Topic: Insanity?

[littleR]

I definitely understand where you are coming from. I never meant to imply that you only know about parkour. I know that you were trying to give me advice about my overall health and well-being. I also realize that you guys really know what you're talking about, which is why I wanted to have this thread in the first place.

What I meant was, Chris would email my coach on my behalf (even if he doesn't use my name it would still be because of me). My coach would then want to know who he was and how he knew me. He would then find out that we know each other because of parkour---> he would then either disregard the advice because it came from a traceur or become aggravated which would lead to other problems.

[Mr.WWII]

I definitely understand where you are coming from. I never meant to imply that you only know about parkour. I know that you were trying to give me advice about my overall health and well-being. I also realize that you guys really know what you're talking about, which is why I wanted to have this thread in the first place.

What I meant was, Chris would email my coach on my behalf (even if he doesn't use my name it would still be because of me). My coach would then want to know who he was and how he knew me. He would then find out that we know each other because of parkour---> he would then either disregard the advice because it came from a traceur or become aggravated which would lead to other problems.

And I understand that, you don't want to create bad blood between you and your coach. Although technically, Chris can email your coach completely anonymously without letting him kno how he knows about the program. It doesn't have to do anything with you, it could be any of your teamates that talked to the "anonymous emailer". Just saying...         lol

[Sarai Brock]

If you're not comfortable having Chris email your coach that's all you sister, but just so you know I'm sure Chris could do so in a way that would leave you completely out of it.  Words like "I've heard that" don't have to be followed by "from _______"    I think everyone's concern is for more than just you... it's for your entire team... all of you are being overworked and run into the ground... it's bad enough when it's NOT college.... but when you're trying to study to better yourself and going through the strenuous workouts that your coach is subjecting you too.... at some point you will break.  We don't want to see that happen to anyone on your team.

Yea, I did just want people to look at me =( lol

It's a good thing... b/c I'm totally looking at you now.

[Joe Brock]

I completely understand your reasoning.  It's your call, but understand that this isn't a minor issue that we're concerned with.  This is the kind of ignorance that you hear stories about on the news, but only after someone has gone too far.

You simply cannot be recovering at the rate that you're going.

[Gabe Arnold]

If you'd like, I could email the coach. I recently graduated with a B.A. in Health and Exercise Science - I'm also a certified Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM. Honestly Chris/Steve probably know more of the ins and outs but if credentials are the issue I'd be glad to throw mine (little though it is) behind the cause. If he asks you where I came from just say you were seeking advice on strength and conditioning sites (like strengthcoach.com) and I was interested in your situation.

[EDIT: Sorry Steve, thought you had finished school for some reason.] Ken PKChiro is a licensed Chiropractor, I don't know if Chris has any fitness-related letters to his name or not.

[Steven Low]

No, I am in school.

And since I don't work at the moment there would be no use for me getting a CSCS or anything since I wouldn't use it now anyway... plus I need to finish up writing this book anyway.

I have a BS in biochemistry, and likely know enough to get personal training certified though if that counts.

[Joe Brock]

Holy cow!  I have a BS in Biochem.

Allow this to be a lesson, if you want to be smart (like Steven) don't take up boxing.  Getting hit in the head makes you stupid (like me).

[littleR]

Hi!

Not to revive this thread but I just give an update and say that I wasn't ignoring APK. I just haven't had a chance to check the forums in ages. My swim season just ended. The training program actually paid off. My taper, along with the rest of the season, went extremely well and I achieved personal bests in every event and met and surpassed every season goal I set.

I am currently starting to expand my training program, to include areas other than swimming. I went rock climbing on Monday and will do this once or twice every week. I'm also starting to focus on parkour and only swim a few times a week, but am continuing to lift. I'm open to any suggestions of new types of exercises to try. I just want to mix it up now that I have an opportunity and keep it interesting.

[Chris Salvato]

I didn't even realize there was a whole banter about my post joking about writing a letter...that I would have wrote amazingly well btw.

That said, I am glad you hit your goals.  I still would contest that you could have made more progress with a better program that was not insanity, though.  For the average joe, progress is progress - but for an athlete, progress is not progress unless its optimal.  Just my opinion.

[Austin James.]

HELP ME WITH MY PROBLEM, PLEASE GIVE ME ADVICE.

Please don't help me with my problem. Stay out.

It wasn't a problem it worked out great.

 

[littleR]

^ Yeah that's actually kind of how it went. 

I posted when I was in the adjustment phase. Then I got used to it. Then we did insanity way less often after our December training trip and I saw the results I wanted. I don't attribute my results to insanity at all, merely the yardage/strength training I was doing for 8 months. I just had a really good taper.

I just wanted to let people know I really appreciated their input and I wasn't ignoring anything they were saying, but as part of a team I wanted to practice with the team. As a college athlete you really can't tell your coach what you're going to do. I really did take their advice into account though and I was careful about what I was doing and how I was doing it. I made sure to keep my body healthy and on days when I knew my shoulders, etc. was hurting, I took it easier and didn't necessarily do everything. It worked out really well anyway though and I love how the APK community has my back.

I am open to any advice for something new to try or to add to my routine as the official swim season ended 2 weeks ago.

Right now, I'm going to a climbing gym on Mondays. Lifting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and swimming on Wednesday and Friday. I'll also swim on Mondays if I can't get over to the gym.

Thanks APK, I <3 you guys. 

[Joe Brock]

If nothing else, I'm glad to hear that all turned out well.  If your main benefits were from the lifting, then I'm sorry that the potential improvement was compromised by shoddy programming.

That being said, what goals do you have next?  What improvements did you see, and how are you hoping to improve from where you are currently?

[littleR]

Here are the goals that I originally made.
Goals: 1) Accurately precision 7 ft.
            2) Hold a handstand for 20 seconds.
            3) Learn how to efficiently do a kong vault.
            4) Be able to properly roll from a height of 10 ft.
            5) Be able to wall run and scale a 9 ft wall.
            6) Do 5 muscle-ups.
            7) Have a balanced, nutritious diet.
            Be able to hold a tuck planche for 15 seconds.
            9) Learn to do a flip, bench 100 lbs., do 10 pullups.

I've already achieved the bench press (I'm at 160 at the moment). I am at 8 pull-ups in a row (over arm). I've been working on my rolls. I've also been working on my handstands and my planche, my main problem is balance. I would be satisfied with 1 muscle-up, but 5 is my overall main goal. I've also been practicing tacs, soft landings, lazies, and precisions. I'm still pretty new since every time I start training my season starts up again and I have to stop. 

After swimming ended, I took 2 weeks off (I only worked out a couple of times). I'm getting back into it and the parkour group around here meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I couldn't go climbing on Monday, so I went to practice with them and am going to go climbing this Thursday (if my lab gets out on time). My teammates are also making a water polo team so when that starts I'm going to do that after swim practice.

[Joe Brock]

Hmm.. goals #1, #4, #5 (even though #4 is a bad idea to train in reality) are all lower-body strength.  Number's #2, 6, 8, and #9 are mostly upper body strength and control.  (#9 is three goals, but whatever.)

#7 is just a good idea for any training, and most of these goals will have major carry-over to the others.  So, now it's up to you to prioritize and let us know how YOU are planning to get there.  We'll offer advice and criticism if it is necessary.