Monday, November 25, 2013

Mini-challenge & the return of coach!

It's no big secret how the my first semester back in school has affected me in terms of schedule and my lack of time in the gym. With a hectic full time load at George Mason University, a 40 hour work week and my family (who has been BEYOND supportive) my time in the gym, both personal and as a coach, have fallen off. The same can be said about my ability to spend time with my friends.

WOD and Personal Performance

Since I have had limited time in the gym, you can guess my performance and strength has probably suffered. An additional side effect has been balance. For instance, where I used to be pretty balanced in the bottom of a squat, despite hanging out down there basically on one leg, I am now unbalanced. No doubt due to some mobility regression as well. School has not been the only limiting factor but has made for a convenient excuse. I have also been dealing with a lower back injury and injuries/irritations as a result of my prosthesis. Still I soldiered on until it became unbearable and I finally did something about it.   

I went from working out 5 days a week to barely making it 2-3 days a week. Now, I am a person who suffers from what I term as "gym PMS". Ladies, if this offends you, I'm sorry. When I don't go to the gym, I get really pissy! Additional stress from school and the need for calories to counter the late nights and early mornings have also led to some poor eating decisions. While I didn't fall off the wagon face first into grain and carb bliss, I did go from about 85-90% paleo to about 50% paleo and not so clean sometimes.

This all changes with the end of the semester! Beginning 2 December, I am starting my own mini-nutrition challenge and also getting back to the basics. The semester wraps up on 11 December for me, so beginning a week early only makes this better. My winter break ends 21 January. Here is what my mini challenge will entail:

1. A return to strict paleo. This means I will go back to my old ways of eating. Everything will be as clean as possible and I will only consume beer/alcohol at special occasions. (c'mon, it is still the holidays!)

2. 5 day workout schedule. I will be returning to the 5 day a week program with the addition of two nights a week where I will run or ruck. I have a ruck run and a 24 hour ruck in the spring so training shall commence immediately.

3. Strength! I want to get strong. I can already kip, now to get strong. So, all pull-ups (except chest to bar, for now), all handstand push ups, all dips and generally any other movement that requires a kip, will be done strict. Yes, I can kip the hell out of some toes-to-bar or knees-to-elbow movements, but I am going to choose to get stronger first! (well, second.....but, you know what I mean)

4. Mobility, mobility, mobility. I will mobilize to make sure I can continue this schedule and also to ensure that old injury bug doesn't make a return.

Coaching.....maybe a return of "Thurpee Thursday"

Since I started back to school, I have dropped back to coaching every other weekend. This makes me grumpy as well because I truly love coaching and the performance of my athletes is vitally important to me. I'm here to tell you Rubiconers, I will be back in the evenings a couple more days a week. Not the same old schedule, but at least a day or two during the week. I still need a little break myself.

Next semester will be a difficult one with Anatomy & Physiology 2, Functional Anatomy and Kinesiology all on my plate. I'll try to make the best of my return.

Goals?

It's pretty simple.... Lose the few pounds I gained and get stronger. Be a better coach!

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