So many thoughts...

I got an email recently asking me to describe the differences between Z health and CST, now granted I have much more experience with Z but I think I'm in the position to answer this reasonably well but I thought I'd ramble on a little bit and go for a more general slant on joint mobility.

I've been thinking alot about joint health and as the saying goes you are only as old as your connective tissue, I see many facets and hopefully other people with chime in but until then this is what I've been thinking...I think of everything from a loading standpoint (I'm going to avoid delving into nutritional aspects and anatomy specifics), there's volume, intensity, speed, complexity, and precision. My thoughts on volume and intensity come from Pavel's writings and those he cites, speed and precision come from Z health, and complexity from CST. I understand there are probably some semantic differences in how people view this so I'll try to clarify...coming from an ADD individual this may be a little murky but hopefully not...In both Super Joints and Beyond Bodybuilding Pavel mentions two extremes heavy lockouts and supports and then high rep sets, I usually explain it like this: with respect to intensity, if you can do something with a hundred pounds then using one pound isn't much, and when it comes to volume if you can do something one hundred times then doing it once isn't much more than a drop in the bucket....Now I know the reason for this is actually more that by doing heavy supports it's like resetting the threshold higher for the joints and by doing them you decrease the level that joints may shut down to protect the body during exercise and with the high rep movements its more of a bathing the joints in fluid by repeatedly moving them allowing the structure to be bathed and flushed out by fluids and nutrients but like I said I'm talking generally. When it comes to speed and precision this is where Z comes in for me. A lot of mobility programs are big movements and while it may be great for warming up the larger movements allow for compensations to creep in unknowingly...if you can't refine how can you possible intregrate properly? Z is a systematic method for regaining and refining your movement on a joint by joint basis as well as ways of integrating properly. If you start with R-phase it mentions 4 speeds for a reason , they all matter. Slow lets you find the gaps in your movement and gives you time to mentally assess what's going on cognitively rather than assuming you're doing everything else right beside the movement you're focusing on. When you're going slow, you'll frequently find 'jumps' or 'rachets' I think these are the gaps that your body is uncomfortable with. When you speed up the movement it's likely if not certain that you'll skip over these gaps unknowingly. Think about it like this with music as an analogy, a digital signal is made up of a bunch of small pieces that when joined together make a seemingly continuous wave, as opposed to an analogue signal which is actually continuous with no small steps but rather a smooth shape. I think that Z takes your body from a digital to an analogue signal. since there are no uncertain gaps the body is able to make a smooth transition from one joint position to another, so do you want your body to guess where it's going or to know? I'll take the later. On the other end of the spectrum is sport speed, this is quick, it's supposed to be, not to many sports happen in slo-mo, unless you're watching an instant replay. If slow shows you where you're uncertain, fast shows you where you're body is uncomfortable. In R-phase most all movements are either front and back, side to side, or circles, and in I-phase figure eights get added in, each of these cover more surface area within the entire circumference that the joint can cover. While Z gives the template to understand movement, CST puts it out there a little more in black and white. If you think about 4 quadrants like in a graph, you have a figure 8, an infinity, diagonal infinity left to right, and diagonal right to left. After infinities there are cloverleafs and finally waves, I'm assuming that since all of these take place in what is essentially a 2-D grid I would think that changing levels to incorporate even more complexity is possible but Z-health's S-phase takes care of this with position specific and believe me just playing with speed and the basic movements provide more to work with than many may realize.

There are other aspects to go into like open versus close chain but I think that is better handled later.

I've said before that Z health lets the body move the way it's supposed to instead of the way it has to. I tend to compensate well with movements so I need the precision first other wise I trick my self into thinking what I think and what I do are the same and in the past this hasn't been the case. I like all the different systems and I've gotten a lot out of each one and they all have a lot to offer just make sure that what you're looking for in what you currently lack is what you actually need.

Well I managed to get in 2 different sessions with Dr. Cobb, and it was ridiculously productive to say the least. For the first time in about 3 months I feel like I'm moving normally, my pelvis no longer feels as 'dumb' as it had been. It's not quite perfect but instead of small steps forward, I got in one heck of a big leap. My right side no longer feels squishy or soft, it has evened out to be like the other side. My abs are actually firing and helping me function, they've been turned off for a little bit. I got the go ahead to start loading linearly which helps a lot mentally. So the current plan isn't too far off of what I've been doing. I'll be focusing on bone rhythms for the linear stuff, I'll be doing some I-phase drills for rotation, some S-phase for fun, and finally I'll be starting some climbing...it'll be about 5-6 grades lower than where I left off but I could care less, I'll get to go do some sport climbing with Jes and enjoy being outside, just the thought of climbing puts a big smile on my face and I should be able to enjoy most of the season which I didn't think I'd get to this year...I'm psyched. I didn't get to enjoy much of R-phase since I have a bunch of other stuff on my plate but what I did get to see was excellent as always. It was great seeing a bunch of the RKC community at the cert. I also got to pick John DuCane's brain on some qigong ideas and their relation to what I'll be doing in my massage therapy class. I swear it's almost a problem, there's so much information to take in, synthesize and apply, it's like I start to get a handle on what's going on and then I get off on a tangent and see something new to explore and add in...it's a good thing I love learning.

Z-health is back in town

I've been waiting for this for awhile, I can get my hip checked out and see what I need to change on my game plan for my recovery. I have two sessions tentatively scheduled with Dr. Cobb...should be a good learning experience, I have a lot of questions related to both myself and my current educational endeavor. So until things change or I get new info I'm continuing on with my workout plan.

Today's:

superset
Varied grip chins 4x8
Dips 4x8

30 sec pressing
30 sec overhead kb hold
30 sec body rows on rings
30 sec hold on rings

rest one minute and repeat

Mills 15lb clubbell drop set 50/50, 40/40, 30/30, 20/20, 10/10

Thats it for now.

another day in...

Haven't posted in a while, been fighting a cold in addition to everything else on my plate. I seem to have the exact opposite problem as most people, I keep dropping weight regardless of what I do, I'm hoping that as I'm able to keep working out more that I'll be able to creep back up to a more normal weight. I weighed in at 160 even fully clothed which puts me at the lightest I've been in about 4 years, the last time I was this low I had spent a week in the hospital....not fun. Since I was feeling better I did get a little workout in today. The other day I did a set of chinups as a test to see how everything would hold up, a few days later, no pain so it was time to up the ante.

Today's workout:

Chinups and Dips superset - 10/6, 10/8, 10/10

Mills 15lb clubbell drop set 30/30, 20/20, 10/10, 5/5

Overall felt pretty good RPE on superset got to a 7 on the last rep of the last set, probably should have stopped at 8 instead of 10 but I'm stubborn and I did them without using excess tension next time I'll stick with sets of 8 max. I want to work my way up to a single set of 30 eventually and then onto a set of 40 and 50, somewhat of a long term goal, I've never been much of an endurance guy but I should be able to do at least 40 straight if I plan on climbing at the level I want to again. I have time I just need to make sure I pace my self and remember it isn't a race.

Forward progress

Haven't really posted workout specifics so here are the last couple.

Wednesday:
Mills 10lb Clubbell Drop set switching hands every number 40/40, 30/30, 20/20, 10/10. RPE 4-5, RT 8-9, RPD 1-2.

Prone Single leg raises 5/5 x 3

Friday:
Mills 10lb Clubbell Drop set again 50/50, 40/40, 30/30, 20/20, 10/10
RPE 5, RT 8-9 (started working on integrating pegboard drill while doing these) RPD 2ish Heart rate at end 128.

Prone Single leg raises 5/5 x 3 with leg once in neutral, once in external rotation, and once in internal rotation.

I've been working on my internal rotation a lot, I've realized that my knee circles and my pegboard have been more ankle and a lot less hip than it should be. Doing the leg raises with the different leg positions was very interesting. The hardest were internally rotated, I really had to focus on the pelvis staying still and avoid going lordotic, it wasn't difficult effort wise but focus wise it was really hard. Before any one says anything about the numbers of mills, I really didn't plan on doing some many I was focusing on form so much that I really got into it and before I knew it I'd done a bunch...my body hasn't started revolting from it so I'll keep paying attention to form and structure and keep plodding forward. I do have to admit I did do one thing I shouldn't have .... I wasn't really thinking and while I was holding onto a pullup bar I did a front lever...I didn't really think to much about it because it was always something I used to do just playing around, but no harm, no foul...hopefully....

Catching up...

I've been doing a lot, working full time, going to school full time, helping plan a wedding, healing, looking for a house...it's fun but it's a lot. So I haven't had as much time to post as I'd like but there's only one way to fix that and that's to write more in the small periods I have free. I've started adding in some clubbell work to get in some more degrees of freedom in my movement. I've been focusing on mills because...for one...I like them and because they also add in another way for me to focus on keeping a neutral pelvis during rotation about a longitudinal axis, which is really important for me if I want to get back into climbing...and I really do. I'm thinking I'm going to start back pretty soon, it's been over 3 months which is the longest break I've ever had in climbing. If I do start back I'm going to be using a 'soft work' approach in climbing and as I get better start adding in some 'hard work' out side of climbing until I can get back to normal. If you haven't heard of hard and soft work, it comes from CST or circular strength training. I really like the generalized model of it for training even though it was designed in reference to martial art skill acquisition, I think it is the answer to designing a model of training for climbing. If I do start back soon I'll be playing by my current rules....RPE of nothing higher than a 5-6, RT of nothing less than a 7, and RPD of nothing more than 2-3. Although this can be somewhat subjective, this seems to fit my head best and gives me the reminder of guidelines that are important.

I've started another term of my massage therapy program. I'm really enjoying it, we are doing a lot of hands-on work, which is why I'm there...well, that and to really force me to get as good as I can get with my anatomy knowledge. I wish I didn't have class 4 nights a week until 1030 followed by a half hour drive home and then try to get ready for bed since I have a 530 client everyday...but I keep telling my self I can do anything for 6 months. I'm really looking forward to T-phase and all the information that comes with it...I love application.