Tell your story how CrossFit has changed your life?
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10 years ago
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Mental Toughness
Mental toughness is a personal, persevering decision. You can view this as an athlete's desire to continue exercise, even when passing through higher and higher levels of fatigue. I began experimenting with myself and fatigue this year after the Games and came to see some interesting results. I used to believe that everything about fatigue could be defined physiologically. I would see myself working out and envision the physiological mechanisms that were running out to and stopping my performance. There are 5 physiological mechanisms of fatigue that I am concerned with. Depletion of energy systems, inadequacy of the circulatory and respiratory systems, body temperature elevation, neurological insufficiency and dehydration can all lead to fatigue. As I read more about these mechanisms I saw that all of them had their short comings. How do you explain the marathon runner that can run a 4 minute mile pace with a heart rate of 200? How do you explain the man who, at risk of death, was able to tread water for 40 hours until he was rescued? Surly their systems had run out. Further still, how do I explain the fact that the other racers in that marathon had the same potential physiologically, but couldn't keep up? Or what about the other two treaders that could not stay above water and were lost at sea? There is one explanation: mental toughness stems from the interaction of the mind and the body. Mental toughness can be seen as desire or will power. Interesting studies have been performed on sedentary and professional athletes and their ability to withstand exertion. Sedentary people always gave up early, with no real signs of approaching any true fatigue. The professional athletes, on the other hand, were able to withstand huge amounts of work and go on.. So what's all this mean? that mental toughness can be trained just like any other skill. to get to a higher level you must continually push the envelope of your own limits... So what's it going to be???? You wanna be tough as nails mentally, then train for it or continue to be a mental midget.... The choice is yours......
Been a while...
Well it's been a while since I posted. I went back to California to take my CrossFit Level 2 Cert. I luckily passed and I'm proud of that feat..... More post to follow...
Friday, October 2, 2009
Gymnastics Fun Day
Today will be a gymnastics fun day. Now by no means did I say it was going to be easy. So what you will do is a find a pull up bar. You will do 3 sets of 10 hanging knee raises. Rest for 3 minutes then do 3 sets 10 straight leg raises. Rest for 3 minutes then do 3 sets of 10 knees to elbows. if you cant do knees to elbows then pull you knees as high as you can and hold for a 5-10 sec count and try to keep the count within 2-3 seconds of the first one.
3 x 10 Knee Raises
3 x 10 Straight Leg Raises
3 x 10 Knees to Elbows
3 x 10 Knee Raises
3 x 10 Straight Leg Raises
3 x 10 Knees to Elbows
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Rest Day Topic; Myofascial Pain
Myofascial Pain — a Neuromuscular Disease
News in the World of Myofascial Pain
Life has been tough for those of us with myofascial pain syndrome. We have too often been met with doctors who “don’t believe in” CMP. We have been hampered by the lack of a scientifically credible and understandable cause for this condition and an officially recognized set of diagnostic criteria. This resulted in a lack of training of physicians and therapists. The insurance companies and the Social Security Administration made our lives even more difficult. This is about to change.
We now have facts that cannot be disputed. At last we have proof that myofascial pain caused by trigger points is a true disease. We know what creates a trigger point, what it is, and many of the ways it can cause us pain and other symptoms. We know what causes those taut bands that constrict our muscles, and we know why our muscles become so tight that they hurt.
A myofascial trigger point is a localized area starving for oxygen. It creates an increased local energy demand. This local energy crisis releases neuroreactive biochemicals which sensitize nearby nerves. The sensitized nerves initiate the motor, sensory, and autonomic effects of myofascial trigger points by acting on the central nervous system. Muscles with trigger points are muscles in a constant state of energy crisis.
Myofascial trigger points can be identified and documented electrophysiologically by characteristic spontaneous electrical activity (SEA). They may also be identified histologically (which means that the structure of the cells have changed) by contraction knots — the lumps and bumps we know only too well. Both of these phenomenon seem to result from excessive release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) from the nerve terminal of the motor endplate (the complex end formation of the nerve). We now have objective confirmation of electromyographic imaging of a myofascial trigger point. There is also ultrasound imaging of local twitch responses of trigger points, and biopsies of myofascial trigger points that show contraction knots and giant rounded muscle fibers. To quote from this article, "The endplate dysfunction characteristic of MTrPs involves both the nerve terminal and the postjunctional muscle fiber. This relationship identifies MTrPs as a neuromuscular disease." Simons DG. 1999. Diagnostic criteria of myofascial pain caused by trigger points. J Musculoskeletal Pain 7(1-2):111-120.
A MTrP is always found in a taut band which is histologically related to contraction knots caused by excessive release of ACh in an abnormal endplate. The pathogenesis of myofascial trigger points appears to involve serious disturbance of the nerve ending and contractile mechanism at multiple dysfunctional endplates. Doctor Hong has even formed a theory concerning fibromyalgia tender points. Hong, C-Z. 1999. Current research on myofascial trigger points-pathophysiological studies. J Musculoskeletal Pain 7(1-2):121-129.
For more information on Trigger Point therapy get the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook @ Amazon.com
Legend
MTrP= Myofascial Trigger points
ACH= acetylcholine
SEA= spontenous electrical activity
CMP= Chronic muscular pain
News in the World of Myofascial Pain
Life has been tough for those of us with myofascial pain syndrome. We have too often been met with doctors who “don’t believe in” CMP. We have been hampered by the lack of a scientifically credible and understandable cause for this condition and an officially recognized set of diagnostic criteria. This resulted in a lack of training of physicians and therapists. The insurance companies and the Social Security Administration made our lives even more difficult. This is about to change.
We now have facts that cannot be disputed. At last we have proof that myofascial pain caused by trigger points is a true disease. We know what creates a trigger point, what it is, and many of the ways it can cause us pain and other symptoms. We know what causes those taut bands that constrict our muscles, and we know why our muscles become so tight that they hurt.
A myofascial trigger point is a localized area starving for oxygen. It creates an increased local energy demand. This local energy crisis releases neuroreactive biochemicals which sensitize nearby nerves. The sensitized nerves initiate the motor, sensory, and autonomic effects of myofascial trigger points by acting on the central nervous system. Muscles with trigger points are muscles in a constant state of energy crisis.
Myofascial trigger points can be identified and documented electrophysiologically by characteristic spontaneous electrical activity (SEA). They may also be identified histologically (which means that the structure of the cells have changed) by contraction knots — the lumps and bumps we know only too well. Both of these phenomenon seem to result from excessive release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) from the nerve terminal of the motor endplate (the complex end formation of the nerve). We now have objective confirmation of electromyographic imaging of a myofascial trigger point. There is also ultrasound imaging of local twitch responses of trigger points, and biopsies of myofascial trigger points that show contraction knots and giant rounded muscle fibers. To quote from this article, "The endplate dysfunction characteristic of MTrPs involves both the nerve terminal and the postjunctional muscle fiber. This relationship identifies MTrPs as a neuromuscular disease." Simons DG. 1999. Diagnostic criteria of myofascial pain caused by trigger points. J Musculoskeletal Pain 7(1-2):111-120.
A MTrP is always found in a taut band which is histologically related to contraction knots caused by excessive release of ACh in an abnormal endplate. The pathogenesis of myofascial trigger points appears to involve serious disturbance of the nerve ending and contractile mechanism at multiple dysfunctional endplates. Doctor Hong has even formed a theory concerning fibromyalgia tender points. Hong, C-Z. 1999. Current research on myofascial trigger points-pathophysiological studies. J Musculoskeletal Pain 7(1-2):121-129.
For more information on Trigger Point therapy get the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook @ Amazon.com
Legend
MTrP= Myofascial Trigger points
ACH= acetylcholine
SEA= spontenous electrical activity
CMP= Chronic muscular pain
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