cha,

My ART therapist has to do CE and he's going to be there. She asked if I'd be interested and I said yes. Not set yet - she has to send in a request to get that setup. Hoping it may not even be necessary in 2 months. The course is less than 2 hrs (Chicago) and they apparently look for local guinea pigs to work on who are willing to volunteer.

I'd talk to your local therapist about being a willing participant and see what happens, maybe ART CE coming to Minn soon.

10/20

Benched...have done some benching as I've felt comfortable. Getting better all the time. Worked up to 1RM of 215 today. Then metcon involving PCs, Push Press, FrontSquats, doubleunders. Weight used 115#, 5 rds of 15 PC - 10 PP - 5 FS (supposed to be OHS) - 30 DU.

cool - yeah he's talked to me about the fact that he has to go to them somewhat frequently. Maybe I will ask him about it.

10/24

More ART sessions on the way...shoulder is still pretty good. Hope to have full ROM by 12/17 (1 year exactly post op).

CF workout "Bradshaw": 10 rds of 3 HSPU, 6 DL (225#), 12 pullups, 24 doubleunders. 24:55. Scaled # of pullups (only 8/round - don't kip very much and control the descent) and HSPU (piked from a box). Feeling good to do some shoulder work with the piked pushups - ROM felt good on these.

I hear John Broz is coming to town in a month or so and putting on 1 day seminar - may try and attend. Mendes might be along too (?). Their website doesn't tell much and neither does my unorganized source.

10/26

LBBS, where have you been....I've missed you for the past 18+ months that my shoulder hasn't allowed it.

Tried today with still a little discomfort in my repaired shoulder and it felt odd trying to navigate back into the rack and get my hands clear.

1x3x215, 1x3x250

Squat weight was really no issue...just tried to get a comfort level with the movement, bar & hand placement. If my shoulder holds up expect my squat #'s to look a lot better.

Metcon: partner workout, 5 rounds partner rows 200m while you max out on dumbell thrusters (used 40# db's). Time was 10:18 total and hit 57 thrusters. Shoulder felt fine throughout and think as I'm closer to full ROM will incorporate OH work 1-2x/week and some TGU work at home to strengthen.

ART session last night and think more progress was made. Therapist is really trying to find areas that are scarred and holding back ROM.

10/27

FS: 1x5x45-135, 3x185-215-235, 1x255

Felt OK overall, single was a struggle. Hoping to do FS and LBBS much more often.

Pushjerk: skill work, up to 3x95. Awkward, haven't done in > 1 year.

PushPress: EMOTM - Death by....1 1st minute, 2 2nd, etc. Made it up to 11 minutes with 115#.

11/1

Press w/ kb, each arm (x5): 35, 44, 53 (F after 1 rep w/ left)
KB rows, 1x8 w/ 35, 53. EZ and quick, just wanted something help build shoulder strength.

Metcon: 20:00 of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 airsquats, 20 doubleunders. 10 rounds + 5 pushups. Wanted 10 or more so was OK. Pushups were the struggle.

Tomorrow full cleans (triples) and metcon with fairly heavy DL, boxjumps & run. Followed by a day off for sure on Thur.

ART apptmt tonight - will try to get 2nd one scheduled later this week and get back to 2x/wk. Want that full ROM.

11/28

Been busy and haven't had time to update. Summary of the past 4 weeks:

The good:

100kg clean (highest in a long while).
Attended good Oly seminar and learned a lot - have already helped others with some pointers I learned.
CF workout "Christine" PR (9:57), best by almost 1:00 and almost 2:00 better than earlier this year. 12 bw DL like butter.
95# HPC ladder - EMOTM, goal to get to 20. Hit 21 + 13 reps.
HBBS 8x255 and felt good doing it.

The bad:

Bad blister on hand from said HPC ladder, taped the thumbs but pinky tore. A pain for a week or so.
2 days after 8x255, couldn't get 3x265 (???).
Pulled my f*&$#ng hamstring playing football over the holiday. Have never done that, and it happened midway thru 2nd half so I was plenty loose. Luckily no noticeable bruising. Icing daily multiple times and self massaging.

I rec'd the go ahead to be a test subject for Dr Leahy at upcoming ART continuing education (upper extremity is the topic). My question: it's at 4:30pm in Chicago and likely a 2 hour commute each way - worth it??????????????? Wifey thinks I'm nuts. I just want full ROM and will resort to voodoo if needed...is that what I'm doing/hoping for?

Plan on working some rehab to improve scapular engagement. Already started with some rows and band work. Not sure what the longer term plan will be once hammy heals...need something to target. Maybe back on Coan DL program and follow for the 10 weeks?

12/10

Hamstring feels good now @ 2 week mark. Never had any bruising. Tried some DL and worked up to 3x325 with no issues - will start opening that up a bit this week.

Decided to be the case study for my ART practitioner at a CE class yesterday - justified it with some business in the area. Glad I went.

Was odd sitting up in front of 100 people on a table. He asked where the issue was after hearing a brief history on my injury. He narrowed it down after watching me move and then feeling around: adhesion and scarring right around the area where the anchor is located.

He worked it pretty good for a while (skin bruises as proof). Had me lean on his knee to help the humeral head drop in the joint to better allow him to work the adhesion.

I gained some ROM in the short session. My ART practitioner then worked with Dr Leahy to help better learn the work that I need. There is still hope.

Trying to decide what I'm going to focus on in the upcoming months. Weighing out going on 10 week Coan DL program, squatting 2-3x/week, C&J. Continued shoulder therapy is a given.

Sounds awesome.

12/29

Hamstring is pretty close to 100%, no pain/twinge/weakness. I did the CF Regionals WOD#3 (315# DL + 30" boxjump) with no issues. DL did feel heavy due to lack of DL'ing much over past 2 months. Boxjumps felt as good as any have in a LONG time....I'm sure focus on mobility in hip and psoas is paying dividends. Knee feels better as well.

Shoulder ROM improved after quick session with Dr Leahy 3 weeks ago. To the average person it may appear I'm there but I still think there's a little more to go. Haven't had a followup session - had a fairly nasty scab on the 2 points where he was applying pressure.

I've been working with bands to help scapular movement 2x per week and feel that's helped.

This week did:
3x195 Bench
3x130 Press (which REALLY surprised me, since I haven't tried > 95# in > 1 year)

Plans for 2012

First 90 days going to do a CF Football schedule. My workouts will be 4-5 days/week and consist of:

1 day pickup basketball
1 day Oly (maybe quick metcon at the end)
2-3 days CFFB lifts & possible metcons

No metcons likely > 15:00. No bazillion reps of pullups, airsquats, etc (not that I've been doing much of that).

Why this path?
1. A formalized plan (and other participants) will help
2. I want to get stronger
3. My joints are feeling better and I'd like that to continue.
4. I do like the conditioning aspect involved with CF and don't want to kick that aside to totally do SS or Oly. I realize gains may not be as much but I will make sure I allow for recovery.

Also going on almost 3 months of caveman eating (along with wife). I've probably dropped 5# and feel pretty good. Wife (after 3 hellish weeks - she was much more sugar addict than I, likely due to lack of calories overall from good food and her body said 'feed me' to try and support her activity level) has made great strides - despite losing a couple #'s her strength #'s are still going up and her running pace has dropped to levels of 8 years ago (LSD yo), 8:00 miles up to 11 miles.

I know this is drinking the CF koolaid but it is working. I've eliminated chips from my diet and in general am learning to do a LOT of cooking. Picked up 50# of grass feed meet (which is awesome...do recommend) that I'm working thru.

Staples for her: sweet potatoes with cinnamon and mixed with no sugar added applesauce. We purchase 6-10 lbs per week of sweet potatoes/yams. Almond butter & apples.

Staple for me: almond butter

Schedule is set:

Tues: 3x5 squat, 3x5 press
Thur: 3x5 squat, 3x5 bench
Sat: Oly. Skill work as part of the warmup followed by various combo of Snatch, C&J
Sun: Pickup hoops.
Mon: maybe every other week DL, will depend on recovery.

Probably 2 or 3 conditioning type workouts involving both metcons and other skill/strength (ie, weighted pullups) after the lifts.

Will attempt to follow linear progression each squat workout (+5) for 3 months. Looking at using 70% of 1RM for starting point on squats. Sound like a good plan? Will reset at 90% of last successful lift if needed.

1/3

Let the climb begin....

Squat 3x5 205
Press 3x5 95

Metcon: 7 rounds of 7 FS 135#, 7 russian kb swings 70# 7:40

Squats all felt pretty good. Lifted at night and will continue that for the next 60-90 days, will take some getting used after years of early a.m.'s. I think I'll like it. Won't always be a metcon involved but if so will definitely be the shorter type. Sledge hammer strikes and OH waiter walks next.

1/5

Squat: 3x5 210
Bench: 3x5 165 (80% of recent 1RM, hope I didn't start too high)

Metcon: CFFB 12/24/11 15:00 AMRAP
21 sledgehammer strikes RT
21 sledgehammer strikes LT
20 yard OH walk RT
20 yard OH walk LT

* used 10# sledges on a tire (all Home Depot had) and 55# kb for OH

think 5 rds + 13 sledges (RT)....thumbs don't want to work now.

1/7

Oly day

Powersnatch (2-2-2-2): 75-85-95-105 (#, as if you couldn't guess). Felt pretty good.
PC (5x3): 185
Powerjerk (3-3-3-3): 95-115-145-165(F, 1). 165x1 was post surgery PR. Just need to continue to do them and build confidence.

All felt OK. Played around with shouldering a couple atlas stones (115# no issues, 175#-not today) after the workout. Back was a little fatigued. Will be using these in the next couple weeks.