking, etc. but with the constant threat of burpees, squats, or sprinting. I saw a few of the test takers crying/throwing up. At the end, they had to swim across the Neuse and back. Afterwards we had a giant barbeque followed by a krav maga lesson in the rain (which was awesome).

SO! In light of what I saw, I decided that my measly 30 burpees a day and my current level of cardio isn't sufficient. With a couple of other gym members, we've started weekly runs on Sunday through a local forest. The catch? You sprint 1/10 mile and then do 10 burpees. For our inaugural run, we didn't have a good way to measure distance, so we just estimated when it was time to do burpees. Oh man, I already feel it! But I also think that if we keep this up, we'll be much better prepared for the test in December.

 

Goal 2: Get on a semi-regular schedule 125% (10 out of 8)

Once you get into the habit of going to bed earlier, getting into work earlier becomes a breeze!!!

 

Goal 3: Get down to 138lbs (from ~145-148lbs) (6lbs to go)

At 144lbs but I'm clearly loosing body fat and replacing it with muscle. I'm amending this goal to get down to 20% body fat or 138lbs by the end of the challenge.

 

Burpees: 865 of 1300 (66.54%)

With the addition of the 120 burpees that I did today, I'm totally kicking this.

 

Overall: Week 3 was a success!

After week 3, I'm 57.6% of the way there. Over halfway towards my goals!!!

 

+XP, LEVEL UP!

+3 STR

+2 DEX

+1 STA

+1 CON

+2 WIS

+1 CHA

[Certified Wong Buggalo]

Um. I think I speak for everyone when I say, ''Holy shit!''   

 

You are already all kinds of strong; imagine how strong you'll be when you defeat this test!

[Snow]

Um. I think I speak for everyone when I say, ''Holy shit!''   

 

You are already all kinds of strong; imagine how strong you'll be when you defeat this test!

Hahaha! Thanks!!!! :-) Now I have to figure out how to dole out my points... :-)

[AshPS]

Hi Snow- I'm Ash and I am so sorry to be 3 weeks into coming to say hi! LOOOOVE the music links in your opening!

 

I am still getting a feel for who all is in the brigade.

 

So incredibly impressed with your progress! That is awesome!

 

Will be keeping up now that I found you!

[Snow]

Tonight at Krav, we learned how to do round-house kicks (of awesome!!!!). However, I regret to say that Chuck Norris does them completely wrong...(Several of my childhood dreams have been crushed).

 

We also did a new partner drill: one partner does squats while the other partner kicks them in the stomach at the top of the squat. Yay bruises!!!

[AshPS]

Ok, now several of MY childhood dreams have been crushed, lol!

 

Wishing you an awesome day!

[Snow]

I'm going to try to be more active on this site for the last half of this challenge, so here goes:

 

I woke up this morning and nearly couldn't move. During the night, presumably all of my muscles tightened up, effectively turning me into the Tin Man (from the Wizard of Oz) or an arthritic 80 year-old woman or an arthritic 80 year-old Tin Woman. I also have a great set of bruises on my abs & hip bones from the conditioning drill last night. Ugggg....

 

Anyone have any tips on how to combat extreme post-workout soreness? No suggestion is too crazy. 

[Meta]

Oh boy, that sounds terrible! I don't really know what to do for DOMS - an anti-inflammatory and stretching is the best I've ever come across. I hope you feel better tomorrow - you're doing great!

[AshPS]

I second Meta, those are about all I've come across. And the knowledge that it will get better.

[Ayla]

Ugh that sounds painful. I hope you're feeling a little better today. Like everyone said, not much to be done. Just walk around like a mummy for a while and eventually it'll even out. But, hey, I keep hearing that it's while you're resting after your workout that your muscles are doing all the building... so I imagine if you're in that much pain there's all sorts off good stuff going on with your muscles right now! Just try not to hurt yourself and take it easy. 

[Certified Wong Buggalo]

I'm going to try to be more active on this site for the last half of this challenge, so here goes:

 

I woke up this morning and nearly couldn't move. During the night, presumably all of my muscles tightened up, effectively turning me into the Tin Man (from the Wizard of Oz) or an arthritic 80 year-old woman or an arthritic 80 year-old Tin Woman. I also have a great set of bruises on my abs & hip bones from the conditioning drill last night. Ugggg....

 

Anyone have any tips on how to combat extreme post-workout soreness? No suggestion is too crazy. 

Your description made me laugh. The reason I started exercising is because I felt like an arthritic 80 year old woman. Now I'm more like an arthritic 50 year old woman.

 

My best recommendation is an ice bath. They are as horrible as they sound, but they do an AMAZING job of reducing inflammation. Basically, run cold water into the bath, dump in some ice cubes and sit in the tub for 10 minutes. Yes, it's very cold. But  I swear it works. Do not stay in the bath for longer than 10 minutes.

[Meta]

What Buggs says is true - ice baths are awesome. But they are pretty terrible too! Let us know if you get a handle on the DOMS.

[Hero]

I wouldn't do the ice bath thing. It will reduce swelling and pain but it will also slow the healing process because of the numbing effects of the ice. My recommendation is to get up and move around. Go for a walk or do some stretches. Your body uses the lymphatic system to remove waste (stuff that causes swelling and DOMS) which is stimulated by muscle activation much like squeezing the popsicle out of an ice pop. Think of it like walking on a rolled ankle, it hurts at first but the more you do it the better you feel.

[shelbstorm13]

Hopefully you get back to feeling 100% so you can get back out there and kick some ass like you always do!

 

(On a semi related side note, I kept getting really confused on what DOMS was and kept thinking it was like DOMA but with an S... Man was I way off... haha)

[Snow]

My best recommendation is an ice bath. They are as horrible as they sound, but they do an AMAZING job of reducing inflammation. Basically, run cold water into the bath, dump in some ice cubes and sit in the tub for 10 minutes. Yes, it's very cold. But  I swear it works. Do not stay in the bath for longer than 10 minutes.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a bathtub in my tiny apartment (just a shower). :-(

I've been slathering myself in tiger balm and holding my lavender heat pack which seems to help a little bit. Pain killers are also helping quite a bit. 

 

I wouldn't do the ice bath thing. It will reduce swelling and pain but it will also slow the healing process because of the numbing effects of the ice. My recommendation is to get up and move around. Go for a walk or do some stretches. Your body uses the lymphatic system to remove waste (stuff that causes swelling and DOMS) which is stimulated by muscle activation much like squeezing the popsicle out of an ice pop. Think of it like walking on a rolled ankle, it hurts at first but the more you do it the better you feel.

 

So since I'm a Brigade member and I have to meet my Krav challenge, I decided to go to Krav tonight. I figured that moving around a bit would be great and help keep me functional, besides the Wednesday night classes are typically technique driven (not conditioning). This turned out to be a terrible idea.

 

Tonight's Krav class: preventing an attacker from scooping your legs. The block? Throwing up one of your arms (with elbow pointed toward your attacker and hand by your face) and bracing your legs so that your body forms an "A". Simple, right? The Catch: my partner was a 250+lb man. I'm proud to say that I was able to block him, but stopping 250lbs that is running at you (trying to take out your legs) is not easy. And the reverse was highly comical... clearly someone my size wouldn't try that sort of attack against him. :-P

 

The end result? My abs and lower back no longer hurt as much as they did, but I have a great new collection of bruises. :-D

 

 

Hopefully you get back to feeling 100% so you can get back out there and kick some ass like you always do!

 

(On a semi related side note, I kept getting really confused on what DOMS was and kept thinking it was like DOMA but with an S... Man was I way off... haha)

Thanks!!! No worries about DOMS... I typically don't use that term myself because it never really feels all that delayed (especially when you stack workouts so you're just always sore :-P). 

 

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement!! I know I've been bad (so far) about actively responding on this site, but I do read the comments and every bit of encouragement helps.

[Meta]

my partner was a 250+lb man

 

The end result? My abs and lower back no longer hurt as much as they did, but I have a great new collection of bruises. :-D

Holy cow! I'm impressed that you were able to block him!

 

Also, I'm picturing you covered from head-to-toe in bruises, since it seems like every post ends with you getting new ones. Hopefully no one questions you about it, haha!

[Snow]

Holy cow! I'm impressed that you were able to block him!

 

Also, I'm picturing you covered from head-to-toe in bruises, since it seems like every post ends with you getting new ones. Hopefully no one questions you about it, haha!

 

Haha, thanks! Both he and I were impressed too; actually I think the look on his face was closer to shock :-D.

 

Your mental image is probably pretty accurate. At this point I have bruises on my forearms, biceps/upper arms, shoulders, collarbones, and hips (right above the hip-bone). I wore long sleeves today so that I wouldn't get too many odd looks... 

[DWD]

New article just reviewed in Science about metabolism: 

Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock Obesity Research

 

Now, I'm definitely not obese, but as someone with weight loss goals, I think this study is really interesting.

Here's the summary (by Amir Tirosh, http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/5/195/195ec123.short):

 

Brown fat, a heat-producing organ in human infants and hibernating mammals, was shown recently to be present in human adults and to participate in energy expenditure. Although brown fat seems to be a logical target for obesity treatments that enhance the organ’s ability to burn energy, disappointing studies show that most obese people display undetectable levels of brown-fat metabolism. Now, a study by Yoneshiro et al. shows that hope remains in the quest to target brown fat for weight loss.

The authors treated participants who displayed low or undetectable brown-fat metabolism (as assessed by fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography) with 6 weeks of daily exposure to cold (17°C for 2 hours), which resulted in significant activation of brown fat—and thus energy expenditure—in 50% of the study participants. These individuals lost an average of 5.2% of their body fat mass over a 6-week period after cold treatment. Cold exposure is known to be a powerful physiological stimulus for brown-fat metabolism, which is mediated through activation of the sympathetic nervous system by transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in the periphery. Capsinoids—small molecules that are naturally present in red chili peppers—were also shown to activate TRP channels in both in vitro and in animal models and, therefore, might mimic the effect of cold exposure on activation of brown fat. Indeed, daily ingestion of capsinoids for 6 weeks resulted in an increase in brown-fat metabolic activity and energy expenditure among a second cohort with low or undetectable brown-fat activity before treatment.

This study demonstrates loss of body fat in humans by recruitment of brown fat and provides a rationale for long-term studies to assess the safety and efficacy of capsinoid therapeutics as a weight-loss strategy. Although chronic exposure to cold is not a practical treatment approach, an odorless and tasteless chili-pepper extract may be a convenient alternative.

 

T. Yoneshiro et al., Recruited brown adipose tissue as an antiobesity agent in humans. J. Clin. Invest., published online 15 July 2013 (10.1172/JCI67803).

 

Might want to add some chili's into my diet. :-)

 

I had a physiology professor when I was in grad school who would never wear a coat in the winter (in Canada) and purposefully get his hands as close to frostbite as he could. Same reasoon. Apparently, it also boosts the hematocrit, too.

 

I tried the hands part, but I'm too big a pansy!

[bluekiwi1]

Rawr Rawr!  Hope your healing power levels up soon!

 

I use this massage foam roller thing to help me roll out the DOMS.

 

http://www.amazon.co...uct/B00CQ4D0AU/

 

There are a lot of videos on YouTube that show you how to use it.  Like this one:

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=P_QutwHmaTY

 

Good luck and feel better soon!  Rawr!

[DWD]

I reread your initial plan. As one who didn't make it to the end of grad school in biophysics, I admire your focus and feel your pain! The intensity made my second attempt (master of education) a piece of cake. The Dean of Education contacted me to tell me I was taking too many courses. I just laughed. If not for the grind of that unfinished biophysics program, I wouldn't have made it through PA school later on.

[shelbstorm13]

Way to go blocking a man almost twice your weight! I don't know much about Krav but I do know that you seem to be learning an awful lot of useful moves should you be attacked. +1 for safety!