Boo.. Bad Knee

So I took a full 4 days off from working out.  The knee is hurting less but I wouldnt say its getting stronger.  Walking up & down steps can be challenging.  That being said I have started to do some rowing and upper body workouts.

Saturday:

5 Rounds

1K row

50 push-ups

20 KB swings 2 pood

Tooks me : 47:23

Monday:

Workout 1:  55lb DB and did more of a deadlift /shoulderpress motion

For time:
10 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
1 Weighted pull-up
9 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
2 Weighted pull-ups
8 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
3 Weighted pull-ups
7 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
4 Weighted pull-ups
6 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
5 Weighted pull-ups
5 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
6 Weighted pull-ups
4 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
7 Weighted pull-ups
3 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
8 Weighted pull-ups
2 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
9 Weighted pull-ups
1 Dumbbell Clean & Jerks
10 Weighted pull-ups

Took Me 12:58

Workout #2

Sime reps as above with Push Row/SItup COmbo (30lb Dumbell)

Workout #3:

1K Row  Set a pr by doing a 500M row in 1:49.

While not ideal I am doing the best I can with a knee at about 65%.

Adventures in Dr. Land… BLAH

So after 2 Dr. visits and an X-ray I know the follwing:

1. I have big muscles (pronounced muSS-Kils) – The nurse at the first office tested my blood pressure.  The sleeve didnt fit my arm and she said “Eww hunny you got big muscles”..  That put a smile on my face.
2. I am healthy – Dr. was impressed that a guy my size had such low blood pressure.  Go me..
3. Ox Knees – Both Dr’s stated I have substantial very strong knees.
4. I have a Meniscus Tear – Torn Cartilage -

Good news: Both Knees very structurally sounds.. Ligaments in Check.. very strong.

Bad News: Dr. wants me take it day by day and it should heal itself.  If my knee continures to pop or swell they will have to go in and repair the torn Cartilage.

Recovery Time: Dr said a few weeks.. I am thinking like Saturday.

Big Boy Popped a Tire…

Umm so last night I really tweaked my left knee.  I am going to the DR today because I am having trouble extending my left leg.  I don’t think its a ligament because there wasn’t a pop but instead I think it is cartilage..  more than likely a Meniscus Tear.  I am a very sad Panda.  I will update later after I go to the DR. 

Onto the workouts…

Five rounds for time of:
40 Double-unders
30 Box jumps, 24 inch box
20 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 pood

26:23 – Rx – I am getting better at double unders.  I had a number of 5X runs which for me is very good.

500M Row – 1:41 – I am killing my rows recently. I would have been in the 1:30′s but I had an issue changing the display that made me lose alof of time. 

Finally I did part of AJ’s workout.

1-1-1 Shoulderpress (185,195, 215(f))

8 x2 Jerk (185)

I couldnt do the rest because I couldnt bend my knee.

I am hoping the Dr. just says stay off of it for a few days.  Keeping your fingers crossed.

I lost 5.5 inches off my lovely lady lumps..

So to prepare to go into the Zaleo challenge we did measurement.  This is the first time we have measured since the Paelo chalenege.

I am proud to announce 2 major losses… 

1. 5.5 inches off of my love handles…
2. 4 Inches off of my chest

Not too shabby for 3 months worth of work.

 

So I went from a FULL C cup to a B..   Is it sad that I am excited about that?  Also my belly dancing career is going down the shitter. 

Lets see what Zaelo does.. if my waist get down into 3X’s I am posting nude pics… 

Day 1 of Zaleo!

I have been asked to be part of the Crossfit Pittsburgh affiliate team.  While I am not an elite athlete I am fairly strong at certain events.  Apparently you bring 6 folks and can deteremine which person will do which workout.  I will amost be like a designated hitter.    I will only be doing something IF it fits into my strengths.

As to not embarass myself I will pushing very hard to make as much progress as possible between now and May8th.  As is with life there will be challenges.. I I will lose a week from April 12th to 15th due to business conference.  Other than that I am looking good for a clean 6 weeks.

I decided to try Zaleo (Combination of Zone with Paelo) due to the success I had with just paleo..  I figured what the hell lets see if I go crazy..  what happens. 

Step 1: Figure out how many blocks..  I went to the zone.com and used their caclulator.

272lb
70.5 Inches
41 inch waist
7 inch wrist
Very Active (Crossfit 5 -6 times a week)…

Body Fat %: 20
Body Fat Weight (lbs): 54
Lean Body Mass (lbs): 216
Daily Protein Requirement (g): 194
or # of Blocks of Protein: 28
# of Blocks of Carbohydrate: 28
# of Blocks of Fat: 28

28 BLOCKS>… I will literally have to eat all day and night.
I reached out to some Zaleo experts and they said start out with 21 blocks and go from there.  I will keep folks posted.

I woke up this morning and had my smoothie which consisted of a scoop of protein poweder, two scoops of bluberries, and 2 teaspoons of almond butter.  Keeping all my blocks in check will be tough!  During this phase of my blog I will also try to talk about what I am eating.

One compliment to RULE them all!

So I figured I would post a funny update after my Debbie downer one about sleeping. 

 While the D-bag trainer was my obsession last week in posts it WAS not the funniest thing of the week.  To give perspective I ended going to company headquarters last week and it was the first time I had been there in 4 months.  Over the last 4 months I have made some pretty significant gains so I was intrigued to see if people would say something.  I was also intrigued to see what my work clothes would be like since I had not worn them in 4+ months (yes working from home has some serious perks.. ).

Clothes

• Shirt:  Loose around the waist and tight around the shoulders and upper back. 
• Pants: swimming in them.  Almost MC Hammer’ esque but not that bad.  I had the urge to do the tiny typewriter all around the office. Da dad da.. Cna’t Touch this!
• Belt:  It’s official.. I need a new belt.  Wooty woot.  I am on the tightest circle and I need it tighter.  I am thinking a “Jersey Shore” esque white belt with some sort of large bedazzled belt buckle.

Now onto people reactions..  over the course of the week I did get a number of positive reactions.  I have to admit it made me feel good that people were recognizing the improvements.  Some of the compliments were the following…

• “Wow you have been working out”
• “You look good”
• “What are you doing?”
• etc.

Pretty normal stuff.  BUT THEN “IT” happened.  “ONE COMPLIMENT TO RULE THEM ALL!”  (Any Lord of the ring Nerds out there?) 

Let me set this up:  I work at a very large software company and because of that our employees come from a diverse background with many of them English is a second language.  Now that you have that background let me set the scene.  I am running a meeting with most of my engineering/development managers.  We just wrapped up a big discussion on upcoming releases , patches,  and roadmapped items.  The meeting had concluded so I was sticking around to shoot the shit and get some face time with these folks.  Aka  Bullshittin.. During the course of bullshittin one of the deve managers comments on me looking thinner.  I politely responded that I had been doing scrossfit, blah blah blah..  Not to be out done I could see this one dev manager was really brewing on something and bluntly wedged himself into the conversation. 

“Your head looks less fat”  – LOL – I instantly start laughing.  The folks around me instantly got nervous I would be pissed but its the funniest thing I have ever heard.  He was totally sincere and not trying to insult me at all.    Now that I think about it.. my head IS less fat so it was a factual statement.  I am thinking on my next paleo push I am going to measure my head as well.

Sleep where art thou?

So yeah..  as you can tell by my lack of posting .. I have been swamped.  Between traveling last week then playing catch-up on household activities I just havent had the energy to post.

Now onto the post.. I have had some serious sleep issues recently and its having a huge impact on me.  Work has been extremely stressful and it is the main driver for me not sleeping.  When I lay down I immediately begin thinking about what work I didnt get done and what I need to get done the next day.  My brain then starts to ramp-up thinking about my goals, meetings, etc. and then I can’t sleep because I wake up.  Finally when I get to sleep I end up waking up because my arms go dead from laying on my side. 

I am pretty my lack of sleep is leading me to the following:

• General Sorenss & Achness – I am just not healing up
•  Sickness – I am fighting a sore throat & sinus infection
• Lack of Energy/Drive – I am lacking that mental edge

SO how do I remedy this..

Root Cause 1: My BED SUCKs – I have been sleeping on a cheapo bed and its starting to just fall apart.  Both my wife and I have been having issues with it and after doing research realized it was our bed. 

Remedy for 1:  My wife and I ordered an UBER tempurpedic bed.  It will be here in 5-10 days.  We went to a store and tried out like 8 different beds.  All of them were much better than what we had and the one we ultimately chose is like a little piece of Heaven.  It made me realize how bad our bed is…

Root Cause 2: Stress in da M’fing HOUSE! – This is a tough one.  Unless someone wants to give me lots of money or I win the loto I need to work.  If I work.. then I work very hard.  When I do something I am either 100% in or out.. There is no middle ground.  I am the youngest person at my level in the company by 14 years…  I am a wee bit ahead of the curve.  That being said I have a lot of responsibility and with that comes stress.  I need to learn to let go.  RIght now I cant..

Remedy 2:  I am already working with my boss to get more people on my team.  My group is woefully understaffed and it is leading me to work longer hours and still be falling behind.  Falling behind = matt not being able to fall asleep.  Part 2: Continue to workout..  Not that it was ever in question but it does wonders for relieving stress.  Part 3: I need falling the sleep activities.

Root Cause 3: Rest when tired… – This is one of those “No shit sherlock” statements but its not something I follow.  If I am sore.. I am not feeling well.. I will typically still workout..  I need to take a break and let my body recover.

Remedy 3: Use common sense and if I am not feeling it.. dont push-it.

Anyone else ever have sleep issues? ANy tricks for falling asleep?

I will keep folks posted on the new bed.  I am very pumped.

Thrilla in Manilla!… Didn’t happen as planned but I still WON

I am sad to report that Me vs. D-bag round 2 didnt happen.  My boss and I ended up working into the night and not working out.  I have to admit I was disappointed because I was ready to own his FACE!  Then when I was at the cafeteria today I OF COURSE ran into him.  I was at the salad bar loading up my plate with baby spinach, hard boiled eggs, chicken, and a balsamic vinaigrette…  HE on the other hand was waiting inline to get a REUBEN with Fries.. he then got a SIDE of PIZZA.  SO in this eternal battle of me vs. d-bag .. while not on the field of play.. consider it a VIctory.  Me = 2 –  D-bag  = 0

THEN..  He had couldn’t let shit slip by…  We make eye contact..  He is going to come over and say something.  I am thinking OH GREAT what is this “Scholar of fitness going to say to me with his reuben, fries, SIDE:Pizza, & Coke?  …   Drumroll  …..

D-Bag:  “Where we you yesterday?” in D-bag tone.  Insert D-Bag Smile

AGAIN: Because I saw this coming..  unlike his previous sneak attack I literally had 100+ in appropriate responses queued up ranging from “I was banging your mom” to “Your session sucked so bad yesterday I would get more of sweat from eating a bunch of fastfood and dropping a large deuce..” to “I had to wash my hair”… ”I am not trying out for the jersey shore ”…  OH Man.. I had so many..  Instead I am LAME and politically correct.

My response:  “ I got stuck in meetings until late in the evening”

d-bag response: ” OH Really?  I thought you would be too sore or scared?”

OMFG – Matt’s about to “rock out with his cock out”…  I instantly start HULKING.. Cheeks turning red..  Inappropriate responses going through my mind.  TIme to put this a-hole in place. 

My Response:  “That looks healthy..  Is that how you keep that trainer body?”  (I specifically chose not to even address his dumb ass question that I was scared)

Queue crickets…  People turned in the cafeteria..  There was silence for about 3 seconds.  Again..  flustered d-bag says nothing and I walk to the register and sit down to eat. 

Demmler 3 D-bag 0

While I am eating he comes up to my with his tray of processed carbs and saturated fat and says ” I heard you did a pretty crazy workout this morning..?  “  Yeah I modified the Cfit workout from yeserday and ran through it.   I then say” Do you want to run through it tonight?  I will do it again.”  D-bag: No I did legs yesterday and I need to elliptical to get the soreness out.”  That is where the story ends for today..

Background:  I worked really late last night and just had nothing left in the tank to workout.  Instead I woke up at 5:15AM  this morning to get to the gym to workout.  I was there about 5:45.

As Many Rounds in 20 Minutes of :

400M Run

40x20lb Wall balls ( I subbed in 20x95lb thrusters because gym does not have the equipment or space for wallballs)

I felt like such a weirdo because everyone was looking at me like I was a crazy person.  Who is this crazed bald guy and why is he pushing himself so hard?  I ended up doing 6 x400M runs (treadmill) and 5x 95lb Thrusters.  THis was one heck of a workout..

WHile I was doing this.. D-bag’s partner.. lets call him D-bag 2(in ref to Dr Seuss thing 1 & thing 2) was running his morning bootcamp class.  Lets just say I was 3 times as sweaty in 20 minutes as what his group was in 60 minutes.  He watched me the entire time and was very confused.

Anyways.. That has been my day today..

Me vs. Douche Bag Trainer – Saga 1

SO I am stuck in Columbus OH at company HQ.  When I come to HQ there is no time to a drop-in at a local Cfit so I am stuck using the company Gym.  My boss is working out with a group of guys and encouraged me to come along.  I roll in.. and figure out this guy does some sort of circuit training workout/muscle group isolation.

Let me give you the lay of land.  THis guy “runs” our company gym which equates to him sitting at a desk playing solitaire and watching movies.  He is a personal trainer but is a complete slob.  I am sorry but if you are a personal trainer you better be in shape.  He isnt.. in fact I am pretty sure I am in better shape than he is.  THen on top of it..  I had my CFit t-shirt on and I think this dude had it out for me.

Basically, he could read I thought he was a d-bag and didnt like the fact that I would wear a cfit shirt in “his” gym.  Eat my ass d-bag.  THen he had the gull to make the statement.. “I have looked at cfit and take some of their ideas and enhance it.  “  Mentally I am thinking.. great.. this guy has no f’ing clue.

Going into this workout I was viewing it  as a showdown in the d-bag coral..  (cue tumbleweed)  No matter what he tossed at me I was gonna blow through it. Now onto the workout.

Phase 1 (Pyramid set bench press with Increasing Incline set)

1. Flat Bench -15 Reps 155
2. Incline Bench – 10 Reps 105
3. Flat Bench – 12 Reps 165
4. Incline Bench – 10 Reps 115
5. Flatbench – 10 Reps 175
6. Incline Bench – 10 reps 125
7. Flatbench 0 8 Reps 185
8. INcline Bench 10 Reps 135
9. Flat bench – 6 Reps 195
10. Incline Bench – 10 Reps 145

My Thoughts: CAKE..  Did it no problem.  BTW those weights are after I told him to raise them TWICE.  I finally got fed up and said fine.  He was like ” Wait dude..  this is gonna hit you”…  I am still waiting..  Then at the end of this he was like “How ya feeling?”  I said fine.. Not even breaking a sweat.  THat pissed him off.

Phase 2:  12 Minutes straight of SUICIDES on the same damn muscle group…  WTF.. 

• 1 Minute 6olb Dumbell Bench Press – SUicide
• 1 Minute Push-up – Suicide
• 1Minute 60lb Incline Bench -SUicide

• 1 Minute 6olb Dumbell Bench Press – SUicide
• 1 Minute Push-up – Suicide
• 1Minute 60lb Incline Bench -SUicide

• 1 Minute 6olb Dumbell Bench Press – SUicide
• 1 Minute Push-up – Suicide
• 1Minute 60lb Incline Bench -SUicide

• 1 Minute 6olb Dumbell Bench Press – SUicide
• 1 Minute Push-up – Suicide
• 1Minute 60lb Incline Bench -SUicide

It took everything to control myself and just grit my teeth.  How terrible is this workout?  I must have done close to a hundred reps on each exercise..  I have to admit my chest, arms, and shoulders were on fire..  I dont care who you are…  If you do 12 minutes straights of arms you are going to be hurting. 

At the end he was like “How was that?”..  I said ” I feel like I am training to be on the Jersey Shore..”…  He apparently did not find that funny.  All there was after that comment was silence.  Kinda like the record stopped.  Nothing else was said.  LOL He didnt even have a rebuttal. 

I then proceed to do the Cfit workout of the day while he hopped on the elliptical machine.  Not kidding.. He popped in the movie 2012 and leisurely walked on the elliptical.  I did the daily and then drank my recovery/protein shake..  I shower up and head back to my office. 

On the way out to the door.. D-bag goes–  “am I going to see you tomorrow for leg day?  “  Oh NO HE DIDN’T(Insert lots of head weaving & finger snapping)…  Did he just taunt me?  While I had about 10 snarky inappropriate comments queued up..  I just left it with “yes, lets see what kind of leg workout you do… “  I know totally lame but all my whitty stuff was completely inappropriate in front of my co-workers.

That’s right kiddos…  Me vs. D-bag round 2 tomorrow!

Crossfit Games = Inspiring

SO I just got back from my first viewing of the Crossfit games.. and wow..  pretty damn awesome.  If you havent done it I highly recommend it.  The general positive sense of the group and encouragements.  WHile it still was a competition I was impressed at how everyone was cheering for each other. 

Really impressive athletes..  THose WOD’s were NASTY.  I felt bad for everyone doing the weighted vest WOD.  It literally crushed people.

@ of our athletes ended up making and are on their way to sectional?  regional?  I always get it messed up. 

The sad thing is that I am all pumped up.. ready to really kill it this week in terms of working out and I am stuck in dublin OH for work.  DAMN you!