First blog -- Heading to Lambda

[AdamS.]

ARGH!!!!! I wrote out my whole blog, tried to submit it, and the RMAX forum ate it! Ate it, I say! And burped when it was finished. Hate it when that happens.

I have never had an RMAX blog before, but I decided it was about time.

I'm heading to the CST IC Lambda, and getting myself ready for that. I don't know how much detail I'm going to put in here or how often I'll update it. I probably won't be able to update it every day, but I'll update it whenever anything changes--good or bad. I'll do my best on the blogging and see what the outcome is.

Me:

26 years old
5'10"
170 lbs
Body fat: No clue, but I'd venture a guess of 13%.
Personal and long family history of cancer. I've been cancer-free for four years. Other than that, no medical problems or significant injuries.
Sport: Martial arts: Krav Maga, Muay Thai, some BJJ, and some day I'd like to find a Sambo coach to toss me around. I'd also like to play rugby, which is why I've started using the RMAX Powered Running.
Hair: No longer the mohawk in the avatar picture

Diet:

PnP-ish. I add the "-ish" because I don't follow it strictly. Basically, I cut out of my diet as much sugar, white rice, and white flour as I can. My culinary talents are extremely limited, so the variety of my diet is limited to frozen meals from the organic section, oatmeal, whole wheat wraps, whole wheat pasta, and a couple different burritos (breakfast and non-breakfast ). However, I do have a vegetable steamer, so I put that to work and serve it up with some type of protein (red meat, chicken, or fish) for dinner. And I'm loving my pre-bedtime baked potato. If I get hungry through the day, I'll have a banana, Granny Smith apple, berries, some almonds, or some cottage cheese. The only supplements I take are a multi and an EFA every morning. Nixing the sugar isn't too difficult for me, but caffeine is my best friend.

Workout:

I'm following the 4x7 schedule. I have a Bruiser Jr and a pair of 15s. I'm working on Swipes, so I'm following Coach Szolek's exercises. Spouts on the first day, and Cossacks on the next. I can do 9 reps on the last set of Spouts, and 7 reps on the last set of Cossacks. The Spouts are coming along fine, but I'm having some trouble with the Cossacks. The squat portion is easy enough for me, the core engagement is a challenge, but the arm strength for the flags is lacking. As I tire, my elbows start to bend, and I have to choke way up on the Clubbell®s so my grip doesn't give out. I'm thinking maybe I should use the Clubbell®s for the first couple sets, which seem to be fine, and then switch to 10 lb dumbbells for the last three sets so I can maintain my RPT. I can do about 7 reps of pronated grip kipping on my last set. I'm still using the box squat routine from the original 4x7, except I'm doing two reps of each position instead of one. I'm also still using the box hop and ground engagement from the original 4x7 program. The box hop is fine, but on the ground engagement I need to work on keeping my heels to the ground. My knees aren't liking the little bruises, and the concrete floor is keeping me honest. And I start each Clubbell® workout with the Spinal Wake-up Series.

On Intu-Flow® days, I'm doing the full intermediate IF program.

On Prasara days, I'm still doing the Seal Walks and Side Sunsets from the original 4x7 program. I follow that with about 15 mins of FlowFit®.

I also just started the 16 week RMAX Powered Running program. I am not matching the running program with the 4x7 program, and I wonder if I should. I'll do whatever 4x7 workout I have that day, and then follow it with running. Preferably, I would like to run first thing in the morning, but considering I have to be to work by 7, I'm not sure how a 530 alarm clock will go over with me. I'm really, really, really not a morning person. A very odd thing I noticed long ago when I was running somewhat regularly was my right trap starting to hurt after about 20 minutes. It's only the right side. And it's still happening even after practicing Intu-Flow® and Prasara.

And I spar every Saturday for 7-10 3-minute rounds of boxing and/or kickboxing.

That's the basic run down. Please let me know if I left anything out that should be included in a blog.

Thanks,
Adam

[Coach Bentz]

ARGH!!!!! I wrote out my whole blog, tried to submit it, and the RMAX forum ate it! Ate it, I say! And burped when it was finished. Hate it when that happens.

Couple of tips for when that happens again (and it does)

I usually type my blog into Notepad or some other text editor, and paste it into my blog.

or

before I click Submit, I copy the text to the Clipboard (CTRL-C on a Windows PC)

--

Looking forward to watching your progression!

Brian

[AdamS.]

before I click Submit, I copy the text to the Clipboard (CTRL-C on a Windows PC)

And I usually do that! Live and learn.

[Edwin]

"I've been cancer-free for four years"
Are you a cancer survivor? What type?

[AdamS.]

Are you a cancer survivor? What type?

"Survivor." I hate that term. But, yes, I guess I am.

I had stage two testicular cancer. Three surgeries, three rounds of chemo, and everything's good now.

[AdamS.]

I got out of work early on Friday, got home, parked myself in front of the TV, and didn't want to move. Almost skipped out on my workout even, but thankfully I kicked myself in the butt and got to the gym. And I'm very glad I did.

I used a choked up grip with the clubbells for the full motion of the Cossack Squat for two sets. Then, on the third set, I moved to two 12 lb dumbbells. The cast portion was very easy, but I made sure I kept my RPT high so I didn't lose anything in the movement. For the flag and squat portion of the movement, the RPT stayed high, and the RPE also stayed the same as the first two sets. Previously, when using the clubbells for all sets, my RPT dropped quite a bit. Since I did two sets with the clubbells this time, I'm going to do three sets next time, and continue on from there provided my RPT stays up.

Then I ran for 20 mins. Thought I was going to give up before I was finished, but I stayed with it and made it through to the end.

And then I found a new use for the Spinal Wake-up Series: Getting rid of pre-performance jitters in theater. So, instead of psyching myself up or running lines, I went through the Series, and I was nice and relaxed when I went on stage.

[AdamS.]

After having practiced CST regularly and watching my diet (much longer than my blog has been around), I've come across an unexpected benefit. Any contact injuries I've had heal up much more quickly than before. I don't know if it's the exercise or the diet, but it's probably a combination of both.

Last year some time, I got a deep thigh bruise that kept me out of the game for at least a week. It was the type of injury that made climbing the stairs difficult. Well, about two weeks ago, I had the same type of injury. (The result of one of my knee strikes being stopped by my opponent's elbow on my thigh--ouch.) Thinking I would have the same result of being out of the game for a while, I iced it as usual, and about 48 hours later, I was 100% again. I didn't think much of it, figuring it just wasn't as bad an injury as I thought. Well, two days ago, I got two pretty significant bumps on my legs (this time, the result of an opponent with zero control), and I started thinking I'd be out of it for a while. (I couldn't even get down to a parallel thigh in my squat as a result of the injuries.) Yesterday, I went through Intu-Flow®, and I focused on movements where I could feel the injuries (keeping my RPD at or below 3, of course). Wouldn't you know it, not even 48 hours later, I'm nearing 100%. I'm still going to take it easy today and I'll put off my Clubbell®, running, and FlowFit® routines for another day to make sure I don't aggrivate anything, but the improvement is very noticable.

[AdamS.]

Things are going along very well. I'm up to 4 out of my 7 for this cycle. I can certainly tell there is a difference between my RPE at the beginning and my RPE now.

My RPT keeps climbing on my Cassock Squats. I'm also able to continue using the Clubbell®s for the sets longer without resorting to the dumbbells. During my last set of Cassocks, I used the Clubbell®s for four sets, and the dumbbells for only one. However, I still need to stay very choked up so my grip doesn't fail me.

My thigh is almost parallel on all box squat positions. Each time, I try to go just a little deeper.

Today during the box hop, my foot slipped and I slammed my shin into the box. Gonna have a good bruise there for a little while.

I feel like my RPE is dropping pretty quickly on the Side Sunset and Seal Walk flows, but it's staying up for FlowFit®. I think for my next full cycle, I'm going to use FlowFit® II--especially if I end up going to Coach Sonnon's Sambo seminar I also want to add threaded bridging to my Prasara practice.

[William J]

You're an inspiration, bro. keep goin'

[AdamS.]

Had a little set back this weekend. I was sparring with one of my training partners. He's a boxer. I out weigh him by about fifteen pounds, but he has a punch like a jackhammer. Anyway, we were on our final round, I charged him and threw a few straights. As I was extending a left jab, he gave me a mean right hook to the body. I think that's the first time I was brought to my knees with a body shot. I had the wind knocked out of me, and I had quite a pain in my left side. Just bruised ribs, so that's a good thing. But, in the mean time, I'm going to have to back off my training until I'm back to 100%--or at least 87.3%.

I can VERY VERY SLOWLY go through my Intu-Flow® practice. I have to stay pretty shallow in the thoracic movements, and the side and back bends are pretty much out. I figured I will just do whatever Intu-Flow® I can manage while keeping my RPD at or below a 3. And since running is out of the question, I'll have to jump on a recumbent bike a few times a week to get my heart rate up.

The core injuries are the worst: If you hurt your arm, you will be limited in your movements, but at least you can still get around. The first few hours after the injury, I couldn't walk much faster than thirty short paces a minute.

On the bright side, I'm going to Coach Sonnon's Sambo seminar! Really looking forward to that. I'll just have to lay off the sparring for a couple weeks before, so I'm not injured while I'm there... Ha!

In the mean time, I'll have to re-watch Shockability