I'm still here...

I haven't really been training lately except for Z health so didn't know what to post.

This time it's a combination of things. I guess I was going at the snatches too hard...my body would be f^*#@d up for a couple days after each workout. Mostly muscle tightness in my neck and upper back (history of old injuries there). It was getting hard to turn my head and I was getting a lot of serious tension headaches! I will probably have to take high rep snatches off the menu for a while, contest not withstanding. Such is life.

As serendipity would have it, I went to the Z-health R-phase part 1 seminar. I really wanted to see what it was all about first hand. I knew something really good was there but I wasn't having any "AHAs!" after trying it on my own.

Well the seminar was excellent, right up my alley. I think I'm a convert. I have been to A LOT of seminars and trainings in my 17 years of practice and Dr. Cobb really does have something special here. And it really opened up a can of worms for me. Of course mine is not a simple case - I'm pretty sure it's some weird 'central pattern generator' issue or some such, from what I have learned so far.

For the moment, I have had to be careful with any intense workouts, as my body has been feeling all kinds of pretty odd stuff that makes the idea of swinging a KB scary. I don't want to break anything and just need to rebuild my system from the ground up. I think it will be good in the long run but right now it's humbling and trying my patience. I plan to take the I-phase as soon as finances permit.

On the bright side, I did somehow manage to PR at the TSC (as a spectator-not in the events) BTW - Great job everyone, especially the Fridays, who took 1sts in the Men's and Women's divisions. The Android division was amazing to watch. Joe Pavel and Brad Nelson are both animals and made it all look so easy.

So my PR; I couldn't resist trying to press the 36kg KB, since I don't have one and it was just sitting there egging me on. "When would I have the chance again?" I thought to myself, so when everyone was watching the pullup competition, I warmed up with a few reps on the 24, rested a minute, then bang! Up it went, L & R. PR #1. So then I had to try the 40...I struggled with the L for several seconds (kind of ugly) but locked it out. The R went up surprisingly easy...just a few months ago at the Friday's, I could not budge the 40. I guess a pair of bulldogs are in my future after all. I had not done any presses in weeks. Is it the Z? I dunno but I'll take it!

So back to my 'can of worms'. Some who have followed some of my DD posts etc. recall I was a HIT JEDI back in the 70s. I wanted to look like Arnold (and Mike Mentzer) so bad when I was 17-20 that I regularly blasted myself into oblivion and failure countless times and ate ungodly amounts of protein. It was 'the way' back then.

I also played football for 2 seasons, had numerous other (relatively minor) head injuries and did very hard labor many times - I was also a very ANGRY young man and used to take it out on myself in my workouts. So I guess now it's payback time. Z-health is revealing some of the trauma I still have locked in my system and it's gonna take a bit more time to iron some of it out enough to get functional again with any kind of serious workout.

I am guessing here as to why all this is happening to me. If my theory aint' right, I have no idea why my body feels like it might break or lock up lately. It is frustrating and humbling. I don't want to be stupid and ignore my body signals and really bust something but good. Not worth it! This is a hobby/avocation for me, not my direct livelihood or life & death situation.

Plus, I've been warding off (succesfully so far) the nasty colds & flus or whatever else has been going on around here lately. The instinct I have developed is to just go into low gear and conserve my energy and sleep a lot when my immune system goes on alert. I HATE being sick and would rather miss a week of workouts to avoid it than push through and pay for it with illness later. (I recall 'pushing through' many times in the past - as soon as I would get a break in my schedule BAM! "Down goes Frazier!")

Anyway, since it's been over a month now, I thought I better put something up here.

On the brighter horizon, I finally got smart and bought some mini bands. My plan is to use them to be able to do pullups - my quest last summer was derailed by my shoulder problems. A great big DUH! Why it didn't occur to me last summer, I have no idea.