Stop Whining

Week 4: Knee same as last week. Still going easy on it , but adding in some Air squats to strengthen the quads. Also changed diet to reduce calories. My new mantra stop whining and just put in the Friggen work. My summer competition season may be done, but Ill be dammed if I let that ruin my fitness goals or journeys.


KV WOD: 3 rounds run 400 m, 10 hspu.
Mikes Mod: row 500, and no change on HSPU

Stuff and Things

Knee is starting to improve, felt ok doing real burpees without a step up step down. Dont want to go too hard just yet. need to stick with the progress and plan.
Need to find a good strategy between dieting and increased cardio to help loose some weight. I knew id have a bit of gain, but I need to double up my efforts to be strict, and increase that cardio. Ive always been a heavy guy, I once got down to about 200 a couple years ago and Id love to get back to that zone. I also know as a coach I cant and shouldn't focus on that but its hard, and Im only human.
I am extremely grateful for my members and the community at KV Crossfit, they make this process so much better.
Its been a crazy week. Ill get back to daily posting next week.

Week 3

WEEK 3

So I'm three weeks in. My knee is marginal at best still. So that tells me I still need to dial it back some. This whole next week I will be taking off. Its good every 3-4 months to take an extended rest 5 days or so. This will be my extended rest week. I will still do mobility. This weeks WODS have been good, I'm just trying to keep a positive frame of mind. Its hard , its very hard, to stuff that competitor deep down, and watch everyone get better, watch my competition get better, watch the young guns crush stuff. Meanwhile this old dog sits in the corner with his chew toy, barking at shadows and remembering what it used to be like. MEH. Anyway. Will work hard to fight that depression. Need to find some outlet, something to keep me occupied. On the plus side my shoulders feel stronger.

Enjoy the weekend.

INTENSITY

One thing is certain, Im going to be realllly good at rowing when this is all done. Took a different approach today, since ive started this journey Ive had to modify quite a bit and go strict on alot of movements. Todays wod involved a med weight power snatch. So I decided to use the rx weight and go from the hang. AND JUST RIP THE CRAP OUT OF IT. I was cycling all 10 with a fury that would have made the ultimate warrior proud. I made the conscious effort before the wod to just attack it with intensity and not let the modifications bring me down. At the end of 10 minutes my ass had been kicked and I felt pretty good about that.

KV WOD: 10 m amrap. Run 200m, 10 power snatch 95/65, 30 double unders

Mikes MOD: Row 200 m, 10 HANG Muscle snatch ( very little dip), 8 burpees.


Remember in anything you do just do it to your full extent, leave nothing un answered and leave it all on the floor

SWOLE

Couple days late posting
Knee is feeling a bit better. Im fighting the urge to do more. Im going to stick out this 6-8 week process and really let it heal. Even though I could maybe run, Im not going to. Ont he plus side, my rowing has gotten much better, and so has my shoulder press.

Wed KV Wod: 50 wallballs, 40 KB, 30 T2b
Mikes Mod: Wallballs were to a 20 inch box, which made it mostly shoulders. KB swings were hard because I couldn't use as much hip as id like.


Thursday KV WOD: partner work. Run 800m, 50 hr pushups, row 1000m, 50 pullups. 20 m amrap
Break HR pushups and row, and pullups as a team.
Mikes Mod: Burpees instead of run, approx 50-60 each round.

I have been doing some accessory work very strict stuff, Ill be interested to see how it pans out.

SIDELINES

This past weekend was rough. Crossfit 321 had a team competition, I was supposed to compete with two of my good friends, and it would have been awesome. Instead I had to pull myself out last minute and get replaced. After being asked for for the 30th time by fellow competitors why I wasn't competing it really started to take its toll. Ive been competing for many years I always finish well, top 10 or top 5, so It was eating at me to have to explain why I wasn't throwing down. Id like to give you big flowery motivational speeches about how Im ok with it and blah blah. IT SUCKED.
What was great was the fact that I got to coach and spectate the members of my gym who i train and coach. To watch these athletes throw down, give it their all, and just PR all over the place was awesome.
I also got to spend the entire day with my best friend, so that was awesome.
Im working on getting out of my own head, to focus on the recovery. Every day will be tough, I have no intention of giving up, I just have to keep moving forward and keep getting stronger.


KV WOD : 3 rounds run 200 m, 15 bar facing burpees, 10 thrusters 115
Mikes MOD: row 250m, 15 bar facing burpees with step over, 10 strict press at 115. ( Strict press got hard quick, surprisingly this was pretty nasty.)
Early am work: HSPU 5x3, C2b pullup 5x3, Good mornings @135lbs, 5x3

Deadlifts and Donuts

Some days are going to be hard, very hard. Not physically , but today was certainly mental for me.  Knee was a bit sore today from the KB carry, Ill modify a bit next time, Im learning this as i go. Todays KV Crossfit wod had two movements I LOVE, Squat clean, and deadlifts. These are both movements I am extremely good at, and today it was immeasurably frustrating to modify these movements. In fact it was a struggle to not get angry.  After some internal pep talk I pushed past it and focused on the recovery.

KV WOD: 3 rounds for time. 5 strict pullups, 10 deadlifts, run 200m. rest 2 min between each round

Mikes modification: pullups were easy today no change there, deadlifts were elevated 6 inches to decrease the knee depth, row instead of run. I really tried to push myself each round and I picked up pace each round.

AM early session. 5x3 Strict muscle snatch.. ( Holy crap this is very very hard if you have never tried it )

5x3 Snatch push press ( very limited dip on the push ) hardest part of these is the catch on the back between each one. 

FRONING's PECS

Thursday.

Knee has felt better that I have given it some rest and ease. Stairs do not hurt so much. Still feeling bummed that I cannot compete this weekend. For me this may be one of the hardest things to grasp as I go through this recovery. I enjoy competition, Im good at it, and I do 2-3 every summer. Not being able to challenge myself in competition will drain me mentally. I just need to focus my attention else where.

Thursdays Early AM session 4:30-5:30. Me and my training partner Justin have been using Thursdays to play around with some fun bodybuilding stuff that we dont normally do, keeping it lighthearted and just having a good time.
Bench Press 5x2
Legless rope climbs 5x1
Weighted dips 5x3
Barbell Shrugs 5x3

KV Crossfit Daily WOD: Partner wod 30m amrap. run 400 m, 50 kb swings, 400 m kb carry
Mikes substitutions: 500m row instead of run, and a really fast walk on the KB carry

I must say its humbling to not be able to run, even though Ive never really enjoyed it it still sorta sucks to watch the class go running while Im stuck on the rower I pushed the pace a bit trying to increase my heart rate by upping the stroke rate.  KB swings were fin I just paid extra attention to my depth on the squat and used my arms more. I started too fast on the KB carry and I may have overdone it a bit too much. I need to be more cautious of this in the future as my competitive nature kicked in.

Noon session will consist of. Pushups. Situps, and some banded leg work.

Patella Tendon who needs a Patella Tendon

As in any sport we do, we sometimes get injured. Alot of the times its just doing something silly, a wrong movement,t a slip, a fall, or as in my case just being stupid.
Approximately 6 months ago while showing off and attempting a TRIPLE UNDER, a movement which I would never see in a competition or a wod I might add. I jumped high and landed awkwardly.

As I said, I laded awkwardly and I knew it right away, I felt something happen to my knee, it hurt, but wasn't awful, I laughed it off and kept going.  The pain would come and go at first, and I continued my normal routine. I had several competitions, and then around Christmas time it became worse and worse.
Long story short I recently had it diagnosed, had an MRI done and consulted a specialist. Result was that I have a PARTIALLY TORN PATELLA TENDON. Painful and limiting. SO as an active and competitive crossfitter, where do I go from here.

As your coach and friend, I want you to see that even though I may be seriously injured, I do not have to give up the sport I love. I will use this blog to show how I am modifying, coping, and progressing through this injury.
According to my doctor their are several different treatments that are all fairly invasive, I can also rest for 6-8 weeks and allow this tendon to heal.
I am opting for the later approach and will write my progress here for you to follow and see. I have enlisted the aid of one of my good friends and fellow coach Tony to help me come up with a strategy to aid in this process , while simultaneously still crossfitting and staying in competition shape. I hope you all will see that even though you may be injured you can still crossfit.

Wed: KV WOD. 8 m amrap. 8 sto 95 lbs , 8 front squat 95 lbs , 8 burpee over bar.
Mikes modification- 8 strict sto, 8 good mornings, 8 burpee step over bar.

Early AM accessory work. 5x3 strict snatch grip shoulder press from behind the neck.
3x3 heavy snatch pull. ( had to make sure not to let my feet come of the ground and do these quite strict

NOTES: It was humbling to be so slow, normally I would crush a wod like this with such light weights, but going strict was rough, and I did feel very silly doing burpee step overs, but I just kept reminding myself to focus on the recovery.

Arnold says . good Job