Luke's Log
 

Seeing as I've started asking for help around these parts, I feel that I owe the community proof that their recommendations are not falling on deaf ears. With that sentiment in mind, I plan on using this forum to log my workouts. I'm hoping that this will both keep me accountable and open my training up to fresh eyes and fresh ideas.

Some starting stats:
M/5’11’/180lbs/22yrs
Back Squat (high bar): 235
Shoulder Press: 125
Deadlift: 314
C+J: 155
Snatch: 95 (technique limited! The snatch is hard . . .)
Can touch the net of a basketball hoop
Tuck planche hold, 5 sec or so
No FL prowess at all, back lever tuck hold 5 sec (maybe)

Monday 20090518

First day as per the program discussed here: http://performancemenu.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4300

Tuck FL: 12x5 sec or so
Planche: 12x5 sec or so, alternating between frog stand on rings and tuck planche on ground

No density training today, as I'm feeling pretty stuffed up with a head cold and don't want to aggravate it. Instead I rode my bike around for a bit and enjoyed the nice weather.

Stretching ( http://agt.degreesofclarity.com/stretching/ ) in the evening.

Looking forward to see how this log develops have fun on the beach.

Ditto what Rafe said

Tuesday 20090519
Still sick, took the day off.

Wednesday 20090520
Still really sore from the FL/planche work, skipped it 'case the gym was closed today.
MovNat: played outside for an hour or so today. Climbed some trees, ran around on the grass, kicked a soccer ball. Doing this stuff in bare feet is hard. . .

Yeah the barefoot transition takes abit of getting used to once you do though you never want to wear shoes again. BTW this is going to sound weird but you shouldn't refer to the MN style training as MovNat as you haven't been taught be a MovNat coach, sounds nit picky I know but its important to Erwan that people distinguish between the system he teaches and people training similarly on their own.

Barefoot is awesome. It opens up an entirely new dimension of your sense of touch. Stick with it and you will not regret it.

Rafe - thanks for the heads up. I won't use the MovNat nomenclature if I haven't earned it. How does 'playing around outside' sound? I feel like that is more akin to my methods at the moment.

I had been going barefoot as much as possible this week and started to notice some serious muscle soreness in both my feet and my lower back. Who knew I was so weak? I also have some cracking of the skin (and a little bleeding) on the fronts of both my big toes. What gives? It might be dry skin from not being in shoes all day, though I've had no such issues going from shoes to sandals in the past. Because of these two issues, yesterday and today have been 'rest days' for my feet, with either shoes or flip flops in use.

Friday 20090522
Pullups on doorframe - lots of singles, chest to bar (sorta)
Tuck Planche 20x3 sec
no density training (gym was closed, no sandbag yet) :(

Luke, only push your feet as far as they will go without getting injured. Watch out for the following:

- wet pavement (will rub your feet raw so fast the first few times)
- sand/gritty dirt (if you walk through semi-damp mud before going onto pavement, some of the grit will stick to your feet and basically act like sandpaper until it rubs off)
- moisture on your flip-flops (if you've got ones that don't absorb moisture and they get really sweaty, they can do the same thing as wet pavement)
- hot stuff (asphalt, man-hole covers, astro-turf; walk on the white lines to cross the street until you get used to it)
- pointy stuff (for obvious reasons; often hides in dirt nearby sidewalks; the sidewalks, since they get so much traffic, are usually devoid of pointy stuff)
- vast expanses of parking lot (not only is this hot stuff, but the ground tends to have a lot more pebbles, which are pointy stuff, than small parking lots)

Also, if you have an odd schedule that causes you to walk different amounts each day, feel free to wear shoes on any extreme days until you get used to it. For example, this past semester at college, on Tuesdays, I had to walk 5-6 miles (I think) compared to my usual 2-3. It took my feet a few weeks to get used to that, and Wednesdays often were more difficult than they should have been or ended up as "foot rest days" in shoes.

I hope that helps.

With the back pain: are you walking heel-toe?

Patrick, thanks for the tips. I guess my real takeaway is not to be so gungho about no shoes. I took a few days off and my feet feel stronger than ever. The cuts on my toes have healed as well, though there is some scabbing. I continue to take it easy. I think I'm improving though, at least slowly. What was your timeframe for feeling truly comfortable in bare feet?

Re: back pain. It seems to have gone away, so I suspect it was just sore from a shift in my gait. I am walking heel-toe, though running and other active movement is all done on the balls of my feet. It seemed most natural to do things that way, though I am open to suggestions.

And some workouts:

Monday 20090525
Tuck Planche 20x3 seconds (that's three seconds, twenty times)
AGT stretching

Tuesday 20090526
Worked out at Crossfit Boston with my parents, did:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps for time:
DB Clean, 20% BW (35 lbs in each hand)
Burpees
DB Thruster, 20% BW (35 lbs in each hand)

time: 28 min 29 sec
first real WOD in about a month. I'm outta shape. . .

After: AGT stretching