GYM REVIEWS ~Deciding on an new Crossfit Gym

I was training at a crossfit style gym.
When I got injured my coach and owner of the gym made it clear to me that I was no longer welcomed to train at the gym.
I am not going to say anything negative about my old gym or my old coach. I was a swim coach for 5 years and have played sports one way another since t-ball.  My old gym produced amazing results in 4 months.  Completely changed my body and I pushed myself beyond a lot of walls.

The search:
I am scouring the south bay looking for a great fit for me and the new crossfit gym.  I need a place that is going to support my long term goals of coming back and competing again.  More importantly I need a gym that is going to be a positive place to train and have fun, my wife will be joining me after she has the baby.  It is a big decision picking a gym.

So far I have called around and spoke with a lot of great people.

I have visited

Redondo Beach Crossfit 

I met the owner, he is a young guy that seems to have a solid foundation in the sport.  The gym is only 4 months old.
Pros = its new, so it would be on opportunity to get in at the ground floor and progress with the other athletes.    Very nice people, good location close to home.  The coach is very willing to rehab my ankle and i  believe that he will spend the time to do it right.

Cons = It is so new I worry it wont make it and I will have to start all over at another gym which is a lot of ground work.

Code 3 (in Torrance)

I met the owner today. This is a well established gym that sends lots of athletes to the games.

Pros = high level athletes, i know i will be pushed. they are open to rehabing my ankle.

Cons = it seems intense, i dont know what my wifes comfort level would be.  if we cant train together then this wont work for my family.

Put me in coach ~ 11 30

I am ready to rock and roll.
Time to get back in the game.
I have a lot of work to do today.

1136 so far so good - 4 IEPs down 3 to go

0514 PM
Home!
Leg is throbbing! ELEVATE
long day, im glad i am working

GREAT ! ~ 11/29 First check up

A good morning.
Yesterday I went to work it was great.  Painful but great to be productive.

Today I have a check up on my cast.

One of three things is happening.
1. I have somehow messed up the setting of the fracture.
2. My swelling has gone down and the cast has shifted , thus pinching a point on my ankle creating acute pain.
3. I need to grow a pair and just accept the pain and discomfort (no problem as long as I know the pain is normal).

The doc and his nursers are great people.  I think they knew that I wanted an x-ray and see how things were going.
~ they said they really wanted me to have peace of mind.  the x-rayed me and Dr. Huber came in to see me before an operation.
The X-RAY looked great, I am healing fast.  I am ahead of schedule.
Good doctors in your life are an amazing asset.

Thanks to my doctor! Dr. Glenn J. Huber, M.D.

Torrance Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Group ~ Amazing People

* Visited a new BOX today RBCF

True Colors

Not to be dramatic.
I know that this injury in the big scheme of things is nothing compared to what other people are going through.

It is interesting ~ people show their true colors when you are down and out.  It has really surprised me who has given me a call, come by my classroom or shot me a TEXT.

A lot if people have not checked in ~ and a lot of people have.

To quote my friend, "people tend to show their true colors when you are down and out"

My wife has been amazing! She is in her third trimester and she has stepped up taking care of me and the 3 year old.  A couple of buddies are finding time to chit chat or shoot the shit even tough their lives are super busy.

I am so blessed to have so many great people in my life.

11 29 back to work

1035 AM ~ back at work, back in the classroom. the leg is throbbing but I am so happy to be around people.  I am also glad I have a good positive rapport with my students, they could make my life hell if they did not respect me.

0215 - Leg is starting to throb ~ but its cool. Blessed to be here
0241 - oof - sick of sitting here 18 minutes to go; I have a couple of things to do after school.

Picture~ this is probably the best use ever for an American Gov book

0421 - so im home. thank goodness, the pain is high, it is like my leg has been inflated with blood.  I am glad the first day of work is over.  I took no pain pills since this morning, I dont know if I can do that every day

11 27 Reading list (so your stuck on the couch for a few weeks?)

This is my 4th day of rest. Its probably the first time in at least 3 years I have gone 4 days without training.   I was compulsive about training, I did not believe in rest. Total rest is hard, I feal lazy, guilty, like a couch potato. 
I am sitting on my ass ~ and I am better every day.  For the first 5 days after my injury I was still training 90 minutes a day.  The pain was getting worse, and I could hardly put together a sentence.  RICE = rest, rest is first for a reason,  respect it, don't be like me.
* bed time, took a real shower for the first time in 8 days.  What a blessing.  Pain is up

ankle fracture data (articles)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16375062

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/feed/2010-10/vikingspackers/story/brad-childress-brett-favre-has-ankle-fractures

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/422500-brett-favres-ankle-and-the-11-injuries-sports-fans-should-know-about

http://www.nhl.com/ice/blogpost.htm?id=4014

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2011/profiles/lesean-mccoy?id=79607

Respect the rest11 26 One week down

I do not know about you, but for me the worst day of the week is always thhe rest day. I have rested for the last 2 days only doing streching and mobility workouts (60 minutes a day). This morning I woke up and something strange was happening. I feel better, more rested, clearer head, better mood. I have been reading drew breeses book "coming back stronger", a good amount of the book is about his rehab. He had the best doctors in the country, drew was ordered to rest. And long story short it worked for him. I need to rest, I need to respect and trust the time it takes to heal. If I don't train for a month, its not the end of the world, I have decided I will just strech and do mobility training for the next week then reassess the injury. The injury happened 7 days ago.
Been a long week.
Up word and onward.

A good article about post injury nutrition

http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/Injury__diet_and_recovery__Guidelines_for_nutrition_and_healing.htm

http://www.lehighsports.com/assets/sportsmed/NutritionDuringRehab.pdf

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-300--4843-0,00.html

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/injuries_nutrition_and_recovery

facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fitwithacast/180148955412533

11 25 post Thanksgiving Friday

AM - Pain is high, avoiding Vicodin, i want to know where the pain is.

Today's goal 60 minutes of mobility and stretching.

1. Mobility Work Done;

a. Foam Roller

b. sciatic

c. shoulders

d. hips

~~ good little work out, a lot if scar tissue is quickly developing, I need to stay on top of mobility, it is more important then strenght  

700 PM

Another Fu$*%ng Thanksgiving dinner. I am done ~ over small talk , over telling people how i hurt myself, from here on out i am going to start respecting this injury more.  I am slowing down until I have more energy

Why I got Injured

Injuries happen;
Anyone who plays hard and pushed hard will deal with some sort of injury.

I knew for the 3 weeks before I got hurt that I was pushing my edge.  All the indicators were there in my training log.

When I got hurt I was running on adrenaline ~ because that was all I had left.

If I would have rested more  ~ I should not have competed that day.

I do not regret my path , but if i do not learn from this experience I will repeat it.

Thanksgiving stories, (in a cast)

Sick of telling the story, I feel like damaged goods.
* on a positive note I need to evaluate how high I was putting the priority of training in my life.
I think I need to take it down a notch, im not a professional athlete.

11 24 some pictures from the past few months

These were the events in the first games.

Fresh water spear fishing with a broken fishing pole and a flattened sharpened fork.  Very fun.

The log; my favorite lift.

I made these for pull up and similar movements; schedule 40 PVC pipe with caps, wrapped in hockey tape.  Then I attached the handles to rock climbing webbing and put it through my pull up bar.  They work.

Famous Athlete Injuries (and how they came back!) Links

* Always searching for inspiration;
I am going to compile a list of links.  Famous athletes, the injuries, and how they came back.  I have trained with enough athletes to know that there is no difference between them and a weekend warrior.  They just get paid, and while my performance may never be close to theirs I have the same human body and brain as them.  They are often simply the most determined and focused; if they can do it ~ I can do it.

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/famousinjuries/Famous_Orthopedic_Injuries.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/26/health/athletes-injuries-go-beyond-the-physical.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://www.scorebook.be/?p=1157

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/sports-motivational-quotes.html

http://amyreinink.com/2010/03/10/motivational-quotes-for-injured-athletes/

http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=4904

http://beyondthequote.com/famous-sports-quotes.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/ferrari/5934616/Michael-Schumacher-five-famous-sporting-comebacks.html

11/24 thanksgiving in a cast LOL

545AM ~ pain! sore ad hell from working out and the ankle is giving me practice on my breathing techniques.  Yesterday I was thinking about taking today off from working out; I have been given the answer with my pain level this morning.

I have to remain focused on my first goal which is not to re-injure myself.
So todays focus will be 60 minutes of mobility and really good nutrition.

0806 AM ~ Physically I am as tired as after a hard week of lifting and running.  So that means I am still training really intensely event though I am in a cast; this makes me happy.  I have continued to push myself physically to my limits.
~ No working out today.

11/23 day 4

Woke up and feeling down and defeated. Not going to let the negativity get to me.

1. Pain woke me up - only took 1/2 a Vicodin -  trying to use as little as possible.
2. Breakfast - fruit, almonds, and the normal supplements + protein shake.
3. Work out
a. walk around block
b. Muscle endurance set (60 minute max)
1. Arrowhead Press
2. Purple Bands
3. Green Pull ups
4. Push Ups 20/40/30max
5. Medicine ball ups
6. Leg Ups
*1. Round 1 - 21 minutes
*2. Round 2 - 22
*3. Round 3 - 17 minutes (timed out)
~ time out of 100 sit ups

Spoke with 3 different crossfit gyms. All super positive ~ I am going to check them out next week.

~ The past is the past ~ the future does not exist yet ~ what matters is now.

PM Update ~ Bored, this is going to be a mental challenge.
Positive ~ The new Rambo is on and I have the house to myself (i guess it is not all bad).  Contemplating resting tomorrow; should I keep the 5/6 days a week of working out? I do not know.
I did a lot of stretching and mobility work today.  I got my hips to open up for the first time.  I have been talking to everyone that I can who has had an ankle injury.
Most of the advice is the same.
1. Watch what you eat. (I am going to eat vegetables, fruit, and meat only until I get the cast off - except for the cream and sugar in my coffee).
2. Mobility seems to be the most problematic long term issue for most people.  I have to stay flexible.
3. It is hard to come back to your sport. ~ I am going to try getting back into a gym next week.  Even if its just to do a few things, I need to stay mentally in the game.

11/22/2011 day 3

Day 3 AM (600)
1. Pain - yes pain is high ~ as if my leg is being inflated with some liquid under the cast
2. Spirits - argh ~ medium .  I am avoiding pain killers till as late in the day as possible
3. Workout
I have a 60 minute workout planned
4. Nutrition - fruit, vegetables, meat
5. Stretching and mobility (60 minutes planned)

I will post before bed to report on days plan

PM 830 (summary)
1. shave and sponge bath
2. workout
a. walk around the big block
b. strength and endurance - 20 pushups, 5 min bands, 20 pushups, arrowhead seated press, 20 push, 25 heavy medicine balls, 20 push, coffee table dips max,
c. green pull ups max
d. foam roll and ball streching
e. 100 sit ups

Dinner with Ed, Tony and Juen at the habbit

ankle broke ~ spirit bruised ~ the overview

Im 33 ~ a weekend warrior, a father of a 3 year old, and my lady has a bun in the oven.  This will be my story of recovery.
How it happened: I was a a competition, putting a 180 bag over a bar.  the bag came back at me and i came back on my ankle wrong.

I will not focus on the bad in this blog. I will focus on how I am making this work.

My 3 goals
1. Do not re-injure myself
2. Loose minimal fitness during the next 29 days while i am in a hard cast
3. Stay mentally positive!!

11/23/2011 844pm
I am surprised that this blog is already getting views.  I should give more background.
1. I am a teacher
2. Past sports that I have hit hard: running (long distance), triathlons, surfing.  I had a kid which is the best thing that ever happened to me.  But since then 3.5 years ago I have been searching for a sport that challenges and pushes me while being flexible enough to give me time to be a dad and husband first.

I spent 16 weeks training at a crossfit type gym with that focused on lots of weigh.  The experience was amazing.  I have lived in pain for the entire time but I have never been stronger.

Last Saturday I got hurt at a competition; for reasons I do not want to discuss I will be finding a new traditional crossfit gym.

The purpose of the blog is simply a in depth training journal.  I was researching what I was going to go through in the next few months and I did not find a good "average joes" experience.