Always listen to your body...errr...then your PT.

I'm setting a record today because I'm posting two blog entries in a row. I just got to work from FROGS PT and today they had nobody in the office but Andy Clary who owns the place and is the head therapist there. So we get to talking and my shoulder comes up. Next thing I know he's telling me to "stand up for a second". He checks out my range of motion and then looks at my shoulders and then figures out whats going on. I have to hand it to those guys because physical therapy is pretty darn awesome. Andy was the head athletic trainer at the University of Miami for 25 years before becoming a physical therapist so he knows his stuff. Here is thing....I'm hard headed at times. I know this. After having someone for months and months tell me how important it was to stretch and foam roll, it's finally starting to hit home. I looked at all these charts and then listened to him tell me what has been happening with my shoulders/chest/scapula area, and it's finally sinking in. I'm getting an exercise stability ball and a roller. I have to now. Dealing with the pain from this injury that is pretty much 100% my fault for not taking care of my body the way I should just got me motivated to do what I should have been doing all along. Such is life I guess.

Randoms.....

Back day today. I also realized my cardio sucks and I need to kick it up several notches. That's what having a training partner that actually wants to see you succeed will do for you. He called me out and I can't argue one bit. I doubt you even know this blog exists but in the event you do actually stumble upon this one day, thanks man. I really do appreciate it.

I've got to learn to forgive and this is going to be tough. I tend to hold grudges. Particularly when I feel like I get taken advantage of or used. A part of me just won't let certain things go. In the long run, this is all for the better. I have to remember that the little life lessons we learn help make us better in the future.

Finally.....a Dan Gable pic for some motivation. 1972 Olympic gold medal winner and nobody scored a single point on him during the games. He was driven, motivated, over huge adversity to become the person he is today. Awesome.

Until next time......

JD

Bligity Blogity Boooooo!

Holy smokes it's been a while since I've done anything with my blog. I guess in all reality I've had a ton of stuff going on which has kept me away from this thing. So, I'm blowing the dust off my blog so to speak and I am going to make an attempt at some blog CPR to try and breathe some life into this endeavor again.

Where has the time gone? I found myself asking that question yesterday and I guess I have an answer. First and foremost is school. I've got a week left in this semester and through the turbulence of the last several months I'll be pulling off something I've never done before....a 4.0. I'm pretty stoked to say the least. Now I still have to one final and I may have just cursed myself but saying that, but I'm going to make sure I ace this last exam. I've pretty much done that in this class all semester so I'll keep my fingers crossed and do like I've been doing. My friend Mark is graduating in a week and I'm majorly happy for the guy. He is my age and we've lived parallel lives school wise so for him this is a turning point in his life. We are planning a get together here in a week as a celebration and several of my friends that I've not seen in quite some time will be there and I'm looking forward to that. He is either going to law school or getting his MBA. No rest for the wicked I guess. I, on the other hand, have a small break and then back to the grind of summer school. The funny thing about going back to school as an "adult", and I use that word loosely as I found myself pushing around on my old skateboard a couple days ago, is that you don't tend to mess around. I'm actually looking forward to getting right back into the swing of things again.

Contest prep!! Yes it's that time again. Actually it kinda feels like I never really stopped the last diet which was about five months ago. I've been dieting about three and a half weeks already. I've got someone helping me this time around which is fantastic. Something else about this prep is my outlook on things I guess you could say. In the past I've been waaaay too consumed by the process of getting ready for a show. It's cost me in some areas of my life for sure. This time around though I'm just going with the flow and doing everything else I normally would if I wasn't dieting. It's really fun now, not that it ever shouldn't have been to begin with. Also due to the fact that I wasn't a fat tub of lard before I started, everything so far has been much easier. My training partner is getting ready for the USA and I can honestly say that he is going to kick some butt here in a couple of months. That's the good news...the bad news is I tweaked the crap out of my bad shoulder again about a month ago. I've started to get some ART therapy on it and it's working wonders. I can't afford to go as much as I'd like but I try to make it every two weeks. Other than that little snafu everything else is going pretty darn good.

Okay, more new stuff to talk about. I've started doing my volunteer work for school(s) at a couple of different places here in Scottsdale. I'd like to thank Andy Clary at FROGS Physical Therapy for giving me the opportunity as well as Christy Shaft at Spooner Physical Therapy. FROGS is badass by the way. It's an acronym that stands for Functional Rehab for Orthopedic, Golf, and Spine. This place has all kinds of equipment in their practice that helps people heal from sports specific injuries. They have a putting green in there as well as a driving cage for people would need help with their golf swings. All of the stuff these people do really helps others and I'm finding out that I really enjoy it too. Soooo...with that said, I'm up at 345 in the morning most days and then off to train followed by at least an hour to an hour and a half at one of these places post training, then off to work. Yes I'm busy these days.

Randoms......

-My sister is getting married in October. I've got my hotel and plane ticket ready to go. It's in Tahoe and should be a great time. Most of the fun is going to happen right on the lake! I've never been before so I'm looking forward to that.

-My upstairs neighbors, who I met for the first time about a month ago, don't sleep. The girl that lived there moved out and it was vacant for a long time and then the new peeps moved in. Besides not sleeping they seem to like either bowling or trying out for a spot in Riverdance. I'm honestly not blowing things out of proportion either. Seeing as I go to bed fairly early, I tend to miss the really loud stuff until about two nights ago. As I was doing some homework, I hear the typical loud thumps from upstairs that I've gotten used to over the last month. Right as I was taking a break I thought to myself "I wonder if something big is ever going to..." and then BOOOOM!! Did someone just get body slammed? It sounded like it. About thirty seconds later I hear their front door slam and then someone run down the stairs. I don't know what happened but it didn't sound good. I don't live in the ghetto by any means so nothing exciting ever happens.

-There is a walking path about 20 yards from my front door. I've been using this on my off days and it's rather refreshing to just walk in sun.

-I have a new work schedule which is great!

All in all I can't complain. I hope to keep up with this blog more often. New updates hopefully on a regular basis.

Until next time...........

JD