Women of Strength

It was an EPIC weekend!

Jill Mills, my coach, and legendary strongwoman and powerlifter, hosted a womens only, two day strength clinic.  It was the culmination of decades of knowledge, and one person willing to share her experiences, successful lifting techniques, and strategies to nine women with a passion for strength based sports.  If you are one of those athletes that think you have it all figured out...well, you were not invited anyway.  But if, like me, you constantly strive to be better and desire to increase your knowledge at any given chance, this clinic was the place to be.

Yes, I spend three, sometimes four days a week training the fundamental lifts and strongman events with Jill.  But passing up a learning opportunity like this would just be plain stupid.  It would be like telling Pat Summit or Martina Navratilova, I don't think I could really gain anything from your years of experience and success.  I know there are plenty of athletes and coaches that have that mind-set, but I am not one of them.

The weekend provided a unique opportunity to not only receive instructional tips, but also observe various teaching techniques geared toward experienced lifters and newbies alike.  How to make simple corrections, to what to look for in technique flaws and how to correct them, it was all available right in my own training facilities...and for once I was not the only test dummy.

Our first day was spent at Olympic Gym breaking down technique on the major lifts in powerlifting as well as an introduction to accessory exercises.  Every athlete in attendance was provided the opportunity to have their lifts critiqued and corrected.  We also covered Jill's programming, which I can personally attest to its success rate.  But the best part of day one was simply getting to know the other women.  Jill pointed out the comradery that exists within the women's strength community...and without a doubt, she is absolutely correct.  In my short time in competition, the extended strongwoman family has proven to be a loving, caring, and a giving community.

On day two, we all made the road trip south of San Antonio to the barn.  Home of the best collection of strongman equipment with more space than we had at last years national competition.  Not to mention, my favorite place to escape to on sunday nights and throw around heavy objects.  We tackled every major strongman event, and then some, with Jill providing the details on everything including grip, footwork, speed, bar placement...you name it.

By the end of the weekend, some found confidence in lifting heavy, others new techniques to work on, but we all went home with new members to add to our strongwoman family, and a ton of knowledge that only a legend could provide.  As exhausted as I was by sunday night, I would have done it all over again starting monday morning.  Yes, it was that good.

Arthritis

I beat the hell out of my body in college.  My roommate and I used to jokingly bet on who would be in a wheelchair first, as we would pop handfuls of anti-inflamatories after a game.  I am proud to say that neither one of us has the bragging rights just yet.

I played small college sports, no scholarships, just bust your ass because you love your sport.  And that I did.  I escaped college with only two "major" injuries...a broken wrist and a scratched cornea.  If you don't think the latter is a "major" injury, you have obviously never experienced it.  I would take multiple broken bones any day rather than having to experience that again.

I was an aggressive player.  I was the player that would dive, fall, or run into a brick wall for a loose ball.  And when you play three different competitive sports, concentrated in the fall semester, your body pays a huge price.  In addition, most of my years were spent playing basketball on concrete floors.  Wood floors were a novelty in the late 80's and early 90's, and I did not get to consistently play on one until I transferred to Dallas in the mid 90's.   Imagine hitting the pavement eight to ten times a day for ten years.  I cringe just thinking about it now days.

During my final season at Dallas, I had my hand x-rayed because of a swollen and badly bruised finger.  Although my finger was in one piece, the doctor noticed that I was already showing signs of arthritis in my hand.  At the time, that meant absolutely nothing to me.  All I cared about was playing in the upcoming game.  My grandfather had always struggled with rheumatoid arthritis, so, I was well aware what it was capable of doing to the body.  I just chose to ignore it.

Years after college, I dealt with lots of hip, lower back, and knee pain that I attributed to years of playing ball...and getting older.  When I returned from the CrossFit Games in 2009, I could no longer ignore the pain in my left knee and finally went to see an orthopedic.  Following a series of x-rays, he informed me what was causing the pain.  Osteoarthritis.  Basically, the cushioning in my knee had deteriorated to the point where bone spurs were now growing in its place.  These friendly jagged little pieces actually think they are helping the situation by increasing the surface area of the knee cap.  I hate to break the bad news, but they only cause more problems.

My knee issues only worsened as time wore on.  I could no longer even sit on the toilet without one of those damn bone spurs catching and causing pain.  And squatting was forever out of the question (or so I thought).  I found no relief through the supplementation of glucosamine/chondrition, but low and behold, beer sure did help!  So, I drank more to mask the physical pain as well as the emotional.  No exercise + a shit ton of alcohol = gaining a ton of weight, which also = more joint pain.  Before I knew it, sleeping was even painful...and getting out of bed was worse.

Fast forward to my new sober life, down fifty pounds, and lifting more than ever...how is it all possible with arthritis?!  After losing the first twenty pounds and regaining some muscle mass, I began to notice that getting up in the morning was not as big of an issue.  With the help of my coach, I learned how to squat correctly, gained strength around the area causing the majority of the problem, and bone spurs or not, the pain has subsided and is much more manageable on a daily basis.  My beat up hands have followed suit.  Although my job is pretty demanding on my hands, the increase in strength through lifting has proved as effective, if not more effective, than relying on pain meds.

My hips are a slightly different story.  It has been the slowest of slow climbs to gain hip strength.  Although I no longer sleep in pain, spending too much time laying in bed or sitting on the couch will cause pain.  So, don't get offended if I decline your offer to sit down, standing and moving around is much more tolerable.

When people are diagnosed with this, the most common form of arthritis, it becomes a choice as to how you deal with it.  Yes, it is painful.  But it is almost intolerably painful when you become sedentary.  Weight gain or muscle gain is very much a determining factor of the level of pain.  And yes, exercise is painful, but the benefits far outweigh the alternative.  The term fat and happy does not exist when you throw arthritis into the equation.  I have lived both lives, and turned to medicating myself first, which did not work.  Exercise does work.  It is solely your choice.  I choose to battle it head on and live in a lot less pain.

Working

Whew!  My days have been pretty busy lately.  Outside of my usual job, working out, and training clients, I have been working on developing my website, creating t-shirt designs, and occassionally adding more to my book.  I am not much of a computer person, or I should say sitting in a chair staring at a computer screen is not my thing.  If I can sit still for more than fifteen minutes, it is a miracle.  So, I am pretty thankful for my mini ipad...without it, I am not sure if I would get any thing accomplished.

As I have said many times, I wasted a lot of opportunities as a drunk.  I am determined not to let that happen ever again in the time I have left on earth.  My goal is not necessarily leave a legacy or become a household name.  I just want to know that I have made a difference.  Like most people, if I can help one person avoid the pitfalls of addiction, get in better shape, or simply help someone gain more confidence, then I consider that success!

So, about two days ago I launched an all inclusive website.  It is not complete by any means, but the basics are there, and it is a starting point in my journey to make a difference as well as educate.  And yes, you can consider this a shameless plug to get a few visitors to the page.  And it may not be the last one.  Hey, at least I am giving you a heads up on the plugs. :)

Without further ado, and more rambling...here is the link:

www.stronger-than-yesterday.com

As I said, it is a work in progress, and you will see constant changes until I get everything exactly the way I want it...which could be an endless task, because I am sort of a perfectionist when it comes to creative designs.  With that being said, feel free to let me know what you think, or if there are specific things you would like to see!