Male Enhancements

In the spirit of "tell it like it is", I'm going to share that the shoulder issue that I have been dealing with is really cheesing me off. The story goes, I woke up on Melbourne Cup day with a bump over my AC joint (acromio-clavicular joint for the anatomists). This bump became more and more localized and painful over the course of the next week or so. I went to see my new sports doc who did an MRI and X Ray and discovered that this particular joint is degenerate and arthritic.

Enter an ultrasound guided cortisone shot and lots of hot dates with my physio and some initial improvement.
"Ah, " I thought, "rehabbing this will be a cinch.".
Unfortunately that hasn't been the case. Most of January saw many other joints in my body start to stiffen and ache. So, I've been tested for systemic arthritis (eg rheumatoid arthritis and its associated relatives). The only thing that has helped me forget the aches has been a good training session (not involving my shoulder).

So, as well as Uncle Toby the Oat Meister, I thought I would be joined by Arthur Ritis as one of the key men in my life. A bone scan and a blood test later has shown that Arthur Ritis and his friend Loopy Lupus aren't part of my life (phew!) and that my shoulder is purely and plainly cactus.

I'm now gearing up for a trial of two more cortisone injections, otherwise I'm off to pick up another bloke, Serge Un, who likes to get down and dirty with you with his scalpel. It has been enough to handle the threesome of hubby, Arthur and Toby - that is for sure, without inviting Serge along for the ride (I do like his handsome twin Surge though, especially after a hot and sweaty (training) session).

Today I came head to head with another one - Will Power, who told me that I had the potential to achieve anything I wanted to do if I had the belief. I had an internal conversation with Will on my way to teach my regular Friday morning RPM class.

"Do you think I can crack 168 as my HR max today (I have an incredibly low pussy old max HR)?" I asked Will.
"Do you think you can?"
"I don't know...." I mumbled.
"Look at your situation," implored my new best mate Will. "They are waiting for you to show them the way to the top of the mountain. How can you inspire them to reach their potential if you're not prepared to meet yours."

Sure enough I had thirty plus pairs of eyes looking up to me this morning on the podium. I also had the benefit of Emma (one of our other instructors and friend of mine) coming along for the ride ("nothing like having a peer in class to make you want to step up and nail it," I commented to Will).

We warmed up to the sounds of "Something Got Me Started," by Simply Red and then it was onto the next track and our first mountain climb, "True Faith". Then we rode like the wind and employed "Reverse Psychology" in Track 5 and smashed it. It's one of the hardest ones going and I was relieved that I wasn't the only one gasping for air. "Bruised Water" for Track Six saw us going within and riding a stronger cadence on the beat. Then we regrouped, worked together as a team and belted out "Runaway" by Groove Coverage to finish off the working part of the class. Some cool down bliss to follow...aaah and sweet release, we are done.

I look to Emma who told me she was hurting.
"Thank the stars I'm not the only one," I respond.
I look at my Heart Rate Monitor for my Max HR - 172 bpm. Yeah baby, I smashed it, I smashed it! We showered and had morning tea, feeling tired and triumphant.

There are no words for a training session where you feel like you go above and beyond and break through your perceived limitations, there is only wandering around with a silly walk and a stupid grin on your face.

Aaah endorphins, you gotta love em.

Giving Kale a Second Chance

I have been on a veggie bender of late and went to the Organic Food Markets in Brisbane with Nicole and Shelley on the weekend and bought two bunches of kale and some Swiss Chard. I made a stir fry out of the kale and added mirin at the end to apparently break down the stalks somewhat. I also made up a batch of quinoa. It is amazing how far half a cup of quinoa will take you.

Anyway had this yesterday with some poached chicken breast which was quite nice but today's serving just tasted terrible, so bitter and twisted that I was seriously eyeing off the sausage rolls in the freezer at Coles on the way home and stroking the bottles of Diet Coke in the fridge near the checkouts (they must be there for a reason!) , thinking that the whole organic lifestyle thing just sucks! But on further reading, it seems that once kale is picked you have to eat it fairly quickly, otherwise it will go bitter. I'm going to try another recipe tonight that's designed for kids (I figure if kids will eat it, then it should be a cinch for adults) - Crispy Kale - I will report back on that one. The quinoa wasn't much better tasting either - it's not bad, but it's not as tasty as a serve of brown rice! It's probably all in the cooking!

The upside of all of this better eating and drinking is that I'm drinking a lot more water than I was. I even have special stainless steel bottle (1L) and my goal is to get through three of these a day.

Training with Mrs Biologica was awesome today - improved in the bench press doing 4 x 4 of 45kg with good technique which is wonderful for a little whippersnapper like me as well as some pretty nasty pronated grip rows, trap raises and then 4 cycles of vomit worthy HIIT cardio on the elliptical. I hate the elliptical at the best of times and here was Mrs B telling me not to be a pussy and to bring it (thank you BTW!). Then it was my turn..."c'mon you little piss ant!" (it's the only fun I can have telling someone that deadlifts 120kg without batting an eyelid..). Had a great post workout meal and chat and then it was back home to shoulder the chains of learning Step choreo.

Vera decided to complain again about the kale ("surely those Anzac biscuits in the freezer look good") but I've told her to take a hike by slapping her down with a spear of organic asparagus..thwack!!!