Dave Reslo's on LOGDOWN!

[Dave Reslo]

Friday: Shadowboxing and side press. Could just be the weather but I'm getting a slightly unusual sore throat and my chest is a little tight and painful. I know I've been in contact with at least one person who went on to be diagnosed with the virus so tomorrow I will move out the house and into LOCKDOWN

Saturday: Occasional chest pains. Keg carries, 5 sets of 2 loops. Would normally be hoping for at least one set of 3 loops in there. I think I'm breathing more into the abdomen than usual. Slept for an hour or more in the afternoon. Late night neck work with a neck harness and the HOOK doorway attachment.

Sunday: Chest hurts worse or at least more often than yesterday. Pushes and pulls (mostly pushes) across the lawn using the Apollon isokinator or whatever it's called. Good to get some sunlight. Lungs felt better afterwards for a little while, don't know if I'm doing them help or harm but enjoying this while I can. Afterwards, isometric leg press under a curvy tree.

[pierinifitness]

Wishing you the best.

[Michael]

I'm also wishing You the best Dave. Hope You don't have it. Always enjoy Your post and humor. Nice little training sessions, Thanks for sharing.

[Dave Reslo]

Thanks guys. Starting to breath a little like asthma or too much smoking, along with the pain. A bit of a cough but I don't think it's the "dry cough" they kept telling us to watch out for. Bent and straightened a bar maybe fifty times total, think it will snap soon. Light band work for abs and shoulder health using the HOOK wall attachment.

I don't normally work out twice a day, more like twice a week, I guess I'm just so bored.

[macky]

Please take it easy Dave.  Doing too much physical heavy stuff will take away the energy you need to combat the problems you've reported.  Try and stay on your feet as much as reasonable and have gentle walks that keep your breathing in the abdomen, where you should be breathing most of the time anyway. 

You and I have pre-existing issues (asthma) and the last thing we can afford is to catch this little blighter that has turned the world upside down. Especially myself at 72. 

Try your Zhan Zhuang you've been doing.  I read on a blog somewhere (I wish I could remember it so I could post you the link) that this guy reported being a dedicated weight trainer and then got cancer (I know this present crisis isn't the same, but...), switched to ZZ standing (static chi kung) and the cancer went.  Tried on the WT again and got the cancer back.

Now he is a dedicated ZZ practitioner, exclusively as I understood it, and cancer-free.   

There's nothing wrong with weight training or other forms of conventional physical exercise, but generally they are taken up/practised  when you are well.  Many there are, or reports of various forms of chi kung, where those that were otherwise unable to do ordinary exercise healed themselves and were later to take up said ordinary exercises when they were back on their feet. 
Only if they wanted. Many stuck with whatever forms of chi kung they were doing to bring themselves right, and continued for life doing them.   

All the best from here Dave.  I hope you are not infected and it's the same as what I had some weeks ago,  sniffly nose and sore throat, more a bit of a lump rather than outright sore.  

In other words, change of season, change of weather patterns. That's all gone now, and I hope that will be the same for you too.

[Dave Reslo]

Macky what you say makes a lot of sense, it's just that it's so dull here and if I'm not exercising I'm sat in bed. Broadly I think it's a lot more appealing to get into zhan zhuang or meditation etc. when you are in a busy atmosphere and looking to escape the buzz.

That said, I felt pretty tired yesterday, chest pain was possibly reduced but breathing was more difficult. Out of breath very easily so a few pullups and holds (I can only do one at a time now) and then some wuji & santishi standing. Felt better in the evening, did some nail bending/twisting trying out new designs with very light nails.

[macky]

     

Try this out for the chest pain and tiredness Dave.  Just remember not to bust your breath. Breath in halfway and let it rise up into the chest when you lift your arms, and keep it gentle, no tensing the muscles. Put your mind in the movements so you get a sense of strength, rather than actual muscular tension.  You're not body-building, you're working with the bio-EM which is really what Chi is.  

Keep a percentage of your attention in the navel area (lower dantien) and do as many reps as comfortable.  Whatever that number may be.  No PM's.  After you finish, stand in your Wu Chi position, hands near the sides to relax.  Knock a couple of these sets off a day.  But work up to it.  The next morning you will feel the effects.

Sometimes I found that I'm a bit breathless doing this exercise, depending on how I feel on the day.  My asthma (probably yours too) ebbs and rises with weather change and one day is not the same as the next. 

With this exercise (which is one of the best chi kung drills in the world, even simple as it is) if you are feeling a bit over-breathed at the top of the posture after breathing in, gently breath out while holding the posture with arms still outstretched (not too much stretch) then breath in again and breath out as you lower the arms.

If you want more to do with your Mind, with this simple drill, image you standing in a gold-white energy shower down on (and through) you to your feet and into the Earth as you lower the arms.  Have other colours if they come to you naturally. 

You can also stand for a while with your arms outstretched, as a form of Zhan Zhuang, breathing quietly into the dantien (normal breaths) as you stand.  Don't worry about foot placement, suit yourself but be comfortable not in a legs/feet position that builds up the tension like some of the ZZ postures.    You're not training that, you're trying to get your breathing more comfortable and hopefully ease any pain.  This is a medical application of a universal chi kung drill that has many uses.  Like many things, it's not what you do, but how you do it. 

Finally, if you feel yourself gently swaying after you've stopped, stop thinking and let your body's natural energies take over.  Enjoy your Flowing Breeze Swaying Willow for as long as you want.  If the movements start to get too vigorous, you can gently (there's that word again) but firmly order yourself back into stillness.  You are still under control.  Step to maintain your balance and stop from falling over, as required.  You may even wander around a bit while feeling the energy fill your body, but keep your Mind out of it as much as possible.  No questions. 

In my opinion, pack up the heavy exercise for the time being, until you're all right again Dave. Then get back to what you like doing as a well person, not fighting the problem while you're crook.    I've been there myself.  

[Dave Reslo]

I think you're over-estimating the severity of my present condition, but thanks for your detailed instruction.

Tuesday: No chest pain, still a little of something I might almost call a wheeze. Wanted to move the barrels around but they were chained up and I couldn't get ahold of the key. Push/pull device in the garden for a while, almost entirely pulls. In the evening, I worked the bison 1 for a while.

Wednesday: Felt fine today, nothing in my chest, maybe a sore throat though but I'm not talking much so it's hard to tell. It was unpleasant weather all day so I haven't got out much, just one workout. Alternating sets of one-legged squats and band sidepress (like barbell side press but with The HOOK), Janda situps using the door attachment.

I didn't like the one-legged squats much, I'm starting on two legs here then trying to quickly lift one leg away and squat up. I either go down to low, in which case I worry about knee or groin injury, or I find myself on one leg starting too high up making it too easy. Too easy for more reps is obviously the better option there but neither are ideal.

I've been doing Janda situps on and off just this winter, loving them with this setup. Years ago I did them using a doorway pullup bar wedged on the floor and thought I could pull my calves in consciously and that would be enough. It was nothing like as hard as this, and the further out I stretch the bands the harder it gets. I recalled Pavel painting the hip flexor recruitment as a simple on/off thing, but it must not be like that.

[macky]

No worries Dave. If you find yourself in that position again, or perhaps worse, you've got something you can go on with, for a change of method, and hopefully some help. 

[Dave Reslo]

Thursday: Awake until about 4 last night due to too much lying around. Barrel walk during the day, 2/2/2/1.5/1.5/1.5/0.5 "reps", grip and upper back a little tired from all the pulling yesterday. Chest maybe felt a bit heavy again, but it wasn't the deciding factor in what I was doing, I think. It's not surprising that this thing is coming and going a bit but it's still frustrating.
Afterwards I started playing about with a ladder, just lifting it off the ground holding it at one end, it was a fun oblique exercise. Neck work in the evening, followed by band shrugs from the doorway to try and give the mid/lower traps some work.

[Dave Reslo]

Friday and Saturday: Nothing too physically challenging, I was trying to learn the xingyi five elements staff sequence

Not 100% certain the guy knows what he's talking about but it's basically just exercise and also to kill people in the coming apocalypse. I practice it slower with a cheap barbell.
Possibly slightly difficult breathing in the morning, possibly imagining things. I'll be honest, when I started this little log I thought I might be going through hell and it would make for a more interesting read.

[Michael]

I've been finding it interesting Dave. I find it interesting how different people exercise for different goals. Many people tend to have a closed mind and think their way is the only way instead of trying to learn something different.

My oldest son practiced the staff stuff for years. My youngest did a lot of eskrima sticks which are techniques for knives.

[Dave Reslo]

Thanks Michael. I don't have the hang of the staff stuff yet, I'm at a stage where if I had a metal bar and the other guy didn't have a metal bar, I think I'd be almost as likely to beat him as if I didn't have one.

I should explain; my actual fitness goals are a little nebulous at the moment. I'm just conscious that I'll not be living where I am forever and will likely lose a lot of access to the countryside, so I try and do stuff that I couldn't do in a house or gym. I'd normally be into highland games stuff by now, but who knows if it will happen this year.

Sunday: Feeling fine. Barrels. 3,2,1.5,1.5,2,1.5. Glad to make 3 rounds again, I'm at the transition stage between feeling it in your traps and in your forearms. High neck work late at night and then some Zhan Zhuang to help me relax.

Monday: Helped my old man with some stuff, forearms already fried after yesterday which made it tiring. Tried pushing on the apollo but the rope on my handle broke. Some nail-bending in the evening. Feeling great.

[Dave Reslo]

Tuesday: Felt fine, a bit more variety today. 100 shiko (sumo stomps) over a few sets. Sort of made the apollo work for a while. Staff work.

Wednesday: famers walk, 2/2/2/1.5/2/2

Thursday: Didn't really feel like much, wandered around for a while and did a few pullups (just singles for me)

Friday: Barrel clean and press for about 10 singles. Bearhug deadlift (similar to stone lifting) followed by two squats for about 10 sets. I think this is about the right balance of working the back, chest and legs. Every set was easier than the last, but it's difficult to work into bigger sets at all. Isometric leg/back press under a tree.

There's some appeal to do the pressing after the squatting, since you'd be more warmed up, but if you've just pressed a weight overhead you feel a lot more confident doing anything else with it (and likewise if you've striggled at all lifting it to chest height, putting it overhead might seem daunting) so it actually worked very well. I'd suggest anyone else stuck working with one weight (a pair of kettlebells, say) to try the same.

[pierinifitness]

Good stuff Dave, I’m following you.