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Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

And once again, free form in the running/all sports style. My shoulders, unfortunately, just seem to be getting worse, although my wrist might be getting a little better. Attempted triangle pose today for the first time in a while… it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, although extending the arms out fully is a questionable manuever. Ultimate was pretty light today… we only had six, so we just played some hot box. Apparently what we played last week was double hot box. I think I actually like that better, although I think this was probably a better choice for the people we had today. Anyway, didn’t really do much stretching afterwards, although I’m not sure it was particularly necessary. I didn’t actually feel like I worked all that hard today… too used to the full running, I guess. I’m fairly tired of these light yoga workouts… perhaps in the next two days I’ll try and synthesize a more complete workout with a lot of upright postures. I really just need to do side to side movements, in the style of YfS:s2. Of course, since extending my arms fully is questionable, that may not work. Anyway, I’ll definitely try and get at least an abs workout of some type in, and maybe a regular workout as well. I’ll probably do some Stepmania tomorrow, either way… I did some on Saturday, my only real exercise of the weekend. Until then…

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Didn’t end up doing any yoga over the past two days, although I did get some Stepmania in on Tuesday night. Actually got myself together a little earlier tonight, and went for the “full” running and all sports workouts. It wasn’t actually quite as bad as I thought it would be… while my shoulders are definitely still hurting, they didn’t seem to be particularly troubled by the workouts. So maybe it’s time to start getting back into more complete workouts. My biggest problem with that is that I know that these things don’t really heal unless they’re given time, and doing workouts is not really in line with that. Then again, neither is playing ultimate, so maybe I should just go with it. Hit my wrist at some point during ultimate, so it’s less happy again now as well. I don’t feel like I can continue just taking the time off, though, so I’m going to have to see what I can do. Maybe I’ll try to get something light in tomorrow, like py:stamina, and see how that goes. Or perhaps I’ll go with some abs, since I’ve been fairly negligent on that front lately. Either way, until next time…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Motivated myself to get the free form workout in today. I think I’ve forgotten what it feels like to get a good yoga workout in. Not that this was one, but the focus was reminiscent of one, anyway. Nothing all that exciting… my shoulders were feeling okay, but my wrist was bothering me somewhat. I did the workout after playing Stepmania for an hour or so, which was nice because it meant my muscles were already warm. So I felt like I got some good stretching in. A lot of basic elements again today, although I may start incorporating some more difficult elements into these workouts, as long as they don’t really use the wrist much. Warrior III might be a candidate for that, for instance. I should probably start doing more backbends again, as well… those tend to get neglected when I’m doing lighter workouts. Anyway, just a light workout, but I actually motivated myself to do it, which is a plus. I’m going to try to get in an abs workout tomorrow… we’ll see how that goes.

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Started off the new week with the usual workout. At least today I actually managed to get in the full workouts, instead of doing a free form abbreviated workout. Full being an extremely relative term, of course. Didn’t manage to get a workout in yesterday… I thought about it, but my shoulders weren’t feeling all that great, so I decided to pass. At least I’m actually thinking about it again, though. Didn’t really do any stretching after ultimate… I really need to stop doing that. It’ll probably get easier a little later in the summer, when daylight starts ending early enough that it won’t be too hard to get to stores before they close even with a little stretching. Not that it was a problem yesterday, but sometimes it is. Anyway, that’s pretty much it, will hopefully get to play tomorrow, since the forecast is once again questionable.

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Went for running and all sports again today. I modified a little bit today, and did warrior II instead of triangle, because my wrist was bothering me somewhat. Maybe I’ll try wrapping it, to see if that helps me avoid reinjuring it while not playing ultimate. Today was a pretty good day at ultimate, quite a bit of fun. It was really humid, though… pretty much everyone was drenched by the end of the day. I apparently wore my moisture wicking shirt on the wrong day… should have worn it today instead of yesterday. Shorts as well. I thought today would be cooler, and it may have been a little bit, but way more humid. Afterwards, my legs were hurting somewhat, so I finally did a little stretching afterwards. It’s a little easier on Tuesdays, since I only have to walk home. Anyway, I’m feeling okay now, except my wrist is still bothering me a little. So I’ll certainly consider getting in an abs workout tomorrow. If not, undoubtedly more stretching on Thursday.

Workout: Abs Conditioning: Yoga
Author: chaos

After a very long hiatus, finally got back into the abs tonight with an abs yoga workout. While it did burn a little, it wasn’t too bad. Surprisingly, it also wasn’t all that bad on either the shoulders or the wrist, either. The wrist did ache a little bit, but nothing serious. The shoulders were pretty much fine, just a slight twinge on the reclining twists. While my shoulders are subject to becoming worse after playing ultimate, hopefully they’ll be decent enough to start doing abs work again on a regular basis. I just feel like I worked fairly hard to get them to their current condition, and it would be unfortunate to let that slide any more than it already has. Anyway, a reasonable workout, certainly not my best, but good to get it in and hopefully start getting back into doing these workouts more commonly.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I just don’t seem to be able to play ultimate without reinjuring myself lately. Probably because all it takes is a good full extension of my arm at or above the plane of my shoulder relative to my body, and I do that at least once a game. And having the disc contact it certainly doesn’t help matters any. On the plus side, I didn’t do anything to my wrist today, besides normal wear of throwing. And I’m also wearing a wrap on the wrist now, to see if that helps keep me from tweaking it at other times. If nothing else, it reminds me that I should take a little more care with it. The workout today was basically the abbreviated running/all sports combination. I should have just gone with both of them, but thought I was more pressed for time than I ended up being. Unfortunately didn’t stretch like I should have afterwards, so hopefully that won’t affect me too much tomorrow. They’re trying to get a Saturday pickup/practice going… I’m kind of undecided about that. It’s in the morning, and since I’m definitely not a morning person, I’m more uncertain. It would also be the fourth day of ultimate in a week, which may be more than my body can actually handle. We’ll see. I’ll probably go this Saturday, if it ends up being called on, but will certainly reserve judgment on future Saturdays. Which probably means no Stepmania tomorrow night, but we’ll see. I’ll almost certainly get some in on Saturday, either way. It’s slow progress, but I am getting better, and with a big break coming up, I want to try and keep up the practice. Anyway, we’ll see how the shoulders feel tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll feel okay, and I’ll get an abs workout in… if not, almost definitely something on Saturday, whether pre-ultimate or no.

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Since I decided to play ultimate today, I didn’t end up getting a workout in yesterday. I thought about it, but it was getting late when I was more in the mood, and with an early session today, I just decided to pass. Since I was up today, I went for the running/all sports combo. Didn’t feel bad at all… my shoulders have been improving, overall. Perhaps because I haven’t laid out onto them for a week or two. My wrist is still hurting, but I don’t think that’s going to heal until vacation, when I take a few weeks off from throwing. The practice today was actually really good. It was more of an actual practice, with the first 45 minutes or so being drills, and then some pickup. We only had sixes, but it was still a good game. I think having the drills beforehand really helped people be more focused later. So I’ll probably strongly consider attending Saturday sessions in the future, although the early morning might still be questionable. Not even early, really, just morning. And Saturday. Anyway, did a little bit of stretching afterwards. My legs are starting to get a little tired from all the activity, I think, which draws Stepmania tonight a little bit into question. But I haven’t had any muscle cramps or strains lately, so I must be managing to do something right. Anyway, definitely going to try to get some abs in tomorrow, possibly even pilates.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

A very quick free form workout today before ultimate. My sleep schedule is fairly messed up right now, so I ended up oversleeping my alarm and being short on time for the workout. So I did an even quicker than usual version of the free form workout. Ultimate was pretty hot today, but not all that unpleasant, really. I think I preferred today over last Tuesday, when it was less hot but way more humid. Not that it matters… I’ll play in most any weather, I just prefer some over others. Had a pretty good day today, unsurprisingly… I’ve found that heat affects me less than it seems to affect most people, so I have somewhat of an advantage on really hot days. Of course, I’m hampered by cold, so it balances out, I suppose. Anyway, did a short stretching session after getting home from ultimate. I was feeling just a little bit tight, particularly in the right quad, and wanted to try and head off any more tightening. I think it helped, but I rather expected it to. Probably a slightly more complete workout tomorrow, as I intend to give myself more time before the game to get ready.

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Went with the running/all sports combo twice today, once before and once after ultimate. I was feeling fairly stiff from yesterday, so I made sure to get in the full time before heading out to try and loosen up somewhat. It was the first time I’ve done the workout exactly as it’s presented in quite a while. I’ll doubt I’ll do so again, at least for the all sports workout… I just like the stretch I get from the twist better if I do it as Ardha Matsyendrasana instead of the variation shown in the video. That’s the only modification I really plan on, but I think it’ll be permanent. It was a pretty good day… weather was nice, and after starting out a little slow, I really got going. I’ve been putting a little more effort into my game the last couple of days, and it seems to be paying off. Had some really nice defense today, particularly near the end of the day. My endurance has been really good the last couple of weeks… while I might be really lazy most of the time, it seems I’ve still be getting enough exercise in that I can go at a fairly significant fraction of my max effort for a long time without noticable degradation. For instance, today I played for most of 2.5 hours, and was still able to do some hard sprinting in the last game. Without even being winded, which was perhaps more surprising. I’m a little worried about being at the max, though, because I do it so rarely these days. Of course, it takes a lot out of me, which is why I rarely do it, although if I really wanted to raise my game level, I should do it more often and try to raise the max threshold, either in terms of being able to do it longer, or being able to run at closer to max with little fatigue. Anyway, legs were feeling a little beaten coming home, so I decided to go through the two workouts again to try and head off stiffness. Not sure how well it worked, but I at least made an effort. I’m sure it helped, it always does. For tomorrow, there will be some walking around during the day, and hopefully an abs workout during the evening. Even if it’s just the yoga abs workout, it’ll be better than nothing. However, laziness always being a factor, the workout might not happen again until Thursday. So, until then…

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Standard pair of workouts today, with the substitution of warrior II for triangle, since my wrist has been bothering me a little. Reasonable day at ultimate… I was playing hard, but not getting as much reward as usual for that level of play. Part of it is certainly the competition, which is tougher for the Thursday game. Really, that was most of it… I was playing hard enough to keep my guy from being key to plays, for the most part. But there are too many good players out there to be able to really shut down plays like I can sometimes do in the Tuesday game. Anyway, took a bit of a beating today… laid out a few times, particularly poorly in one case onto my shoulder and head. Shoulder mostly seems okay, although I suspect that it’ll be a little tender tomorrow. Head was fine, just had a headache for a little while. I have the chance to play some ultimate over the weekend, but I might actually just take the time off… not sure yet. I’ll probably depend on how I feel, and what else is going on. Keeping my options open, as it were. Did a little bit of light stretching on the field after the game… not enough, but better than nothing. Not too sure what workouts I’ll get in over the weekend… stretching if I play ultimate, possibly abs if I don’t. Until then…

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Through laziness and lack of discipline, ended up taking the weekend off. It was definitely good, in a way… it felt like many of my injuries started to heal with the days off. While I’m sure that won’t survive the week, it suggests good things for healing when I have two weeks off. Went with running and all sports yet again. Felt a little tight, but at least I wasn’t feeling the injuries much for a change. Ultimate was okay, somewhat frustrating. I couldn’t get going for quite a while, and when I finally did, it was only a little bit before people quit. Annoying. Didn’t really do any stretching afterwards, but it didn’t feel as necessary as it often does, either. Possibly because of the days off. As expected, I started reinjuring everything, particularly the ankle. Oh well, just two more days of ultimate and then two weeks off to heal… hopefully it’ll be enough time. Until tomorrow…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Since I was getting ready early today, and I was rather tired of doing the same workouts to warm up for ultimate every day, I decided to give py:stamina a try. It was going okay, until I tried to move from all fours to cobra pose. My wrist really didn’t like that, and so I decided to give up on the idea. So I modified the usual workouts a little bit to get the rest of the stretching in. Ulitmate itself was fairly frustrating… The other team was definitely stronger at the beginning, and I was having another off day, which made it very difficult. I did notice that I was pulling into a strange position to get power on my forehand… I suspect that’s a combination of the wrist/shoulder/hand problems. So hopefully I’ll get back to throwing normally in a few weeks, provided I manage to heal on vacation. People also left early, which is always annoying. Didn’t do much in terms of stretching afterwards… still slacking in that regard, amongst others. Will try to motivate to get a workout in tomorrow, although I’m not really sure how likely that is. Until next time…

Workout: Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Went back to the usual for the workout today. Nothing exciting to say about it, really… didn’t hurt any more or less than usual. I’m going to have to be very selective about what poses I do when on vacation, especially at the beginning, to try and allow enough healing to occur. Ultimate started out okay today, but then it rained for a little while. I normally don’t play well in the rain, and definitely wasn’t today. Which wasn’t particularly surprising… I haven’t been playing well all week, so there really wasn’t any reason to start now. Felt a bit of strain in the right groin, nothing serious. Did a little bit of stretching to try and work that out. Overall, just took it fairly easy, especially after the initial rain, since I certainly didn’t need to add new injuries. Going to try and get in a few light workouts over the next two days, to finish off July on target without having to worry about it the first day or two of vacation. We’ll see if I manage to pull that off. Mostly I’ll be trying to take it easy the next half week to a week, to try and get a lot of the injuries to a better state, where I can start actually working out again.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Went for a light free form workout this afternoon. I probably should have gotten it in last night, but just didn’t have the motivation to do so. Which is a rather sad state of affairs, given how light these workouts are. But I digress. The groin strain from Thursday was bothering me a little bit more than I expected, so I wanted to stretch it out a little and hopefully mostly take care of that. Did a lot of very basic stretching, including backbend lunge and warrior II. Also did seated wide angle forward bend and cobbler’s pose, both seated and reclined. Threw in a few other things, but that was most of it. Heading off for vacation tomorrow, so I’m going to try and get an abs workout in later tonight, to make sure that July is finished off properly. I’ll worry about August when I get to it… obviously, I’ll need to start getting more dedicated, or I won’t hit my normal monthly goal, since I’ll be traveling the first half of the month. Anyway, hopefully a workout later, and then no updates for a while, although I intend to track them and post after I get back.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Went with the somewhat unexpected return to the early morning workout today. It went pretty well… quite possibly my best workout of the last two or three months. Not that that says a whole lot, but I still think it’s a good sign. Started off with the hamstring stretches of total body, which were very necessary. Alternated a few lunges after that, then did triangle, warrior II, and backbend lunge. Took child’s pose, went into seated cobbler’s, wide angle seated forward bend, cobbler’s, seated forward bend, reclined cobbler’s, and finished with relaxation. All of this being done at a pretty slow pace. So it wasn’t an overly strenuous workout, by any means, but the overall focus and intention was better than it has been. It also showed I still have some dedication to the monthly goal, since I don’t think there’s any other way I’d have gotten up for it. Anyway, need to go load the car and getting ready to get out of here, so I’m off. Hopefully I’ll get some decent workouts in on vacation, and some healing, as well.