Scalpel & Suction

Tis the season for giving and forgiving, sharing and caring, loving and perpetual hope.  Tomorrow I will be going under the knife hoping the result of my surgery will be slightly improved function in my right knee. Again, that is a hope. The reality, as difficult as it is to admit, is this surgery may not make an improvement at all. I am a 31 year old male with the knees of a 70 year old male, literally. Tomorrow will be the fourth time my right knee is entered by a surgeon with hopes of delaying Mother Nature just a little while longer. Were I 50 or 60 years old I would be getting a total knee placement, however, my age prevents that from being a possibility. For those of you not familiar with the ins and outs of knee replacements here’s the skinny. Right now science and technology only allows a person the opportunity to receive two knee replacements in the same knee in one’s lifetime. Each replacement last approximately 10 years. After the second replacement there is not enough bone left for a third, which leaves amputation as the last option. Now you see why knee replacement is not an option for anyone at my age, at least not right now.

On the bright side my downtime will give me an opportunity to catch up on paperwork and some reading. It will also give me time to decide what my next goal is going to be. The scheduling of this surgery actually comes at a pretty good time, the end of the year, when most of us start deciding what we plan to accomplish in the upcoming new year.  I have a few ideas swirling around in my head, when I make my decision I will be sure to make it known.

I would not qualify tomorrow’s surgery as major but it is a surgery so there is always the potential for complication. I was given two surgical options. One option is called a Fulkerson Osteotomy (or Fulkerson Procedure). The Fulkerson Procedure definitely falls in the category of major surgery. If your curiosity is peaked I encourage you to google it. If you do google it you will know why I did not choose that procedure this time. Tomorrow’s procedure will have me on crutches for a few days and hobbling for couple more weeks. That will not stop me from going to the gym though, I’ll just be moving a little slower.

Tomorrow’s procedure includes the following: Right knee arthroscopy with synovectomy, removal of loose bodies, joint flush, and partial lateral menisectomy.  Say that three times fast.

I’ll keep you updated on my recovery and future fitness goals. 

Keep it Healthy,

RJ

Another Goal. . .Accomplished

The long Thanksgiving holiday weekend is now over. I'm sure it's been a busy weekend for most people, traveling to see family, eating, shopping, trying to squeeze in a little time with friends you only see once a year, and in my case physically recovering. This year thanks giving was a little different for me for a couple different reasons. Since I have been out of the Air Force my Thanksgiving day usually begins with an early rise, a good amount of food preparation, cooking, and baking. Yes, it's true, I cook and bake (just pies though). Thanksgiving afternoon was spent with virtually my entire family, doing what I'm sure most families do when they get together on holidays, eat, drink, crack jokes, catch up, eat more, and crack more jokes. It's usually the one day we're all together, in one place, all at the same time. No ones cares that we squeeze 10 people around a table made for 6 in the dining room, another 8 in the kitchen, and another 5-10 trying to find a seat anywhere close to everyone else so they can feel like part of the action. Right about now you're probably wondering what made this year different.

This year there were a few key differences. This year there was no central family gathering. There was no food prep, cooking, or baking being done at my house. Most importantly, there was a goal to be accomplished. This Thanksgiving there was a task at hand, a personal challenge. Here's a quick update for those who may not be up to speed. In October I decided to challenge myself to run a 5k, the Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot in Fredericksburg, Virginia. After completing the September challenge running an entire 5k seemed challenging but doable. The Turkey Trot would turn out to be even more of a challenge because, on November 2nd, I twinged my knee during a treadmill training session. When it happened I had to use the rails on the treadmill to keep from falling. My knee doubled in size with swelling. Now what? With the Turkey Trot just 3 weeks away my training came to a screeching halt. This twinge, this Captain Crunch like feeling in my knee, could quite possibly take away my chance to achieve my goal. I had a significant and noticeable limp for almost a full week. Even after the limp was gone there was still some swelling, and even though I couldn't run I continued to go to the gym to work on my flexibility. What to do now?


I decided to pay a visit to the orthopedic specialists. He was not at all pleased to find out I had been running and that I planned to run a 5k. He advised me some time ago that I should not be running at all, if I wanted to do any cardio work I should limit it to cycling and swimming. Call me stubborn, which many people do, but I hadn't been taking that advice and I wasn't going to start now. I couldn't let a little soreness and stiffness and grinding and crunching stop me from reaching a goal that was so close. I figured if I'm going to go under the knife ( which I am in December) I might as well do the race anyway. If anything else in my knee was damaged they could fix it while they're in there in December. Even though I still wanted to participate in the Turkey Trot I still wasn't sure if my knee would let me. I wasn't sure if I would be able to the 3 miles. It wasn't until 2 days before the race that I made the decision to go through with it and run. At this point it had been a little over 3 weeks since I had run or did any type of cardio. I didn't care, I was going to run anyway.


Thanksgiving morning I woke up excited. I was ready to rock. I made it another personal goal to run the entire race without stopping no matter what and to finish in 40 minutes or less. When we got to the starting area I was feeling good. It helped to see several people I knew, joking around with them helped take the nervous edge off a bit. The race starts and we're off!!! My best friend Denise and I are jogging together at this point. We stayed together for about the first mile or so. It was also around the end of the first mile when it happened again. While taking one of the turns my right knee twinged and the Captain Crunch was back. I didn't stop running though, not yet. As we got deeper into the second mile I look over and Denise is looking at me with her "It's time to walk" face. So we walk together for about 4 minutes. Once we start running again Denise and I can only stay together for a few minutes. She gives me the nod and tells me I don't have to hang back with her, and I'm off. Everything was going well until about half way through the last mile. My knee kept getting tighter and tighter. The stiffness in my knee had slowed my pace down to a very slow jog. So much so that as we entered the last of the race Denise had caught me. I'm running with a noticeable limp and my knee is so stiff that my kneecap isn't moving like it should be. It's getting stuck, making it harder completely straighten my leg with each stride. We're on the last leg of the race, only a couple tenths of a mile left. The plan is to go as fast as we can for the last couple hundred yards. We hit our land mark and Denise takes off! I go to pick up the pace and it just wasn't happening. My leg was to stiff, I was forced to maintain my current pace, but I FINISHED!


Here are the results:
Me: 37:03 minutes; finished 82nd out of 91 runners for my age group; 1867 out of 2488 overall
Denise: 36:53 minutes; finished 97 out of 145 for her age group; 1849 out of 2488 overall


One more goal accomplished. So this Thanksgiving was quite different from Thanksgivings in the past. Instead of sharing a meal with the usual large gathering of close family, I had the rare opportunity to share the holiday with people in my life who are family in every sense of the word even though we are not related by marriage or blood. This year it was different because I accomplished a personal goal that wasn't seeing how much  I could eat before I was in severe pain. I did something I haven't done since basic training and Air Force training school. So, I'm proud of this accomplishment and proud of Denise for her continued quest for improved health.

The accomplishing of a task and achievement of goal empowers us to want and achieve more. With every achievement we eliminate doubts and increase confidence. Set a goal and work towards achieving it. No matter how small others think your goal is keep your head high and continue your personal quest for success. For it is not their place to minimize your successes and belittle your efforts. Don't let anything or anyone, including yourself, stop you from achieving that goal.

How good is yours?

Today’s topic is one we are all familiar with, but the majority of us neglect it. Most people who resistance train have very little of it, athletes should have a lot of it but usually don’t, and generally woman have more than men. Want to know what I’m talking about? I’ll give you a hint. It’s only one word.

Here it is: FLEXIBILITY

Yes, flexibility. One of the most important things we should think about when it comes to health and wellness. Flexibility is even important for those who don’t exercise; actually, it is MORE important for those who choose not to exercise. I’ll touch on the importance of flexibility for sedentary people a little later in this post. For now, let’s talk about the benefits of flexibility and why all of us should be stretching at least once a day no matter what.

As I have been trying to get ready for the 5k on Thanksgiving morning my lack of flexibility is proving to be a nuisance. Most of us who workout and exercise on a consistent basis know we should stretch but we don’t. I am paying the price for that now. Increasing our flexibility makes simple things like putting on socks and shoes easier. Ever bent over to pick something up and felt tightness in your lower back, hamstrings, or calves? Becoming more flexible can ease and sometimes eliminate that tightness. For athletes, people who play sports, and those of us who do resistance training flexibility helps us too. Increasing our flexibility helps prevent injury as well as improve performance.

Keep in mind muscles are related to one another. One tight muscle or muscle group can impact another muscle or muscle group. One of the most common ailments in American adults is lower back pain. Unless there has been trauma to that area or some other type of low back injury, a lot of our lower back pain can be reduced or eliminated just by increasing our flexibility, range of motion, and posture. Consider this the domino effect of muscle elasticity. Here is an example. If you have a tight lower back, you probably have tight glutes (butt muscles). If you have tight glutes, you probably have tight hamstrings. If you have tight hamstrings, you probably have tight calves. Get the idea?

Ladies, you are naturally more flexible than us men. That doesn’t mean you don’t need to work to maintain and even improve your flexibility. Gentleman, do not be afraid to get caught stretching because you think you will look silly or less “manly”. Most gyms and workout facilities offer some type of yoga or Pilate's class. I encourage both men and woman to take those classes, even if it’s only once a week. I have already begun to practice what I preach. I took a yoga class last night and plan to continue to take that class until I can bend over at the hips and place my palms flat on the floor. I am nowhere close to being able to do right now.

For those of us who know sedentary people please encourage to start stretching once a day as well. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, that’s better than nothing. It is especially important for those who feel stiff first thing in the mornings or after they have been sitting down for an extended period of time. I will admit it is not easy at first but the improvement will come as long as we remain consistent in our efforts to be more flexible.

It's note worthy to mention you should do a quick warm-up before you do your stretching. Your quick warm-up could include a 10 minute walk, some jumping jacks, or walking up and down a set of stairs for at least 5 minutes. Warming up will help reduce the chance of injury and increase the blood flow to your muscles.

Flexibility also helps our body stay balanced. My colleague has an awesome post about balance. Check out her post on BALANCE.

Have a healthy day!

RJ
stepbystepfit@gmail.com

September Challenge Complete!!

WOW!! The challenge is over! I know we are a few days into October, but I wanted to take a couple days to get my thoughts together before I posted something. Bear with me, this post is a little long.

I think it’s interesting how we discover things about ourselves when we aren’t necessarily looking for them. At the beginning of the challenge I mentioned I would be using the cross-trainer to complete the 100 miles.  For those of you who don’t know why I chose the cross-trainer feel free to read my posts from the beginning of September. When I started the challenge I had no intention of ever setting foot on a treadmill or running outside. For me, both those options were. . .well, not an option. Somewhere around mid September I decided to take a chance. I got on the treadmill and ran a mile. When I finished that mile I thought, “HOLY SMOKES!”. I had just discovered something new about myself. For several years I hadn’t run any distance, I blocked myself mentally and physically from doing it. But now. . . I CAN RUN! I’m pretty excited about that. Mental block eliminated.

Challenges like this one, in my opinion, are often more mental than physical. We are often considerably more physically capable than we give ourselves credit for. When you’re working out at the gym or exercising at home how often do you tell yourself you can’t do one more rep? You want to do ten reps but you stop at 8 reps. Did you stop because your muscle was truly exhausted, unable to do one more rep? Or did you stop because you let your mind stop you? I realize that’s easier said than done, but here’s a quick example of what I mean. I have a female client who at our first session did 15 regular pushups. She seemed to be able to do them so easily, so I asked her why she didn’t do more. She said she can only do 15, even when she tries as hard as she can she can only do 15. Long story short, our next session I did pushups with her and she did 20 with relative ease and after a few seconds rest in the up position she squeezed out one more for a total of 21. There was only 2 days between our sessions. So what changed? Did she get 6 pushups stronger in 2 days? Not at all. What she did do was eliminate her mental block. All we have to do is recognize what the block is, then decided to push through it. That may sound like an over simplification but essentially that’s what getting over a mental block boils down to.

Here are the stats from the month:

5006 Pushups

5006 Situps

100 miles

Last month’s challenge left me feeling good physically as well as mentally. I feel a sense of accomplishment. Like my friend Matt, the creator of the September Challenge, I will take on periodic fitness challenges.  I encourage you to do the same.  In fact, I have already decided what my next challenge is. I will run in a 5k on Thanksgiving day. I would like to have a Step-By-Step Fitness 5k Team. There will be information to come about the 5k.

Thanks for taking the September Challenge journey with me. I encourage you to join my blog followers list. I will be posting periodically about health and fitness.

Have a Great Day!

Your Friend,

RJ

Challenge - 2 Days Remaining

With one more day to go here are today's stats.

325 Pushups
500 Situps
6 Miles

With only tomorrow remaining in the September Challenge I'm feeling pretty confident.

Challenge - 3 Days Remaining

300 Pushups
550 Situps
6 Miles

Challenge - 4 Days Remaining

225 Pushups
300 Situps
3.5 miles

Challenge - 5 Days Remaining

After today there will be 4 days left in this month's challenge. I plan to achieve my goal, do you? I felt so good at the gym today I did 3.5 miles, then played basketball, then did one more mile. As of right now I'm pretty much pain free in my knee areas, which is pretty surprising. On to the good stuff.
Here are today's stats:

500 pushups
550 situps
4.5 miles

Challenge - 6 Days Remaining

Well, well, well. Today was one of those days where the day gets away from you and before you know it it's late at night and all you want o do is go to bed. I did manage to squeeze in a few pushups and situps but not many. It is definitely crunch time with only 5 days remaining. Still not discouraged!

Stats:
125 Pushups
50 Situps

Challenge - 8 Days Remaining

300 Situps
200 Pushups
3 Miles

Challenge - 9 Days Remaining

WOWZER! I felt energized at the gym yesterday! I was feeling a little quarrely so I did some incline interval training on the treadmill. Surprisingly both my knees seem to have held up pretty well. I'm pretty excited about that. Just over a week left in September and I'm determined to meet my goal no matter what.

Here are the stats:

400 Pushups
300 Situps
4 Miles (cross-trainer & treadmill)

Challenge - 10 Days Remaining

Here are today's stats:

200 Pushups
200 Situps
2 miles

Septemeber Fitness Challenge - 10 Days Remaing

WOW!! Where has the month gone? Only ten days left in the challenge!! As much as I don't want to admit it, I slacked off too many days this month. My original plan was to complete enough of the challenge in the middle part of the month so I could cruise towards the end. Looks like there will be no cruising these last 10 days.

Here are my totals as of yesterday (Monday, 20 September):
2446 Pushups
1981 Situps
66.03 Miles

Here are the averages I need to accomplish per day to complete the challenge:
255.4 Pushups/day
301.9 Situps/day
3.4 Miles/day

There are the numbers. Each night, including tonight, for the next 10 nights I will post my numbers. For those of you who joined me on this quest I encourage you to do the same thing. Post your numbers in the comment box. Don't feel bad if you think you will fall short, post them anyway. I'm pumped! Are you?

LET'S GO TO WORK!

Challenge Day 8

Here are today's stats:
3.57 miles in 38:58
20 Pushups

So it's day 8 of The Challenge and here are my totals so far:

30.8 miles
621 Situps
841 Pushups

If 2 months ago someone would have told me I would "run" 30 miles in the first 8 days of September I would have told them they were as crazy as crazy can be. I probably would have told them there was no way I could "run" 30 miles in 8 days. I probably would have told them I couldn't run 30 miles in 30 months.
Something happened today at the gym that got me thinking. I ran .5 miles on the treadmill!! That's right! I'm pretty excited about it! I haven't run for any type of distance in years. 1/2 half mile is a big deal for me. For those of you who don't know, I'm down 45 pounds since February. No way I could have run .5 miles at 255 lbs. At that time I didn't have the muscular or cardiovascular endurance to do it. It felt good today to step off the treadmill accomplishing something I haven't done in such a long period of time.

Let's retrain our focus. Pay attention to what you hear next time your in the gym or in any exercise environment. You will hear the focus being put on what someone "can't do" or "can only do". I'm guilty of it too. You will hear phrases like "I can only do 3 reps" or "I can't do ________ (you fill in the blank)". My question is why not? From today forward I plan to focus on what I can do instead of what I can't do. If you can do 10 pushups be proud that you can do 10. If you bench press 155lbs be proud you can bench that. Don't say "I only bench 155" as if there is some shame in that number. There should be no shame, only pride. I'm proud I ran that half mile today. In a few days I hope to stretch that distance to one full mile.

What thing have you put "I can only do" or "I can't do" in front of? Challenge yourself to be better. That being said I will be taking on another challenge. After running today I feel motivated so I have decided to run in the Thanksgiving day 5k in downtown Fredericksburg this year. I now have a new motivation. Do you?

Challenge Day 4, 5, 6, & 7

That's right! I had to roll the last four days all into one post. This past holiday weekend was nice and I decided to take Saturday off from the gym. I did that for two reason. First, my legs needed a rest. I haven't "run" at the 10 minute mile pace since I first joined the Air Force. Second, I waxed my car Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning (didn't finish Saturday). When I called it a day on Saturday my shoulders we on fire. Not in my anterior or middle deltoids (shoulder muscles) but in the inside. It felt like someone started a camp fire in my rotator cuff. Needless to say, Saturday was a good day to take off.

Here's the rundown from this past weekend:

Challenge Day 4
Off

Challenge Day 5
7.01 miles in 57:42
105 situps
97 pushups
60 bent over dumbbell rows (20lb dumbbells)

Challenge Day 6
3.32 miles in 30:47

Challenge Day 7
6.01 miles in 49:20
110 situps
190 pushups

After looking looking at the stats all together I am proud of myself. Roughly 16 miles in 3 days is pretty darn good for me. I decided today to add one little extra challenge for myself. I want to be able to run 1 mile. That is one of my new personal goals in addition to completing this challenge.

Challenge Day 3

4.2 miles in 42 minutes
120 Situps
73 Pushups

I love the cardio theatre. Ocean's 12 is a pretty darn good movie.

Challenge Day 2

Today was interesting. I had an opportunity to give quite a few things some thought while I was stretching after my workout. I thought about a lot but one thing stands out, even now, 4 hours after I have left the gym. What stands out is the word challenge. Here is the dictionary.com definition that I think best fits the September Fitness Challenge and life in general.
Challenge - difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.
After reading this definition a couple times it seems to me that maybe this definition should be amended a bit to read: difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating or discouraging to one engaged in it. We can make a decision to give up or to keep going, we can decide to push through the challenge.

During my thinking time it dawned on me that the September Fitness Challenge is not just a "fitness challenge", it's a life challenge, a human challenge. It seems only fair that if I am going to blog about the "fitness challenge" that I include some of life's challenges as well. So here goes. Today my oldest younger sister was in a car accident. Don't worry she was unharmed and is okay. A bit shaken up initially but okay. She called me about 15 minutes before I was going to leave for the gym, I threw a shirt on, then high-tailed it to the accident site. Like I said she wasn't hurt. Now fast forward a couple hours, dropped my sister off at my parents house, said my goodbyes to my mom, and headed back to my van. Sitting in my mom's driveway I was seriously thinking about calling it a day and going home instead of the gym. I thought maybe the gym was too much of a challenge to deal with today. I ended up choosing to go to the gym and I'm glad I did.

I felt good at the gym today. I told myself I wouldn't get off the cross-trainer until I did a 5K (3.1 miles). Once I got going, I kept going. I stayed on the cross-trainer for 50 minutes. Of course I was in the cardio theatre. Today's movie was Invincable. After the cross-trainer it was on to pushups, situps, and dumbbell curls. Yes, dubmbell curls. I added dumbell curls because this challenge involves a lot of triceps, chest, front delts (front shoulder), and abdominals. In an attempt to keep my body as balanced as possible I will throw in excercises that work the muscle groups opposite of triceps, chest, and front delts. Today that muscle group was biceps. Nothing too crazy, just sets of 20 reps with 10 pound dumbbells.

Here are todays numbers:
4.62 miles in 50 minutes
121 situps
118 pushups
140 dumbbell curls

I realized today that taking on this fitness challenge has presented me with other new challenges, this blog being one of them. But I don't find either challenge discouraging. Both challenges are stimulating to me. I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when I am presented with a challenge, then overcome it. What were your challenges today? Did they stimulate you or did you allow them to discourage you from accomplishing your goal? Even if you were discouraged some by a challenge you had today, tomorrow, be discouraged less. We can get stronger everyday, and we can do it together.

"Don't cry to give up, cry to keep going. Don't cry to quit. You're already in pain, you're already hurt. . . get a reward from it." - Eric Thomas

Challenge Day 1

Woke up this morning with high hopes for starting this challenge. I'd been thinking about my strategy for a couple days but it wasn't until this morning when I walked in the gym that I made my decision. For now my strategy is pretty simple, do as much as I can for the time I spend at the gym. Sounds easy right? I figured I would be able to crank out 150 pushups & situps with relative ease then knock out a couple miles on the cross-trainer.  I got on the cross-trainer in the cardio theatre at my gym to do my usual 5 minute warm-up (the movie today was Fantastic 4 just in case you were wondering). It seems my strategy is already evolving. Instead of getting off at minute 5 I decided to stay on the cross-trainer, do a mile, do my pushups & situps, then get back on the cross-trainer and do another mile or two. In my head this was a good plan. In reality, not so much. Here's why. IT TOOK ME 22 MINUTES TO DO 1 STINKIN' MILE! Shame on you Fantastic 4 four distracting me! I think it's safe to say I was doing more movie watching than cross-training.
I had only planned on being in the gym for 45 minutes. With only 23 minutes left I was going to have to hustle to get in some pushups & situps and try to squeeze in another mile. So on the floor in the cardio theatre I go alternating between sets of pushups and sets of situps. I stop at 112 pushups and 100 situps then jump back on the cross-trainer for one more mile before I have to leave. 13 minutes later, another mile taken care of. It's time to go, but as I walk out of the gym to my car I realize I'm going to have to step up my "running" a couple levels or there will be a good chance I will fall short of the 100 miles.
After work it's off to teach my Bootcamp Class. I couldn't go to sleep tonight only having done the number of pushups & situps I did at the gym this morning, not in good conscience anyway. So during bootcamp I snuck in another 75 pushups and 65 situps.

Here are my totals for Day 1:
2.1 miles in 35 minutes
187 Pushups
165 Situps

I can live with what I accomplished today. I'm excited to see what tomorrow brings. I'm also curious to see how sore I'm going to be. Hmmmm. . .

Septemeber Fitness Challenge

Tomorrow is the THE DAY! Shout out to my friend Matt Harrington who came up with this challenge and posted it on his Facebook page. This is will be a challenge in every sense of the word. Before I get into what the challenge is I would like to say this: Be willing to challenge yourself at every opportunity. One cannot improve without being challenged. Even if you challenge yourself and "fail", it is not always the achievement of a goal we learn from but the journey toward the goal that teaches us new things about ourselves.

With that being said I give you THE CHALLENGE:

In the month of September accomplish the following
100 miles running
5000 pushups
5000 sit-ups

Looks tough huh? Now, I have to adapt this challenge slightly to accommodate my right knee. Distance running and I haven't gotten along for quite some time. I will do my 100 miles on the cross-trainer to reduce the impact on my damaged knee.

So there you have it. There's the challenge Matt and I are taking on for the month of September.
What's yours?

Welcome to My Blog!

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. I took the blog plunge today. Let's see how it goes. Thanks for reading what will be my thoughts, opinions, and suggestions about health, fitness, and life.