Thursday, September 16th, 2010
I swear everything we did when we were kids was so much better than now that we are adults.
Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life. — Herbert Henry Asquith
But we didn’t know what we had when we had it. We wanted to grow up over night and live like we were 20 something when we were only 13. We knew it all. We had it all. And the best of all: we weren’t responsible for a thing. No, that was left to our parents. That was their job to worry over the bills, make sure we were safe, drive us to Palace on Route 1 at 10 o’clock at night b/c we had a cute outfit (er…or was that just me?). Our parents were saviors and menaces all at the same time. Take me where I need to go but don’t ask me where I’m going! What’s wrong with that picture? Haha
I am in a state of reflecting (and flux, tbh) right now because the rock of my life, that I did not seem to give such credit to, had a very traumatic thing happen to him last week. My dad, the smartest man I have ever met besides his brother Bruce, went in for a routine medical procedure that for the average person would have been an hour to two hour procedure with a bit of monitoring to follow to make sure he was ok. Instead my dad, while sitting up and fully aware, proceeded to have a stroke and a heart attack all at the same time on the table. Yes, he is alive. Yes, he is out of the woods. No, he’s not the same and never will be again—and it is so hard for me to type that.
I know I have said this before and I truly do mean it: there are worse things than dying. Living less than who you are or who you know yourself to be is sheer hell in and of itself. Value the gift of movement because it is fleeting at best. At any time life can take something as precious as that from you and you cannot do anything about it. Obviously this is why we work out the way we do and why we care about how we look and function. My dad is in there somewhere and he cannot get out. How frustrating must that be? More importantly, this was all preventable if he lived in a different generation. Health was not important when he was in his prime and it definitely was not when he passed it. All we can do is sit back and watch our parents choose to live in ways that make US now sit on the edge OUR seat waiting for THEM to come home.
I do miss the old days.
“Sometimes when a man recalls the good old days, he’s really thinking of his bad young days.” Anon
Not because it was better in terms of my life or circumstances (I am so truly blessed with some of the best people I could ever ask for in my life—please refer to the MP4 team), but because exercise was fun and not something I had to do to stay in shape. I know someone is going to say I love to exercise and I am going to tell you to go fly a kite. And honestly, even if you do, you do not love it now like you did when you were a kid. Now exercise is a fad: crossfit, p90x, parkour and so on. Back then…it was life; it was fun.
Running
Is what you did because you could. Whether you ran to your girlfriend’s house two streets over in your jelly shoes or you ran to the park to make sure everyone was there in your tight Jordache jeans, running was purely acceptable. No one wore heart rate monitors. No one bought books on running. Very few kids back then were heavy. We ran everywhere. Spontaneously. In any clothing. In any footwear. And we’re still around to talk about it.
Parkour (FreeRunning)
In the old days, Free Running is what you did when you were about to miss the school bus. See, the school bus did not pick you up in front of your house like it does now. You actually had to *walk* to the school bus. But let’s face it, you were never on time. So you had to *run* like a lost African tribesman caught out in the Serengeti alone. Unarmed. In the dark. At any given moment you would see about 20 kids come flying off the side streets onto High St. doing a buck twenty five trying to catch the bus. At least once a week there was a casualty (Someone would miss it, someone would wipe out, someone would have a wardrobe malfunction. Scary stuff.) and we’d all talk about it for months and laugh. But then there were the champs. They were the ones that would jump over cars, climb trees, dive roll, fall, roll, get up and keep running. These folks meant business. Clearly if they missed homeroom one more time, stuff was going to go down. So they mastered the art of Parkour, got older, gave it a name and started a movement. We know the true origin, though.
Crossfit
This is another form of “way too much time on your hands in the summer down at the park”. This is when you would say to someone: “I dare you to climb the slide the wrong way, jump over all the animals in the park, do 10 pullups on the monkey bars, run around the block 2 times and then lift Tony up 5 times. You do that and I’ll buy you a steak cheese.” Next thing you know, everybody goes flying off and Tony finds himself being hoisted up by 4’ 8” girls wanting a steak and cheese. Shame. Cuz now you have to pay to do this kind of stuff. And an even bigger shame is that you can’t find a good old fashioned park anymore either with dangerous things like 15 foot slides and merry go rounds that could spin faster than the earth’s orbit. But now it’s all about the deadlift, kip up and pull up with no Tony to be found anywhere.
Relivio
Probably the best form of exercise there is in the country and there is nothing else like it. Group hide and seek. At least 30 kids in the neighborhood get together and form 2 teams. One team has 5 min to disperse across a 5 street area and hide. The goal is for everyone to get back to base. Inevitably there would always be one jackass who would forget who is on his team and who is not and be captured. Then there was at least one couple that disappeared never to be found that game again. Someone would get bitten by a dog and at least 2 people would end up forgetting what was base and what was not. But you always knew a game was going down because all you could see was a bunch of kids running through the neighborhood like a bunch of cockroaches after the light’s been turned on. It was awesome. Unfortunately nowadays if you see that, it is usually called a “citywide search” and it involves handcuffs and mug shots.
Multisport
Now known as triathlons and duathlons and most involve swimming, this actually got its origin from the street lights coming on. If you were unlucky enough to be too far away from your house when this happened you were required to run, bike, sky dive, crawl, hitch rides and so on to get your behind home FAST. Do not mistake this for running or Parkour. This condition brought on athletic feats that mankind still has not reproduced. You would see 4 kids on a huffy bike (one pedaling, one on the seat with you in the back, one on the handle bars and the last in the back on the spokes) moving at the speed of light—the street light that is or cutting through yards, hopping fences, swimming through neighborhood pools—you name it, it happened here. It always involved 2 to 3 modes of movement: running, biking, praying. And it was grueling to say the least. You really never knew you made it til you made it. No time keepers. No water stops. No bike transition areas. Every so often, though, one of the cool parents in the neighborhood would provide a friendly voucher for you (“honestly, Julie, Jodi was here helping me out. She’s on the way now.” Whew!) and bought you some time, but that was about it.
OH I MISS THESE DAYS! And I miss my dad. My heart aches in a way I cannot describe and I am not one to put emotion out on the table. He may or may not “come back”. Pray that he comes back.
In the mean time…I love you all. Along with my family, you complete my life. Do not ever forget how important that last time you may see someone is. God Bless.
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
Last week I started to tell you about a crazy phenomenon that had begun to plague me after a series of intense workouts that I participated in. After taking some time to dig around and stick my nose where it does not belong, I found out a few things of interest and I thought I would share.
Quick Tempered
If histamine was a person, he would be known as a hot head. According to Wiki, histamine is an organic compound found in our cells that sets off an inflammatory response to foreign matter that gets in our bodies through specific muscle tissue. Basically, it opens up our capillaries to white blood cells to allow them to beat up on invading punks. After hooking up with some histamine receptors found in say the nose, for instance, these guys go about releasing a whooping on the invader faster than you can say Kleenex. This explains how you can just be minding your own business having a great workout and then wham! You’re useless.
The whooping that it releases comes in the form of sneezing, itchy, watery eyes, runny nose (rhinorrhea), closed air ways, coughing and congestion and can be intensely severe at the onset. Exercise induced rhinitis (EIR) is described by the medical profession as being non-allergic, so although it manifests itself the same way as seasonal allergies do, it is not considered the same as seasonal allergies. I found this to be problematic in terms of the information available to consumers simply because although they take the time to tell you all that, the means of diagnosis and its subsequent treatment are the same as that of allergic rhinitis. You would still have to submit to a scratch test and take some type of antihistamine to control the reaction so after all that I now know I am going to have to assume there is a greater reason outside of this topic as to why the distinction is so important.
Why Me?
If you do not have seasonal allergies but have been plagued with EIR, chances are you will be developing them soon enough. Those with seasonal allergies are more prone to an EIR attack than those who lack any allergy symptoms at all and it may also be that those who do not have allergies are just not complaining about this so the overall data is lacking. Those who do not have seasonal allergies yet suddenly find themselves with EIR should examine their diet for the allergens mentioned in last week’s post. I could have really gone off on a tangent with this article regarding food and allergies but I will save that for either Heather or myself in another post because it is a lot of information regarding food and histamine release. I would not be surprised if many of you Gatorade, Gu loving folks out there weren’t just setting yourselves up for misery with all the fast acting sugar and junk in those products. This is something to think about if you notice it only happens on long runs or when your mileage gets up there. I am clearly surmising here. I want to make sure that I do not imply that I found any research that says this conclusively, but this is not a far jump in terms of making sense.
The Enemy of the State
Cold weather, pollen, smog, strong smells and air born particles are the nasty buggers responsible for your sudden, personal torment alongside elevated levels of histamine in your system. Cold is the most notable irritant and lo-and-behold, it was winter time when I was at this facility and I did not sneeze until I left the building–not when I finished exercising. Who knew? Both indoor and outdoor exercisers were evaluated for EIR (those who previously showed symptoms—not a random pack of people) and the indoor exercisers experienced EIR more than those who worked out outside BUT both were relatively close in terms of the absolute percentage of those affected. Essentially, if it is going to happen, being indoors will not make it any easier on you. Stay outside if you like.
Too Much Time
In checking all this information out, I realized that the medical profession enjoys giving big names to things that just don’t need one. Rhinorrhea and pruritus for instance which are just a runny nose and itchiness. There is no need for a word like that to say runny nose. Next thing you know, they’ll have a medical term for things like the white film that shows up on the corner of your mouth when you exercise. Or the sweat bead that forms on the stray nose hair in the winter from your warm breath. Let me know if they do exist already and I just missed them because I’ll be happy to use them in another post.
What Does This All Mean?
Bring tissues with you when you workout.
Clean out your diet of the allergens mentioned.
Check out your use of energy drinks and gus.
Be mindful of smoggy areas and note whether you sneeze more outside than inside.
If you have time, diagnose whether you are developing seasonal allergies, as well.
Boost your immune system, it can always use a good kick in the rear.
There truly are a million directions I could go with this topic. I am choosing to keep it short and sweet for this one but now will open it up for the other ones. For instance, food vs allergic reaction vs exercise: are we eating things that are making us prone to allergic reaction right after exercise? Cold vs warm vs indoor vs outdoor: If you lived in an urban environment or out in the country, did you sneeze more? Intensity vs reaction: If your workout was easy, did you sneeze as hard?
I will leave all these questions up in the air for now but just know they have been added to the topic roster so you may seem them soon enough.
Friday, June 18th, 2010
I used to loathe recovery days.
Days off from working out would make me feel fat and lazy in no time flat. But I’ve come to appreciate the rest because the day after I feel strong and fresh as a daisy.
And, while a day of rest can be absolute bliss, it doesn’t mean you have to sit on your glutes all day and eat bon-bons. Am I right or am I right?
I like to think of “off” days as “active recovery” days instead. So on those days I go to my make-believe Reboot Camp and…
I know these sound like 5 simple things but if I don’t take the time to reboot, I burnout.
Enough about me what do YOU do to reboot?
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
If you Google “workout recovery” About.com provides you with a list of 10 ways to recover quickly.
However, I will venture to say that if you are reading our blog, you this list is nothing you don’t already know. Why? Because you either came to us already knowing this information, or you have picked it up here because we talk about it all the time.
But just because you know how to recover does not mean you know WHEN to recover. So many athletes, myself included, have the go, go, go, harder, faster, better, mentality. And actually, it is not just a mentality but a way of life. However, this way of life can easily halt our progress if we are not taking the time to recover.
I know Jodi has specific buzz words that when she hears, she knows a person is under-recovered. (Recap on the difference between over-trained and under-recovered). I’m just going to touch on two things I notice when I am under-recovered and ways I fix it.
Inability to Sleep
I am a sleeper, I can sleep anytime, anywhere. If I am not answering my phone, it is usually because I am on the couch, surrounded by pillows, covered in blankets, no lights on, t.v. on in the background, sleeping. I typically fall asleep within 5 minutes of getting into bed and I sleep through the night without waking. (Knock on wood because I just seriously said that out loud and really don’t want to ever lose my wonderful ability to sleep).
While I am a great sleeper, every so often, I will wake up around 3 am and not be able to fall back asleep. This pattern will continue for a few days and I will be wide awake at 3, no matter how late I stayed up. In the alternative, I will find myself unable to fall asleep, I don’t even try, I just am awake. I’ll stay up until 1 am watching t.v. When this happens, it is usually a direct result of my training. I have either stepped up the training or drastically changed my eating. My body has not adjusted and is under-recovered. Or I am just plain stressed to the max. This is a big red warning sign that I need to take time and recover.
Joint Pain
I do not typically have joint pain. Yes, when I climbed my elbow joints bothered me; and now, from time to time, my knees bother me; but those are joint irritation/inflammation that I can attribute to specific activity. The joint pain that is a good indicator you need more recovery is the joint pain that seems to not just linger after your lifts, but stays with you over the week and then acts up even more by your next lift. This joint pain is NOT sport specific, it is lack of recovery.
Solution
When I see these symptoms appearing, I know I need to take a break. Since I make sure to build mobility work and yoga into my weekly routine, those are not my go-to places for recovery. Instead, I take a full day off and I rest. When I don’t have the luxury of a full day, I make sure I get 3 nights of over 8 hours of sleep. We have said it before and we will say it a million times more, there is nothing better for your body than sleep. For me, it is the ultimate recovery tool.
However, if you are not working some type of yin activity into your daily routine, try and inversion to calm your nervous system and help aid in relaxation. Not a hand-stand or head-stand, simple legs up the wall. Check out this instructions at yogajournal.com. It can easily be done without a bolster under your bum. But set yourself in this position for at least 120 seconds. (I’d prefer 5 minutes) The benefits are innumerable; it will calm your senses and reverses the blood flow.
Another great idea is a good cup of tea. I know it sound so cliché to tell you to sit down with a nice warm cup of tea; but it can really do the trick. Often the hardest part or recovery is the resting. Taking the time to sit and drink a cup of tea can quite your mind and body enough to get you ready for bed.
Finally, go get some Udo’s Oil. I know, its nasty…..well, some people like it. As Jodi always says, people typically prefer Flax or Udo’s and I am clearly not an Udo’s person; but seriously, nothing will do your joints better and aid your recovery like some Udo’s oil. I should be ashamed of myself for suggesting this because I’ve been avoiding Udo’s like the plague. But that is about to change because I need to add it back into my diet. So, I’ll suffer right along with you. Get that Udo’s and add it in place of whatever good-fat you are rocking right now. Switch it up for a bit and reap the benefits.
So those are a few of my under-recovered symptoms and solutions. What about you? Is there anything you do when you know you need recovery?
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
I think this is one of the funniest, yet true images of this year. And a bit of what I am saying here.
Ok folks. I need a break from the love fest this week. Seriously. I can only take so much before I am just a useless bag of mush at my laptop looking for a tissue so I can stop sobbing. From Heather’s epiphany, Amy’s growth, Seanna bringing up the rear with her commitments and an email that I received from a dear client that was so filled with love I almost couldn’t finish reading it–I got nuttin’ fo’ ya! I’m empty in the mush department…well kinda. 
As the MP4 client list grows by leaps and bounds (seriously, we have some great stories coming your way soon), we are getting the opportunity to work with a tremendous bounty of sports. Ironman, triathlon, marathon, women’s boxing/sparring, soccer, hockey, tennis, just to name a few, are coming out in full force saying, “We want to perform at our best. Not at the expense of our bodies and not at the expense of our health.” What does this mean exactly? Goodbye to artificial foods, gus, gels, energy drinks and the like. Good bye to processed anything. Good bye to the traditional, hello unconventional.
Have their results suffered any? Nope. In fact, they are all thriving (stop being impatient, you will find out soon enough;) and wondering why others aren’t doing this. To be honest, some are…just not to the extent that we do. And we do not want to take anything away from those professionals out there. Some are paving the way for us to do what we do, but none focus on perfecting the body to *your own personal needs and requirements* the way that we do. It’s our mantra and our thing.
I like being unconventional. ~Florence Griffith Joyner
Heather had alluded to MP4 redefining itself in her post on Monday and while much of that is internal (you will see very little change on the outside in the beginning, but lots of change on the inside if you are working with us), there is a slight external component that you will see more often. And that is us honing in on the unconventional: we will redefine the meaning of functional training, energy drinks and foods, carbohydrates, looking good and recovery for you. We are different. We are not ashamed of it, bothered by it or even impressed with ourselves because of it. It’s just a fact.
But there are some fundamentals that are a necessity with any nutrition and training program:
Nutrition:
Give up the junk. I don’t mean live a life akin to a monk and never have fun again. I mean the everyday junk that you are eating that does not make a difference in your life that robs you of the opportunity to enjoy something really yummy maybe twice a week.
Training:
Get over the splits. They are good for some things but not for everything. Learn to change your training to your goal. So never doing them is not the solution nor is doing them every. single. week.
Pre-hab:
Bet you are not doing this. In fact, bet you don’t even know what it is really. Greaze the groove before you go “hammer the machine”. Set yourself up for success.
Recovery:
This is more than just a drink. It’s EVERYTHING. It’s why you are doing what you are doing—to recover. Because if you don’t recover, your training is for naught.
Aesthetics:
If prepping for your event makes you heavier by the end, that’s counterproductive and clearly not healthy. It’s time to look at what you are defining as food and energy because something is off balance.
Believe it or not, it’s not about mastering these things, either. That’s a fallacy. The most successful athletes that you know have developed a nice blend of all of these training tools. They are better in some things than others because they do not micromanage the ones that they are gifted in and focus on minimizing the ones that take away from their gifts. We’ll help you do that, too.
Leave it to me to interrupt the love fest hear at MP4, but I did so to impart some homework on you. Get your cabinets in line by ridding yourself of some junk (honestly, as much as you can afford to get rid of); get your training together by expanding your options and putting some real down time into your schedule; and get your life in order by sporting the body that you are most comfortable in. It’s that simple. Now get to it.
