The College Grind

Another week of school, another week of papers, discussions, and death by power point.  It is difficult to not question yourself at the midpoint of the semester.  I like the use the fear of pissing off my wife to keep me motivated.  Happy wife = more Xbox.

It’s nice to have a gym within throwing distance of my house.  Have you guys heard of the KROC Center in Kapolei?  I’ve been a member since they opened, and I get can’t get enough of it.  I like that it isn’t crowded, everything is new, and they have a dynamic training (CrossFit) room.

Joan Kroc was the widow of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc.  Upon her death, $1.8 billion of her wealth was donated to the Salvation Army for the purpose of building these community centers nationwide.  The Kapolei location is one of 26 bid winners for this project and was awarded with a $110 million grant to build.  The place has a mini water-park, what else could you possibly need?

On April 12, 30-year personal training veteran Carla Myers is hosting a seminar on women’s fitness facts and myths.  Health research has shown that women tend to outlive men, but suffer from a wider range of health conditions.  Physical exercise is the number one intervention a person can use to reduce or prevent the onset of disease and disability.  The problem today, is with so many fitness fads and companies trying to make a profit, it is difficult for an individual to find what works the best for themselves.  Take advantage of this in-person, live learning opportunity and find out what you are doing wrong or what you can do better.  It’s better than watching TV.

I know that I’m trying to sell this pretty, hard, but I am a strong believer in health advocacy.  You can’t force people to people healthy but you can nag them to death.  Empowering people to take their health into their own hands is the best way to get them to change.

I QUIT.

I had a great story about Crossfit, but I don't have the mental capacity for it right now.  Taking seven classes means 7 midterms and whatever additional midterm papers that need to be written.  The time limit for our COM 201 midterm kicked my ass, I'm not going to lie about that.  I had to take a break before that one (to un-stress myself from all my other tests), so I did a triple work-out this morning.

Workout 1:
5 rounds of
7 squat-clean-thrusters w/ 35lb dumbbells
10 pullups
Finished 24:55

Workout 2:
3 rounds of
800 meter (two laps) run
50 back extensions
50 sit-ups
Finished 40:00

Workout 3:
Workout 1 again
Finished 21:52 (3 minutes faster!)

Now that I am fully mentally and physically drained its time for bed... and one of these:

 Back to class and the gym tomorrow.

Wheelchair = sad face

If you attend class on the KCC campus, at one point you may have seen a student with a seemingly healthy looking appearance getting around campus in a wheelchair, walker, crutches.  PTA (Physical Therapist Assistant) Program and prospective PTA program students are required to spend 24 consecutive hours in all of these assistive devices as a way to understand what patients go through when learning to use them.  The day I spent in a wheelchair sucked on a whole new level.

We often take walking for granted.  All of a sudden losing the ability to use my legs was frustrating to say the least.  The “wheelchair accessible” ramps on campus are not wheelchair friendly.  People cut you off when they’re walking and stop in front of you like you aren’t even there, forcing you to go around them.  I was laughed at when I went to the Kapolei Costco when I accidently rolled into a freezer.  Bathroom rugs slip from underneath the wheelchair when you try to shimmy on the toilet.  And, when you get onto the toilet, how do you get your pants off if you can’t lift up with your legs?  Getting a drink of water becomes a 5 minute long challenge than the normal 10 seconds it usually takes.  My wife had to help me crawl up the stairs to my front door.  I didn’t want to get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom because I knew how hard it was going to be.

It was all really depressing.  I couldn’t even get to my computer because of tight space restrictions.  At the very least, I got some great video game time in:

Yes, my blog name is my xbox gamertag.  If you ever want to try out these things feel free to contact me during midterms and finals season.  All of the students in the PTA courses need people to play patients for competency exams.  You get to role play and give us a hard time as you act out some type of disabling condition.  The therapy sessions are great especially if you get one with muscle stimulation or therapeutic massage.

NEXT WEEK: CrossFit Success Story

Potholes got nothin’ on me!

Who would want to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to run 8.4 miles? This guy!

… and almost 40,000 other people.  A couple years ago, a doctor told me that I may never be able to run again.  I showed him wrong, and then I managed to give myself a mild ankle sprain around the 5 mile mark.  Being the unusually highly motivated guy that I am, I still managed to limp my way across the finish line.  All the while my wife is telling me to go to an aid station and stop.  I just really wanted my “finisher” shirt. 

My ankle was a little swollen after the race.  

I treated it with a little thing called PRICE:

P - protect the affected area from further injury
R - rest allows the body’s healing process to occur
I - ice helps reduce pain and bruising
C - compression helps control the bruising
E - elevation also helps control bruising and may help reduce pain by stimulating drainage

This technique is great for reducing inflammation and pain after an ankle sprain.  The sooner it is done the faster you can recover.  I waited till after the race, but I was able to put weight on my ankle the next afternoon.  It is now 6 days later and I’m pain free and have moving around freely. 

Just remember that pain is an indicator that something in your body has been damaged.  Take the time you need to recover, or you may end up being hurt for much longer than you should be.

Next week:  24 hours in a wheel chair

A Healthy Restart

I’ve told this story hundreds of times, but I’ve never written about it.  I used to be an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician in the military.  Bomb Squad for short.  I’ve had more near death experiences than most people would have in three lifetimes.  The last one almost ended my life.  I survived but my military career was over because of injuries.  The road to recovery is one that I still travel and it is full of potholes.  It’s been exactly 931 days since the last time I’ve been blown up.  Going in and out of physical rehab has been common for me the last couple years of my life.  I do it so much that I’ve decided to return to school for a Physical Therapist Assistant degree so that I can take care of myself better.  After a year of school, I can say that my plan is working.

That brings me to today.  I’ve recently been able to return to a more intense fitness regimen now that my knee is in better shape.  It has been 3 weeks and I’ve lost 5lbs.  I’m stronger, faster, more flexible, and have more energy than I know what to do with (oh wait, I have 7 classes this semester).  

One of my favorite exercises involves using a larger, heavier than normal medicine ball.

It has a 14 inch diameter and weighs 20lbs.  The exercise is called the wall-ball.  Throw the ball in the air and catch it.  Simple right?  It like this exercise because it is a full body work out that works all your major joints and associated muscles.  I prefer using large medicine balls because they are heavily padded.

So why would I even do this?  The cardio aspect is the biggest thing.  When the movement is done in succession as shown in the video, the fast paced full range of joint movement with added the added load of a medicine ball can make this an intense workout.  Also, the speed that you work and the weight of the ball can be scaled to your ability level.  This is safer than throwing a dumbbell in the air.  And, if you never tried anything like this before, doing it will challenge in whole new ways. 

 My best time for the workout in the video link is 00:08:05.2

NEXT WEEK: The Great Aloha Run… Jog… Walk.