Sunday, September 23, 2007

Fully Operational

The fallout from my private session with Dr. Cobb seems to have been positive.

For the first time that I can remember, I actually was able to perform Bulgarian Split Squats yesterday completely pain free everywhere, especially the right knee. (Love hotel workouts--force you to be creative.) Also, no popping in the left knee which has always occurred from not being able to use the left hip adequately. I tested out the lunges afterward which I have not been able to do since I locked everything down back in late July/early August. They were a go: Pain free.

This means I can now squat, lunge, BSS, step-up, and pistol all pain free for the first time since I can remember. I have never been able to perform all those movements at any given time pain free--it's always been a give-and-take game. For example, when I completed the Beast Challenge, I could perform Pistols, but not squat. Pre-Z, I could squat (compensated) but not perform BSS's or Pistol's on my right leg. Here's the great thing: Because I broke the pain cycle, I now have good reps positively chunked in my brain with all the good thoughts and feelings that go along with those reps, making it easier to perform in the future. This is what I was attempting to do at I-Phase.

Here's another interesting thing too: We did some (well attempted to before having an incredibly strong sympathetic response) head mob's and nerve work on the left side of my face and head (concussions and repeated blows to the face plus dominant side while wrestling) and as I sit here typing, I am acutely aware of that side, almost as if it has woken up after a long sleep.

This of course means I now have the ability to use all the muscles in my body to increase my strength levels and drop my bodyfat back down into single digits. I now can eat more (which is always good) because I can now use my toothpicks--uh, legs, to rev up my metabolism. (Side note: This is huge for people/clients trying to make changes in bodyfat--if you can't move well, don't expect to see much improvement in body comp no matter how hard you diet and train. The body will eventually hit a wall and hold onto its remaining fat stores. I have a client with arthritic knees performing full bodyweight squats pain free. This has taken a lot of work on our part using Z, but imagine the payoff for her now having new ROM and using muscles in ways that they haven't been used in 10-15 years...)

The next area for me to tackle will be jumps, hops, etc--all the explosive/reactive movements that I've never been able to perform without pain. However, I think I'll probably wait on those for awhile and just savor this small victory.

On another positive note: I'm glad to see my buddy Rif enjoying R-Phase. I knew this would be his reaction once he finally sucked it up ( ;-] ) and got the program. I'm really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow and being able to train with him all week.

6 Comments:

Blogger Frankie Faires said...

Was the treatment laregly cranial oriented?

Do you think that was your bottleneck (or at least a major one of them)?

11:17 AM  
Blogger Geoff Neupert said...

FF, The treatment was ALL cranial oriented. Yes, this I believe is THE bottleneck. Haven't been able to do the exercises yet, but huge differences in the body that I can tell. Went hiking yesterday which always hurts going up and coming down. Very few instances of pain either direction. Legs working very well and active ankle dorsiflexion is such a wonderful thing to protect the knees!

12:16 PM  
Blogger Frankie Faires said...

Congratulations Geoff!
I'm very happy for you...a little jealous, but still happy!

There are often tell-tale signs such as in your case to where the only "more-permanent" solution is cranial work.

I'll be very interested to see what cognitive, emotional and chemical changes your body undergoes in the aftermath. Things such as this can uproot and shake the our foundations.

2:25 PM  
Blogger Mike T Nelson said...

AWESOME work Geoff!!! Way to go!
Amazing news!
I am excited to see your progress.

Do you think having cranial work sooner would have helped, or was everything leading up to the point where you only needed it now?

I would be interested to see if your "large reactions" to eye and vestibular work change (maybe they have been better already as I don't remember you running out of the room during I Phase--hehehe.)

Are you doing T Phase in Nov? Hope to see you there

Rock on and excellent work!
Mike N

7:27 PM  
Blogger Geoff Neupert said...

Maybe, Mike. But I'm in no real hurry. I needed to do all the R & I-Phase stuff anyway. Glad I did everything when I did.

11:46 PM  
Blogger Frankie Faires said...

Mike,

There are often fairly easy ways to tell - test the components of the movements or bodywork that you want to implement.

If the components test well separately then test them in dyads, triads and beyond.

It is really about having clean motor patterns. The cleaner the motor patterns are in isolation, the easier the combination/integration.

In my experience, teaching in very small chunks allows for a quick and clean upload of a motor pattern.

Make sense?

2:43 PM  

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