Tiny Freak Goes Ninja

Training
601

I had orthotics made some years ago and all they did was give me a big blister on the ball of my foot. Most of these expensive shoes encourage a heel strike, which is precisely what you don’t want. Once I cast out my stability bricks in favour of Nike Frees and learned to run on my forefoot, I had far fewer problems with my knees. In fact, I was able to run much further without injury.

Of course, I’ve buggered my foot up recently (I still have yet to get an appointment with the podiatrist) but if and when I resume running I’ll switch to my Vibrams.

Kimba, I’d suggest looking into Pose method. There are videos on YouTube. It helped me a lot.

602

Hi PP! When I was on vacation recently I went into a good running store and tried on a bunch of shoes, ran the treadmill, etc. The good news is that the running store gal (who I felt did know her business) came to the came conclusion as my chiro/ART girl: I run a bit supinated (underpronation) on the outsides of my feet. So stability stuff isn’t going to help me since that is for overpronators.

What I found is exactly what Cal wrote: the more shoe, the harder it was for me to run with a forefoot/midfoot strike, which is the only way I can deal with my IT band issues. My conclusion after struggling with the running for the better part of 8 months now: my hips/legs/knees/ankles aren’t built for running. But by being very careful about running form and slowly adding running minutes and speed, I can get out there and have fun without hurting myself.

Cal, those POSE and Chi videos on Youtube helped me alot as well. My running cues are: stand tall, chest out, arms relaxed, legs under me with shorter strides. Lately it seems to be working out. Is the delay with the podiatrist because of a long wait for an appointment? If so, that really sucks.

603

This thread’s been going on for a while, and I don’t know if I’m late to say this, but you need stronger hamstrings.

604

Kimba: You’re making substantial progress with the running. And I can see that you’re progressing very systematically. Have you built in any kind of deload to your progression? When I’m adding distance or time, I generally step it back every fourth week.

Right now, while managing my sciatica, and with my distance where it is, I need to step the running back every other week…

605

I don’t know, Kimba - they just haven’t got back to me. At all.

606

karite, my hamstrings are definitely a muscle group that I need to work more on.

Nadia, I do have a grand scheme. I managed to get to 9 min. x 4 – just barely. Today’s run I cut back to 10 min. x 2, but ran it faster. My plan is to add 2 min. per run until I make it back up to 20 min. x 2. This will take me 10 runs, or a bit more than 3 weeks. Then I plan to cut back down to 20 min. and add minutes slowly until I can run a full hour without walking. This grand plan ought to keep me busy for a good long time.

Also, I’ve been doing more bicycling. So I need to factor in that extra knee stress when deciding how far/fast to run. Wouldn’t it be nice to get out there and just mindlessly run?!?!? Alas.

Cal, well girlfriend. HAUNT THEM. Make friends with the receptionist, call every other day and nicely ask to be fitted in where there is a cancellation. Don’t leave that foot like that, and you not running. Fall will be here soon and you’ll be dying to run in nice cool temps.

Today’s run, as I mentioned above, was very successful. I wanted to cut back on time to give my knee a chance to recover from the just-under-the-irritation-threshold run of Saturday. I did a 10 min. run for the first time since last March. YEAH! Walked one min. then did the 10 min. run home. Even better news is that I allowed myself to run faster, getting about a 10:30 pace. Before my knee issues I could hold a 10 min/mile pace pretty easily so this is much more near normal.

Time for a bike ride, so I’ll tell you about yesterday’s training in a bit.

607

Yesterday evening’s training was an outing fueled by a lunch of fried chicken and waffles. Sometimes carbs are my friends.

After taking my deadlift off of 5/3/1 since February of this year, I decided that I would get back on that train. I think I’m ready for some higher volume pulls. My 1 rep max is about 195 lbs, so I calculated off of that number.

Sumo Deadlift (5’s week)
warmups
95# 1 x 5
115# 1 x 5
working sets
126.5# 1 x 5
146# 1 x 5
165.5# 1 x 5 ← money set, I was happy with this.

My grip was slipping AGAIN. So fed up with this, that I ordered an Eco-ball which Joe (I think) recommended the last time I complained about this. Now I’ll see whether its sweaty hands or a weak grip that is plaguing me.

Sumo Rack Pulls
165.5# 1 x 5
175# 1 x 5 <–have to trim my fingernails…took a gouge out of my right leg with my pinkie finger.
185# 1 x 3 <–so, I was bleeding a bit. No excuse…grip was an issue.

Military Press (5/3/1 week)
49# 1 x 5
55# 1 x 3
61.5# 1 x 3 ← all time PR and I got it for 3!

BBB 40# 3 x 10

supersetted with

Cable hip ad/abductions
7.5# plus 1 plate 3 x 10

Ran out of time in the gym before finishing the boring but big set, but I was holding pretty strong for it. My upper body lifts have really been the stars lately.

Also, add a 20 mile ride on the mountain bike (half road/half trail) to today’s training. Now I’m just watching it rain.

608

Sounds like you need some chalk. If your gym doesn’t appreciate mess, you can get liquid chalk. I don’t deadlift without my chalk - I’m not a particularly sweaty person but even my hands get a little slippery.

Looking at the video, you are roundbacking a bit - some roundness in the upper back is normal but you are losing your lumbar arch there. I’m in no position to criticise because I do the same thing, but there it is.

Congrats on the PR! Way to break through.

609

Hells yeah to the improved running! You’re doing great with that, and training wisely too boot. Getting faster, running longer - Congrats!

And nice Dling, mama! Looking good as always. Your delts are killer! (and FML with those tiny shorts, goegeous!). Agreed with Cal on losing the arch, and I’ll add bringing up the hips first. I forget what the sumo cues are, not having DLed in ages(!), but I think its ass down, squat the bar up? I’ll let the others opine :slight_smile: Good work none the less!

And yes! I’ve also had to cut my nails when sumo DLing! Glad to hear that’s not just me - I thought maybe I was doing it wrong because I scratched myself. LOL!

And I’m also with Cal, chalk is an amazing grip saver! Pulling just doesn’t feel right without it once I started using it.

Congrats on the MP PR!! Keep killing it, Kimba!

ps. Hope you didn’t have to break out the generator! All is well here in NYC :slight_smile:

610

Cal, my gym doesn’t allow chalk so the “eco-ball” is like chalk only less messy. So they say. It will be here next week.

You are right on the lack of arch/rounding on DL. Perhaps I need to cut back my weight even more to address this.

Maschy, great to hear from you! I’m so glad I’m not the only one to gouge myself with a fingernail while deadlifting. I felt like such a doofus when it happened. My hips ALWAYS come up first on my first rep, then I think I set up higher for subsequent reps and it doesn’t happen as much. So much to fix!

Today my gym was closed due to hurricane. So I put together an at-home training.

First up was a Cosgrove Barbell Complex consisting of 6-5-4-3-2-1 reps (1 min rest) of the following:

Deadlift
RDLs
Bent over rows
Power Cleans
Front Squats
Push Press
Back Squat
Good Mornings

I knew my limiting factor was the push-press. My home oly bar is only 37 pounds, so I put two 10s on thinking that I could handle this.

Wrong.

For the first round I got through the front squats, but I was way too tired to push press. So I rested. Then I got the push-press, back squat and GM. But then I was totally stuck! I could not for the life of me get the bar from behind my neck up over my head to put it down.

So, I sort of gingerly sat down and dropped the bar onto the carpeted floor. Boom! One end right into the dry wall. Big gouge. Ooops.

So, discretion being the better part of valor, I took off the 10 lb. plates and did the remainder of the complex with just the 37 lb. bar. Got pretty sweaty.

Banded Squats to box

37# bar 4 x 10

42# 1 x 10

I progressively lowered the box. First a stool, then a milkcrate with a pillow, then a milkcrate with just a blanket. The good news is that I was able to complete the reps with no knee cave. I haven’t tried this exercise at home for awhile, but I recall doing them last year and finding it impossible to keep my knees out with this set-up. So I think I am improving and making progress, just really slowly. I probably do need to drop the weight and up the reps with my squats to really kick this problem once and for all.

Cal’s Pushup/KB Swing Death March

16 kg. KB - 10 pushups/1 swing down to 1 pushup/10 swings.

I videoed this and to my horror saw that my pushups sucked. I was NOT getting as low as I thought I was, and I do this weird upper-back rounding thing. I then tried to fix the upper-back rounding, but that resulted in a lumbar curve instead of a flat lower back. Its always something…video just doesn’t lie.

Chinups
5/4/3

supersetted with

Turkish get-ups
10# DB 2 times for each side

TGUs are hard, and I probably am not even doing them right. Chinups are weak because I haven’t been training them. So much to train, so little time!

Now it is time for a turkey chili lunch.

611

About grip. Have you tried BB wrist curls? They train the forearms. Don’t know how much they help grip, but my grip has never been a limiting factor in DL and I wonder if the fact that I do them is the reason why.

So interesting reading about sumo because I’ve been told NOT to squat the weight up. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong here. I think everyone has to play with the variables to find out how they’re strongest (foot position in relation to bar, foot angle, ass under vs. ass back, etc).

612

[quote]kpsnap wrote:
About grip. Have you tried BB wrist curls? They train the forearms. Don’t know how much they help grip, but my grip has never been a limiting factor in DL and I wonder if the fact that I do them is the reason why.

So interesting reading about sumo because I’ve been told NOT to squat the weight up. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong here. I think everyone has to play with the variables to find out how they’re strongest (foot position in relation to bar, foot angle, ass under vs. ass back, etc).[/quote]

This is the truth regarding Sumo.

613

Hey Kimba, did you make it through the storm OK?

614

Bar through the drywall is too funny. Better that than foot through the window. Good news about the banded squats. And too true about video. There have been so many times when I think my body is doing x, and then I play back the video and, much to my chagrin, it’s a y.

615

glad to hear your knee cave is sorting. seems to be with the vids. slow, yeah. i’m finding my own progress is slow - but guess i’ve only just recently learned that i have this issue. vids really don’t lie. i’m often surprised that my form doesn’t look anywhere near as good as i had thought. still, guess knowing one has things to work on is the first step.

i do wonder that running really is bad for most people. but people really do seem to love it. it is a bug i never caught. but i’ve caught other bugs and understand that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

616

The eco ball is going to really help with your grip I think.

617

Snapper, if the eco-ball doesn’t work to solve my grip issues then I will channel my inner sistard and do some BB wrist curls. Indeed, sumo form does puzzle me. I sure wish I could fix by hips flying up and my back losing any semblance of arch when I reach my higher weights. Ah well, if it were easy where would be the sport?

Joe, thanks for the eco-ball suggestion. It will be here for my next deadlift day.

ManFromMA, yep all good here other than a bunch of vegetation blown all around. I hope you and yours were similarly unscathed.

Nadia, my husband was less than amused about the new chip and scratch on the bedroom wall. But he’s been married to clumsy for a long time and as long as no-one gets hurt and its not too expensive to fix, he deals.

alexus, I was quite heartened that my home-made banded squats went as well as they did. But the problem isn’t fixed, leading me to think that there is another weakness as-yet unidentified. Again, if it were easy perhaps I would have lost interest by now!

618

I took a chunk out of my wall with a barbell so you’re not the only one!
Does your ARTist have any input on what might be causing your knee cave? Physical therapists are generally pretty good at picking up on weak points.

619

I know it’s a good thing I don’t have a barbell at home. Too many french doors and big windows. That could get expensive. And dangerous!

I’m just so impressed that you are hanging in with progressing your running. And you are making me think about box squats again. It couldn’t hurt, right? I think it has helped me to get down low and just move side to side with my hips to try to get used to coming all the way down.

Your pushup story cracked me up too. I remember being so proud of my pushups and showing my husband and he was trying to nicely tell me that I was not going anywhere near deep enough. Then I saw Kelly Ripa doing pushups on TV and same thing. They were halfway down and she was showing them off on national TV. Apparently it’s a common problem!

Keep on it, Kimba!

620

Cal, I am VERY glad I’m not the only one to put a barbell into a wall. My ART girl says my feet are weak, and my quads and hammies aren’t working properly. I actually haven’t revisited my knee cave issue with her in awhile, and I’ll do that next time.

PP, great to see you around! I do recommend squatting to a box (to check depth) and box squats (unloading at the bottom and exploding up). Both have helped me move along in my squatting to sucking in different ways/at different things other than lack of depth. As for pushups, if my nose doesn’t hit the ground it just doesn’t look low enough! Clearly my bewbs won’t hit the ground first. :wink:

Today’s training was a successful run. My goal for today was to run 11 min., walk 1 min and then run 11 more minutes. Done! I’m allowing myself to push the pace a bit more. I’m still slow (10:33 min/mile at the fastest) but I’m OK with that as long as I can get out there. The better news is that I think I probably could run for a whole 20 min. at this point, but I think its better to progress slowly.

It may be that this running thing is just an excuse to buy clothes. I ordered some CW-X compression tights for the upcoming cold weather that promise to support my IT band. We’ll see.