Been a little bit since I have updated. Gillian continues to train…and make PR’s.

Training focus has shifted toward strength lately, using Texas Method to hit new PR’s. At a glance:

Backsquat 250 x 5
Deadlift 280 x 5
Bench 185 x 5
Press 120 x 5
Snatch 60Kg x 5 (in singles, from blocks!)
Clean and Jerk 80Kg (from the floor).

In two or three weeks (depending on my schedule) we will shift to a Oly focus routine, and will post more videos.

In strength,

Mac

We are now just under 2 weeks away from the launch of my brand new gymnastics workshop. This one-day activity based workshop is designed to improve performance and basic gymnastics skills. Participants will gain a better knowledge of  gymnastics exercise as well as how to teach and scale appropriately to ensure safety and maximize results. Focus is on core strengthening, injury prevention, and improved performance through practice and mastery of bodyweight movement.

The content of this workshop was derived largely from the needs and wants expressed by the CrossFit community. Many of you not only want to improve your own gymnastics skill but to become better coaches as well. In the past 2 years as a crossfitter , I have fielded more questions pertaining to gymnastics  than any other topic.   This workshop is my way of getting  specialty knowledge and instruction out to the community at large.  In addition to the workshops, I will be posting free instructional videos on my website.

If you are interested in hosting me or attending an upcoming workshop please go to my Workshop page (you will find the instructional videos here).  If you have any questions please send me an email at info@gillianmounsey.com

Here is a video on my six handstand progressions to develop a handstand. [wmv] [mov]

30 days post injury. The pain is mostly gone, my fingers and right arm have regained their sensation, my gross and fine motor skills seem to be fully intact.  My strength is up to at least 85% and my fitness believe it or not has  improved (…could I have been over training before?)

For the first week after the injury, I did not exercise – at all! I sat idle.  I  complained.  I cried.  I watched TV. I got frustrated trying to make small movements.  Rinse and repeat.

During week 2 I focused on circulation, light range of motion and introduced therapeutic modalities (some passive and active stretching, very light shoulder, neck and back rehab movements – the focus was on restoring normal range of motion).  I also spent quite a bit of time in a hot tub immediately followed by ice.   Anything that elicited pain (especially referred pain down my arm and into my chest) was a no no.  During the latter part of this week I added faster walking, stationery biking, light core work and air squats. I did a lot of transverse abdominal work and isometric  contractions of all muscle groups that did not hurt.  In short, I trained by feel.  There were some good days and some bad days.  By the end of this week I was starting to be able to lie down on my own without severe pain.  My right hand and forearm were still numb, and I had tons of pain around my scapula and upper back.

Week 3 I made tremendous progress.  I was able to introduce slow lifts, many bodyweight exercises, and running. I avoided all movements that compromised my cervical position.  Dumbells provided a safer movement path for me than barbells and allowed me to train both sides independently. During this week, I introduced my first met-con – a modified Cindy. As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 5 body rows, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats. I completed 23 rounds (paying very close attention to form) and was ecstatic. This workout was the first time that I felt capable in nearly 3 weeks.  I didn’t do pull-ups and it was 5 rounds short of my Cindy PR but it felt like the greatest athletic accomplishment I ever had. During this week I made careful assessments of how I felt during the workout, immediately after and over the course of the next 24 hours.   Once again, I used pain as my indicator. If I exhibited any symptoms that were distal (such as numbness in my forearm or hand) then I knew I had made a poor choice. I programmed for one day at a time based on how I felt.

Week 4 I experienced  more physical improvements, but more importantly I was finally out of my “funk” and stopped feeling sorry for myself.  My mood was better and my confidence was creeping back.  I was starting to think of my injury as a positive and necessary experience that would make me a better trainer and a stronger person. I was able to reintroduce pull-ups, back squats, and nearly all movements with the exception of heavy deadlifts and olympic lifts. There was no exact science or manual that I read for this.  Any movement that was causing me pain prior to the injury I was especially cautious with, and I introduced them one at a time so that I could gauge my body’s reaction. This week resembled a typical week of crossfit, some strength workouts, some met-cons, and even a 5k row (yucky!).  At the very end of the 4 week period , 25 days post injury, I resumed the program I had designed for myself  (see the New Program post from 12/07/09).

Yesterday, I did Diane (3 rounds of 21-15-9 of Deadlifts and Handstand Push-ups). I put my ego aside and used the women’s Rx weight of 155lbs for the deadlifts. I finished with a time of 5:11 which is nearly 3 minutes slower than my PR.   I was cautious and exacting with my deads and I broke the handstand push-ups into several sets on the last 2 rounds. Oddly, I was not upset, I felt great about it. I’m back – new and improved!

Two blog entries on 2 consecutive days – a bit of a milestone for me. Let’s get down to the cause of my injury. Was there any signs that I ignored?  Was it evident to all those around me that this day was coming?  Well, the answer is yes to both of those questions.

For several months I was using what I call the “duct tape” method of training – temporary patches for anything broken.  I had been suffering mild to moderate pain and discomfort since October.  I let the lines between soreness and pain blur.  I rationalized that pain is associated with maximal effort and hard work.  The “duct tape” that I used was more comprehensive warm-ups pre-workout, more stretching, acupuncture, active release therapy, myofascial release, Advil, and just about anything that would allow me to get through another day and continue to forge ahead as planned on my workout program.  This method is what enabled me to get through Operation Pull for Hope in November.

All of these above mentioned interventions are excellent methods for pre-hab and re-hab.  However, I needed to rest.   I was injured and I knew it.  Once warmed up and in the midst of an intense workout my pain was often masked by circulation and endorphins. My poison and medicine were one and the same. The real kicker – I was working harder and getting weaker. My deadlift tanked, my right side would not cooperate on lifts. The ultimate sign was when I could barely knock out a set of 10 handstand push-ups (I know that might sound ridiculous, but I take great pride in being able to knock out 30 or more consecutive handstand push-ups on any given day).

I had made the assumption that I had a minor shoulder injury.  Seemed logical – my right shoulder was weak and most of my pain was beneath and around my right scapula (initially). I thought it was all muscular and that I had adhesions that were preventing correct neuro-muscular firing  patterns.  You can talk yourself into believing anything!  Three weeks before Operation Pull for Hope (my 100 muscle-up challenge) I became aware that my right side was experiencing a neurological deficit while training the muscle-ups.  I kept this knowledge as my little secret and was determined not to let it show.  Nothing was going to come in the way of my goal. Nobody was going to get to see a weakness.  Silly, I know.

Those close to me knew that I was headed down a dangerous path.  My determination trumped my intelligence. My stubbornness reigned supreme. By golly, nothing was going to get in the way of my 20 plus years of consistent, unbroken physical training.

Well, now it is time for my big admission.  It was my consistent, unbroken, relentless physical training that put me here.  My injury came from chronic overuse and abuse.  Years and years of pushing even when I knew better, working out when I should have been resting, believing that I was somewhat of a superhero (OK, that one might deserve a few chuckles), and turning every training experience into a competition against myself and others (usually men that were much larger than me).

My injury was a culmination -  It was not an accident, not a poorly executed movement. In essence it was an acute expression of a chronic problem.  My disc herniation (or any catastrophic injury) is not unlike a pack a day smoker getting lung cancer – inevitable.

In retrospect, I have no regrets. I have had two decades of tremendous, nearly injury free training- unheard of!  My training journals let me fondly recall each and every workout that I have completed – they represent a time line of much of my life.  I can place most major events and  milestones in context with my training journals – I have books from high school, college, body building in my early 2o’s, early career life and so on.

The question now becomes – What will I learn from this and how can I use that knowlege to better myself and teach others?  My injury was a wake-up call.  It is time for me to close one chapter and start the next.  I resolve to follow the advice that I give others – I am in this for life – Intelligent training and listening to my body will take the place of mindless determination. I have nothing to prove (I still think I am a superhero though, some things never change).

It’s been a long time since I have written a blog entry.  I have thought of many things over the past month that I wanted to say but have not been able to bring myself to sit down and share in a public way.  Interestingly, I wrote in my training journal everyday – a task as habitual to me as brushing my teeth.   However, my training journal is merely a collection of raw data.  I never truly get into the emotional and psychological aspects of sustaining an injury and coping with the aftermath – I just write down my workout (sets, reps, weights), time of day, location, who I am with, and a few words on what my body feels like.

Today is 4 weeks since I injured myself.  On Thursday December 10th I was warming up for my first set of back squats and bent down to pick up a 25lb plate.  As I lifted the plate and extended it slightly in front of me to place on the bar, I felt a pop in my back and excruciating pain and numbness spread through my chest, upper back, right shoulder, right arm, hand, and the right side of my face.  I dropped the plate, stood paralyzed by shock and fear and then tears started to roll.  I knew that I had sustained a disc injury.

Long story short (I am new to blogging so I have the tendency to write a novel, maybe if I blogged more often the entries would be shorter ), a nurse that came upon me thought I had a stroke and insisted that I go in an ambulance – that got me even more upset.  I refused and my sister took me to HSS (Hospital for Special Surgery) in NYC.  I knew that I needed to get the best possible medical treatment.

That 30 minute drive was the longest and most painful 30 minutes that I have ever spent in my head and body.  Filled with fear, all of my thoughts were negative.  What if can’t workout ever again?…What will I do for a living?…What if I can never feel my hand again?…Who am I if I am no longer the physical self that I used to be?….

Fast forward a little.  My diagnosis was cervical and thoracic disc herniation – hopefully not rupture.  The doctor gave me prednizone and valium and sent me home.  She told my sister that I was absolutely not allowed to move for the next few days.  For the first time ever in my life – even if I wanted to move, I couldn’t.  I spent the first 72 hours awake and sitting.  I could not move myself into a horizontal position.

A week later the MRIs confirmed that I had herniated my C5,C6,C7 and T1. I was told that I would feel better within 6 weeks.  What does feel better mean?  Does that mean that I could go do heavy deadlifts?  Somehow I knew that wasn’t what the doctor meant. Patience and listening to my body would be crucial to my recovery.  I would have to put my ego and exercise dependence aside and actually REST!

Rest was the only option by default the first week.  I could not drive, pour a glass of water, wash my hair – you get the picture.  But, as I started to feel better, rest was a concerned effort. I kept wanting to test it.  I needed to know if I was going to get better.  Thankfully, once again I had a very strong support system.  The people that cared about me watched to make sure that I didn’t screw up.  They kept my spirits up when I was inconsolable.

In the next blog entry, I will tell you about the cause of my injury (obviously the 25lb plate was only the straw that broke the camels back) and the warning signs.

The 3rd and final blog entry of this series will address what I have learned and how it could be useful for helping others.  I will also talk about my road to recovery and where I am at one month post injury.

As a note I want to thank my sister, Mac Ward, my parents, Pat Manocchia, Dr. Jen Solomon, John Alsop, Dr. Marcus Forman, and Dr Rob DeStefano.  These people were all critical in my physical and emotional care.  I want to thank my friends as well for keeping me occupied when I couldn’t workout.

The chart above is the template I designed for my new 6 week program.  I encourage anyone interested in trying it out to sit down and make a list of their weaknesses and skills that they want to improve.  Three of the training days, we will all follow the same program – 2 strength days and a CrossFit benchmark day. The other 2 training days (time priority and task priority) should be chosen by you provided it stays within the outlined parameters.

Below is a general guideline of the first 6 week microcycle.  Please keep in mind that you may adjust your own work/rest days.  I chose these days because it fits best with my schedule.  These initial six weeks have a progressive strength focus.

Sunday – AMRAP is variable and should be chosen based on Saturday’s programming.  Incorporate gymnastics skills.

Monday – Strength – work up to 3 working sets across of each of the following 4 movements. Front squat, Barbell lunge, Bench press, Weighted pull-up.  Increase weight each week.

Tuesday – Rest

Wednesday – Vary volume weekly, incorporate weak skills, choose movements that were not in Sunday’s AMRAP. Keep workouts to 20 mins or less

Thursday – Strength – Weeks 1 through 3 work up to 3 sets of 5 across. Weeks 4 through 6 work up to 5 sets of 3 across. Back squat, Shoulder Press, Deadlift.  Total volume of working reps remains constant.  Increase weight each week.

Friday – Rest

Saturday – Choose from Diane, Fran, Elizabeth, Grace, Helen, Jackie (or any CrossFit benchmark WOD that you can complete in 15 minutes or less, rx’d weights recommended).  These benchmarks will be repeated in the next 2 phases.

A week off from training has given me some time to do some serious evaluation of where I am and where I want to be. What are my goals?  What is important to me? How do I continue to evolve in my lifelong journey of health, physical fitness and general well being?

For nearly 2 years I have followed CrossFit mainsite programming religiously with little deviation.  It works!  In my opinion it continues to be the optimal program for achieving broad, general, inclusive physical fitness.  It is by far the most efficient and effective means to overall fitness I have ever come across in my 3 decades of training.  Forcing me to work weaknesses and eliminating personal bias, mainsite has carved my path to being a more a well rounded, more capable athlete and person.

Why would I choose to fix something that isn’t broken? I still PR my workouts on a regular basis but I want more.  I have specific goals that I want to address. I spent the better part of a week pondering if I could continue to follow CrossFit methodology and have a specific, goal oriented, periodized strength training plan at the same time.

I came up with a program of fixed and variable training days. 2 days per week I will follow a fixed strength training schedule, 2 days per week I will have variable time priority or task priority crossfit workouts, 1 day per week I will hit a CrossFit benchmark workout drawn at random (ie. Fran, Diane, Elizabeth).  I will rest 2 days per week.

Overall it is a 16 week program divided into 3 distinct phases.  I plan to keep a detailed journal and answer the question, “Can I achieve specific strength goals in tandem with a random general conditioning program designed to maximize physical fitness and preparedness?”

This journal is key.  I have kept a detailed training journal since my freshman year of high school (18 years ago).  I will let the data determine if my performance improves.  In addition to performance I will track physical, emotional and psychological variables.   My success will be determined largely by what I learn and how I go on to apply it to myself and others. I want to walk away from this experience not only fitter and stronger but as a better coach!

I will be posting the specifics of the program in the coming days including a daily WOD.

Happy Monday.  With the gluttony and lethargy of Thanksgiving behind us, most of us will view today as a fresh start on our training programs and eating plans. I however am taking today as a rest day, and tomorrow too for that matter. Actually, tomorrow will round out an entire week of rest and active recovery for me.

In spite of everything I know about training and recovery, years of education and almost 3 decades as a competitive athlete- I never take more than one or two days off. When I say never, I mean years and years of religious overtraining.

You may ask how is it possible that I do something to myself that I would never tolerate with a client of mine?  How is it that I could know better  and fully believe that I would feel better and perform better with adequate rest yet lack the ability to do so?

For me it comes down to 3 things:

1. Structure and Habitual Behavior – my training is the focal point of my day.  I am fortunate enough to have the ability to design my schedule around it.  I eat, sleep, work, and socialize around my training schedule. Training in essence is my anchor. This habitual behavior is all that I have known for nearly 30 years!

2. Personal Identity -  I define myself largely as an extremely capable athlete with extraordinary physical capabilities that come from years of relentless hard work and a bit of good genetics.

3. Fear – I am afraid of not working out.  I have an irrational fear of losing my ability.  I know that is nonsense but what is fear?  Fears or phobias are often irrational thoughts.

Now that I have identified the obstacles, what am I going to do about them?

My plan:

1. Structure and Habitual Behavior – I chose to replace training with therapeutic, low intensity recovery work for a week.  I still set aside the same amount of time I would to train but instead I walked, stretched, and did several soft tissue recovery treatments including active release therapy, massage, and acupuncture.  This allowed me to feel productive and kept my outlook positive.

2. Personal Identity – This identity of Athlete limits me.  It is narrow minded and inhibits potential. Athlete is one of the many hats I wear and by no means is the most important one. I spent some time writing down all of the roles that I encompass – sister, daughter, girlfriend, friend, mentor, coach, and educator.  I then challenged myself to improve all of these roles and relationships by thinking of one thing I could do for each to make it better.  All of these things make up me and the sum is greater than any of it’s parts.

3. Fear – Fear must be conquered in baby steps. Instead of thinking of it as a whole week off, I take it one day at a time.  Each day is a mini accomplishment. Most importantly, I have loved ones holding my hand.  I have a support structure of people that care about me and are looking out for my best interests and long term health.  I made a pact with these people that I will take a full week off.  If I feel like I am about to cave they are a mere phone call away. My promise to them trumps my fear!

This week off has been apositive experience. It has given me PERSPECTIVE. I have learned, I have grown. I have admitted and come to terms with a weakness. I am stronger.