Ready - Engage

Last weekend was my Level 1 CrossFit Trainer class.  OMG!  It was so much fun.  I have NEVER been in a room full of more fit and attractive people.  Apparently they were sick too, because I have now come down with my first cold in over 2 years.  Seriously though, I was initially intimidated by the stature and body composition of most of the participants and coaches.... and then I realized everyone is human regardless of physique and has something they are working on.

One of the big lessons learned while there is the idea of training vs. practice.  There are movements/skills that require a certain level of strength to complete - like muscle-ups.  (For those that don't know, a muscle up is basically hanging straight armed from rings to start, doing a pull up, transitioning into the bottom of a ring dip and fully extending to the top of a ring dip with straight arms.)  Obviously, these movements also have a coordination piece that requires practice, like the transition from the pull up to the dip.  The coaches last weekend stressed the importance of both training and practice when working on a new skill.

I was used as an example for kipping pull ups.  I first showed the class that I could do a straight pull up, which in their eyes means I have the strength to kip.  What I don't have is the timing (coordination) which will require more practice.

So there is a lesson here.  I (WE collectively) put so much value on training (i.e. degrees and schooling).  The bottom line though, is that is all worthless without putting it to practice.  After training, get out there and practice what you preach; get in the game; work with real people; train others; educate others; teach; or whatever this here means to you.  Don't just keep your head in the books.      

Taking a break

I have to admit that energetically I have been feeling pretty darn awesome lately.  That said, I've been having some bad elbow pain.  The pain sort of crept up on me over the last month and then BAM! - we did a workout that was 10 sets of 10 pull ups and 10 push ups.  The pain at it's worst wakes me up at night with numb fingers and burning nerve pain.  I have had to really focus on keeping my arms straight - pretty much at all times.  The movement that really pisses them off - you got it - chin ups.

To me, chin ups are more than just an exercise at CrossFit.  They represent progress and progress is always forward.  Well, except when it isn't...

Last Saturday, I was feeling great, and decided to check out another local box.  The WOD was 25 deadlifts (135#), 50 pull ups, and 25 deadlifts.  I mentioned to the coach that I was having elbow pain, which granted me an opportunity to modify the WOD to accommodate my "issues".  I bet it is obvious where this is headed.  I chose to do the full WOD using blue bands for chin ups instead of pull ups.

Needless to say, I've been suffering ever since....

This brings me to the point of my post today.  I mentioned what I had done to Joe and he basically called me "immature".  I tried to correct him into instead calling my actions "stupid," but he wouldn't budge.  After talking more about it, I am clear on what he meant.

There are mature athletes and immature athletes.  Since getting rheumatoid arthritis, I have been essentially an immature athlete.  The only way I've known to move forward is to push through the pain, ignoring my limitations.  The reality is that progress may involve taking a break from time to time.  I have RA and am finally growing up enough to know that I need to own that.  That means that a flared up elbow, if not attended to, could turn into a systemic flare -- which it did.  A mature athlete pays attention to the warning signs and backs off or modifies his/her workout to allow room for the pain or strain to recover.  An immature athlete does what I did last Saturday - do the very thing that makes the pain or strain worse in an effort to "look" as badass as possible.

Did I learn my lesson?  I think so.  I've also got a whole new perspective and luckily a great coach to help me out when I need to take a step back.

             

Balance

I think it is important to find balance in everything.  "Balance" is entirely subjective though.  Balance between work and life; or food and exercise; or CrossFit and Bikram; or pleasure and pain. I'm sure the list could go on and on.  Sobriety and drunkeness; sugar and protein; beer and liquor; boring and fun....

In any case, I was listening to a broadcast today from the Paleo Summit from Dr. Cate Shanahan (http://drcate.com/).  She is rare in that she is a traditionally trained medical doctor who supports the Paleo diet!!  (Never has a doctor supported any of the "alternative" stuff I've done.)  She talked in detail about good food as medicine instead of pharmaceuticals and how commonly prescribed drugs add to our problems.  Common osteoporosis drugs actually prevent new bone from being created, yet also prevent calcium from leaking from bone.  So what is left is old bone that appears more dense because of the increased levels of calcium.  The old bone, of course, is brittle and weak and can lead to increases in fractures.

She went on to talk about how the Paleo diet is supportive of bone health.  Increases in calcium (in veggies) and weight bearing exercise are key to improving bone health.  The part that makes me really happy about this broadcast was when the she was asked about dairy.  Dr. Cate supports a diet including dairy as it is a good source of calcium.  She also said that there is increasing evidence that there were goats (and thus dairy) in paleolithic times.  One final point (worth noting here) that she made was that the Paleo diet movement is very open to change and thus she imagines that dairy may be incorporated into the movement in time.

Ok so how does all of this fit into the theme of balance?  I tried (or did I?) to manage my RA through diet and alternative methods for years and failed.  I never tried the Paleo diet though, I did try the yeast free and inflammation diets.  These two are fairly similar except that they still include grains.  For me right now, I think drugs and diet together are improving my quality of life in ways I never could have imagined.  I am a huge supporter of food over drugs any day, but it has to be within reason.  You wouldn't try to cure cancer with carrots, or a heart attack with fish oil alone.  The goal for me is minimal drugs, high levels of activity and good food.  For me this is the formula of balance and the key to a healthy life.