CrossFitters Guide to State College: Gyms

OK, so, for now, State College does not have a CrossFit box. So if you're visiting the area or you're transfering to Penn State next semester or you're New Year's resolution is to focus a bit more on your general physical conditioning, then you have three choices: 1) work out outside (for me, winter temps in the 20's and 30's are just too damn cold to consistently do hard metcons outside (it just gives me bronchitis) but there are alot of nice parks and public mountain lands to enjoy if you're just passing through), 2) build your own garage gym (long a staple of CrossFitters. My garage works fine... although I do miss the competitive cameraderie of other CrossFitters), or 3) go to a commercial gym. If you're headed to a commercial gym, let this be your guide.

A few comments before the rankings and comments: First, I visited these gyms, talked to the front desk, took a tour, but I haven't actually done a wod in all of them. Some are more likely than others to frown hard or throw you out for whipping out a few handstand pushups against the mirrors or skinning the cat on their squat racks, but let's face it; disapproving looks, shaking heads and disbelieving trainers can be motivating. I know, I did it for three years at L.A. Fitness. Second, I checked these out in the fall of 2010, but gyms change, move, and update equipment, etc. so you might find conditions better or worse than I suggest.

Ranked from most- to least-CrossFit friendly:

#1) VICTORY TOTAL PERFORMANCE, 178 Rolling Ridge Drive (in the Hills Plaza by the Weis): FOUR of FIVE STARS. This is a great place, another CFer turned me on to it as soon as I moved up here. It's almost CF ready and it has alot of toys and even some open space. It also has TWO Olympic platforms with bumper plates and a management and staff that seems performance-oriented (all I got for rocking the cable crossover HARD during some bar muscle-ups was a chuckle and a smile and a 'that's interesting' from Tim the manager). It's not perfect. For instance, the best pull-up bar is on the cable crossover machine so it's prone to being stolen for some front double bicep curls while you're off on the rower and I'm not sure that dozens of drops from overhead on the Oly platforms (like during, say, Grace's 30 clean and jerks) would go over very well, but this is an easy place to get in a great workout. The stats: 1 rower, plenty of k-bells, 2 oly stations, some open space, pull-ups on a cable crossover, plenty of plyo boxes, lots of other toys (weighted vests, chains, vertical leap 'gauge', big timer clock, ghd, no rings though... too bad), not much nearby but there's a liquor store in the adjacent plaza, that's a another plus. $40/month or $10 drop-in fee.

#2) DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB I (formerly LIONHEART FITNESS AND TANNING), 127 Sowers Street (the east end of downtown, between College and Beaver): THREE of FIVE STARS. This is one of three local gyms owned by the same person/people/company and has undergone changes in the last year. Of the three, this is where they train MMA. That is both it's advantage and disadvantage. The MMA guys have fun equipment and open space, and I was told that if there is not an MMA class going on you can work out in the MMA room and use their toys (excluding the octagon and boxing ring). However, most evenings they have classes scheduled in there. Keep that in mind when you look at the toys below, most of that stuff is in the MMA area and is off limits when there is a class. If you can work around the MMA schedule this place could work out for you for a day or two, but it has one giant glaring flaw: there is not a single freakin' place to do a good kipping pull-up in the whole damn place. Not one. You're in even worse shape if you wanted to do a butterfly kip or, a bar muscle-up. They have a few cable crossover machines with pull-up bars on them but they all have hammer grip extensions in the middle, or worse, these giant, crazy, angled grip things that are guaranteed to bash you in the throat or face as you go for the last few reps. So this is your standard equipment-packed globogym (with tanning salon... YIKES! That's never a good sign!) with two exceptions: 1) It does have an Oly station with bumper plates, and 2) the MMA room has open space, mats on the floor, plyo boxes, rings from the ceiling, a tire for flipping, a rope for climbing, etc. The stats: 1 rower, no kettlebells, 1 Oly station, no free space unless the MMA room is open, no decent place for pullups, 1 or 2 plyo boxes, some other toys (a climbing rope, rings, tire), regular downtown college-town stuff nearby. $19/month. $12 drop-in.

#3) STATE COLLEGE AREA YMCA, 677 W. Whitehall Rd. (let's call it the Southwestern Suburbs, if there is such a thing). THREE STARS of FIVE. This is what you'd expect from a YMCA gym. It's a basic but workable collection of cardio machines, weight machines, and free weights. I work out here occasionally since it is also has the only place that even approximates a rock-climbing gym in the county. The equipment is in good shape and there is a little free space if you insist on it. There's only about 4 feet of wall space that is suitable for handstand pushups, but I use that spot frequently. Also, the best pull-up bars (and some metal rings!) are OUTSIDE past the parking lot by a corner intersection with a red-light. If you are a workout exhibitionist and like drivers-by to shake their heads (out-of-shape middle-aged guys), scoff (male high school athletes), yell obscenities (college age males), or completely ignore you (everyone else, including any reasonably attractive and slightly younger person of the opposite sex), then this might be the corner for you. I know this, because I've twice picked my 4yo daughter up from swim lessons and let her "workout" with me by sprinting back and forth between the pull-up bars on the corner and the rings/pistols station down by the entrance. It's pretty fun and and a good wod if you're in the area. Even a 4yo thinks it's fun! The thin, slick metal rings are hell for muscle-ups but fine for dips. I doubt you'd have to pay to use this stuff, since it's outside by the street and I'm the only one I've ever seen within 30 feet of it. The stats: 2 rowers, plenty of k-bells (they just added a bunch in the last few months, along with a strap-and-handle approximation of a ring hanging from the ceiling), no oly station or bumper plates, just a little free space, pullups on two cable crossovers (or outside, which isn't convenient if you also have to lift anything inside), 2-3 plyo boxes, no other toys, next door there is a playground, a grassy field and you could run on an adjacent bike path to downtown, and there's a pool and basketball courts at the Y itself. $37/month. No drop-in provision, but if you've never been there before you're entitled to a free one-day pass.

#4) EAST COAST HEALTH AND FITNESS, 250 West Hamilton Avenue (just off Fraser, about 8 blocks south of downtown). TWO STARS of FIVE. From here on down it's all globogym nonsense. This place is typical: pretty crowded with machines and equipment, pull-ups on cable crossovers, little -- if any -- toys, typical trainers. The stats: one rower (and apparently, it's usually available!), no kettle-bells, they actually did have two (and only two!) 45-lb bumper plates sitting forlornly in the far corner which (along with the proximity to beer and liquor) gives this place the edge over the rest of the also-rans, a tiny bit of free space, pulll-ups on cable crossovers, no other toys (no plyo boxes, rings, etc.), a liquor store and beer distributor in the same plaza. $35/month, $8 drop-in.

#5) NORTH CLUB (1510 Martin Street, across the street and down a bit from the bowling alley a block or so off of N. Atherton). TWO STARS of FIVE. This is the second of three local gyms with the same owners. I think they think this is their "premier" location. It's a regular globogym. One that is packed (PACKED!) with equipment and broken up into several rooms with relatively low ceilings. The trainer stuck at the front desk the day I was there was friendly, though, and seemed knowledgeable. Apparently, there are at least two CrossFitters who work out regularly there. They were getting certed at the box I used to go to the weekend that I visisted North Club so I didn't get to meet them. Too bad. They must be dedicated, because there is very, very little moving room and the only rack that seemed like a reasonable place to clean or deadlift is back in one corner of the free weight room which is down a hall and around three corners from a room STUFFED with treadmills and ellipticals where I assume they would be sprinting which is, if I remember correctly, up a short flight of stairs from the cable crossovers for pull-ups. I'm glad to hear somebody is pushing hard at that place, though, and making it work. They're the only reason this place isn't just a single star. The stats: one rower, a few kettlebells, no oly equipment, no space, pullups on cable crossovers, no plyo boxes, no toys, Tudek Memorial Park is a few hundred yards back the road (that's probably too far to be much use for metcons with a sprint component but at least there's open space there). $30/month, $12 drop-in.

#6) DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB II (formerly TITAN FITNESS, 412 W. College Avenue, in the basement/back of a restaurant, the one with the big white pillars out front... go in on the side nearest Atherton) ONE STAR of FIVE. This is the third of the three local gyms with the same owners. For years (apparently), this was the boxing/MMA place, but all that stuff is down at Club I so now II's the aerobic class place. I think. Who cares. There's plenty of open space because it's mainly for aerobic kickboxing classes and such now. Don't plan on parking anywhere but on the street. All the parking that you think would be for the gym is for the restaurant or the insurance agency or the spots are rented out to PSU employees and cars get towed. The cranky old woman (actually a pretty nice old woman, after you talk to her for a few minutes) was yelling at me and freaking out when I apparently parked the Sportster in a rented space on a sunny sunday afternoon. It didn't matter anyway, the gym was closed. Admittedly, I only looked through the windows but I wasn't impresssed. The stats: might have been a rower lurking in a corner but I doubt it, might have been a kettlebell in a corner but I doubt it, no oly equipment, maybe pull-ups off the rafters on one side, no useful toys that I could see. Whatever they're charging, if you want to CrossFit, this isn't the place. $19/month. $12 drop-in.

#7) SPRING FITNESS (outside Bellefonte, along Benner Pike on the left on the hill coming out of town toward State College) ONE STAR of FIVE. A pretty small, regular globogym. The day I was there I walked around the entire interior (which is at the end of a weird village-like mall with faux-town storefronts... odd.) and finally had to speak up and ask if any of the two or three people that I could see actually worked there. Some guy came out from the back and then walked behind the front desk. He didn't know shit, but gave me a flyer. The stats: no rowers, plenty of kettlebells, no oly equipment, no space, pullups on cable crossovers, no plyo boxes, no other toys, nothing nearby. $50/month.

unranked. THE FITNESS CIRCUIT (2301 Commercial Blvd., up on the hill behind College Gardens if you're headed out of town toward the mall) UNRANKED. I'm leaving this one unranked because it's a gym for bootcamp style workouts and although I've never been inside because of my own funky hours, I really like what I see when I look inside. You can't just go in and do a wod whenever you wanted anyway, so what's the point of ranking it. You show up and do their group workout and the utility isn't in the facilities they provide but in the expertise of the trainers. In that way it's similar to the way most CF boxes are run. Even more, it LOOKS like a CrossFit box through the window. There's no cardio equipment or weight machines (that right there would probably give it at least THREE STARS of FIVE) just a long row of actual honest-to-goodness pull-up bars (NOT cable crossovers) with rings (actual RINGS!) hanging off of them on the far side of big, square open space. I haven't had a chance to go there and workout, but I know one lady who does and they have helped her lose 20-30 lbs over the last year or so. She says the workouts are hard, they are never the same, and the trainers push the clients to keep increasing the weights they use for common movements. Plus they have her doing burpees and wall-balls. All that is positive in my book, so if you're into this sort of thing, this might be a good place to check out. I don't think they do olympic lifts or heavy, low rep max efforts. Right next door and across the street is Nature's Pantry health-food store and Nittany Gymnastics... so it's in a good neighborhood, too! Approximately $132/month (3-month unlimited membership). $20 drop-in.

CrossFit Sectional

Last weekend I had the opportunity to be a judge at the CrossFit Games PA-MD-DE Sectional. This is the first CrossFit competition I've attended. Typically, I only compete in one 'race' a year and it's usually some sort of outdoor triathlon or mini-adventure race. I'm never in the hunt, but it's usually fun and done with friends, but I'm always thinking in the back of my mind "this is great but what it needs is some deadlifts for time or a 20 minute AMRAP in the transition area."



Anyway, what did I learn?

0 - There are some beasts out there. The fittest people I know from my old CF box placed no higher than 5th and those were the women with a field of around 30. The firebreather guys from that box didn't make the 20-person cut to go to regionals and these guys are seriously bad-ass compared to just about anyone else in any other gym anywhere around. Dedicated, hard-training, hard-thinking, good-eating athletes and they're only top-third at a sectionals competition. Wow. The videos and pics from the last few years of CF games don't do those athletes justice, but go head-to-head and you would be amazed.

1 - I like to suffer. If people are voluntarily suffering, then that's where I want to be. In this case, since I couldn't suffer by competing, I managed to weasel my way out of a nice, warm, cushy, inside judge spot at the 3-minute 185lb-ground-to-overhead-anyway-possible-wod and into the torrential flooding rain and horse-winds of the apocolypse' outside at the kettlebell OHS wod. In shorts. Without a rain jacket. Good times. Bad weather always means good times when you're outside! Floods, blizzards, hurricanes, nor'easters, -20F temps... those are the fondest backpacking and climbing trips in my memories.

2 - There is some horrible form out there. It was hard not to simply keep my mouth shut and judge and not try to coach. Some judges had more success with this, some had less. Some didn't try. Some athletes appreciated the coaching, some didn't. I stuck with simply counting reps and indicating when the athlete missed a rep (or was getting close) because of incomplete ROM (for the k-bell OHS it was constantly "deeper squat" or "fully extend at the top" for the lower-performing athletes). But some folks could have really used some simple cues like "weight on your heels" or "push out with your knees". Bad form is one of the biggest criticisms people levy against CFers pushing hard in time-priority wods. There's probably nothing that can be done in competition, but I hope these folks are getting good instruction on a daily basis from there coaches/trainers/friends/family, and that these coaches/trainers/friends/family have the fortitude to insist on better form.

3 - Appearances are deceiving. There were some big dudes there that were middle-of-the-road in the heavy wods, and there some tiny folks that crushed it. I love that. I mean, I LOVE that. It's like a 100 horsepower Sportster. I love sleepers, whether it's my bike or a friends physical appearance.

4 - The best indicator that I could see on how well a particular athlete was going to do on a particular wod was a combination of: 1) the ease and 2) the form, with which that athlete did any practice reps. Just easily tossing 185 lbs overhead once or twice might make you think that an athlete is going to kill the Clean and Jerk wod, but if they weren't fully extending the hips or they were pulling with the arms early you would see that form only further degrade over the first 10 reps and all that wasted energy would lead to missed reps or long breaks over the next few minutes.

5 - I still hate fashion. CrossFit is developing it's own little fashion culture and it's as silly as any other. Lulu Lemon for the girls. CrossFit T's with crazy graphics and ridiculous tag lines for the guys. Those crazy socks to protect shins during Oly lifts. I could do without any of that. I'm partial to cheap k-mart shorts and A-shirts. But then again, maybe that's why my Fran time sucks.

6 - CF competitions probably need a little mountain biking or kayaking or rapelling to find my sweet spot. Looks like I'm gonna have to start my own competitions. Ones that are perfectly suited to my strengths and address none of my weaknesses!

CREDIT: Obviously that's not my video, it's from the CrossFit Mainsite on March 20th, 2010. It was done by CF Again Faster, who happen to be good people. The guy that started Again Faster (and whose name is escaping me now) was one my Level 1 instructors and a super-friendly and funny guy. Worth checking out if you're looking for CF gear.

Recognizing Excellence

It's been another rough February.

Just like last year I'm looking at a nagging rehab of a herniated disc that has already seriously limited all the good winter fun and is beginning to threaten the shoulder season that allows me to train hard enough for full enjoyment of Spring. The days are getting longer, and warmer, and although my thoughts should be on the condition of the North Face of Gothics, instead I'm thinking about the importance of recognizing competence -- excellence even -- in the people from whom you take advice.

Case in point: my back.

The doctor: Due to similarity of my pain to previous episodes known (by MRI) to be related to a herniated L5-S1 disc, she recommended the standard conservative treatment along with physical therapy (PT). She spent a few minutes with me, most of it typing in a computer. She gave me painkillers to get me through the day and muscle relaxers to reduce the spasms which -- I was told -- was the actual source of pain.

The first Physical Therapist (PT): After a week or so of just being barely mobile, with debilitating pain that would occasionally cause near blackouts when getting out of the truck I got my first PT appointment. He had me stretch what I could (my calves!) and do what little bracing exercises I could do. I would spend an hour at PT. He would be in the room for about 1/3 of that, just long enough to put some ice under my back, or hook up the e-stim (which I LOVE, the best part of this hack was he gave me the controls to the e-stim and let me just crank it up as high as wanted... I'm a sucker for this shock therapy. I'd crank that up to just a little less than would cause a full back arch that would lift me off the table. I loved that!), or put on the ultrasound thing. I got progressively worse under his care. It got to the point that sometime 10-15 steps is all I could manage. He couldn't place his care in context except to say that actual spinal manipulation would be a very bad idea. After two sessions and a degrading condition, I dropped that facility (which I won't name here, I'm sure they're nice people and effective in other cases).

The second PT: During the first appointment at Penn States Sports Medicine, my PT spent over an hour with me. Watching me carefully. Talking with me. Making me move and describe the pain, it's intensity, it's quality, how it changes in different positions and how it had changed since we started the session. When she put me in what I recognized from my own reading to be a "Mckenzie" posture, she described what we were going to do, what the reasoning behind it was. When I asked about McGill's evidence that limited flexibility in the lumbar spine actually helped prevent lumbar injuries and my concern that the end range of motion required by Mckenzie's methods might not be helpful. She discussed it with me. She got down at my level (since I was facedown on the table) and we talked about it and was able to place different methods in context. When I left, she gave me her copy of Mckenzie's "Treat Your Own Back" for further study. A week later, when I had improved greatly but plateaued in my recovery, she admitted she could try only one other technique (lumbar flexion, after fastidiously avoiding any lumbar flexion for weeks priot) before reaching the limit of what she might have to offer me, but suggested others I might see if I wasn't improving when we next met. The lumbar flexion worked, despite being contraindicated by most of my symptons, and I'm on a generally positive slope of improvement again.

The important point is this: When you're dealing with anything important to you (health, life, family, even your job, maybe), you have to recognize what excellence is. What it looks like and sounds, how it behaves. How it fits into your broader understanding of life... And how it doesn't. Sorting the truth from the bullshit can make all the difference. Start by differentiating between students of truth and bullshitters.

CrossFit Level 1 Cert

After four years of CrossFitting, I finally attended a Level 1 Certification. I shouldn't have waited. It was exactly what I expected from CrossFit: comprehensive, authoritative, and thought-provoking.

The first day covered 9 foundational movements (squat, front squat, overhead squat, (shoulder) press, push press, push jerk, deadlift, sumo deadlift high pull, and clean) in exacting detail. For someone who had studied the pre-read material for weeks prior, had been training with a good trainer for months and had practiced the movements for years, you might think that this could be excruciatingly boring. However, the detail, the explanations, the training cues, and the hands-on practice under the careful eye of incredibly experienced trainers could not have been more interesting. As simple as these movements are, being as efficient as possible can be incredibly nuanced. Equally nuanced can be the simple, effective cues and drills to correct major and minor errors in mechanics. I went with lots of questions, most of which were answered in the lectures, but the ones that weren't were answered thoughtfully by the coaches. Some of these I'll have to mull over a bit and I'll comment on them here.


This cert happened to be at my old affiliate, although they've sinced moved into this big new box. It was a chance to see some old friends. People I had sweated and grunted and bled alongside for months. It was also the first time since I moved to State College 6 months earlier that I was working out in a group. A big group. In this case it was 59 other people. It's incredibly hard not to give exactly 100% when everyone around is working so hard. And you don't even have to know these people, but you can see the effort - and typically the pain - in their face and doing less than your best is simply not a possibility.


The weekend really managed to focus and harmonize in my mind how and why CrossFit works. These are things I want to share with State College in several ways. More to come...

Rothrock Gas Line Traverse

The gas line is an 8 mile North-South scar across the heart of Rothrock State Forest. It goes from near Colyer Lake in the North to Big Valley in the area of Barrville in Mifflin County in the South. Anyone who has done much hiking, or even driving, in the area has enjoyed the vistas it provides. And anyone with any interest in human powered adventures instantly sees possibilities in a 30-yard wide trail constructed with complete disregard to topography. The simplest of these would be to simply start at one end, hike to the other, and hike back. That was my plan last Saturday on a beautiful, sunny winter Saturday.

I packed up on Friday. I didn't take much but I brought along my down jacket as a bit of insurance against a night out in the low teens, my gaiters as a hedge against overgrown brush, and extra ibuprofen as a precaution against knee problems. The down jacket required that I use my wife's GoLite Jam rather than my slick little 20L Cilogear leaderpack. I also pulled out my thin, lightweight hooded Marmot Ion windshirt to use as my shell to see how it performs in the cold (very well it turns out, but the real problem is it's just a bit too short to stay tucked in under my harness. I'll have to add a few clips or something). Unfortunately, I debated it, but left my trekking poles at home. I could have used them on the icey descents with creakey knees.

With a few hours of sleep after The Hangover, I was on the road around 5:00 am. Got some good sugary coffee for the ride. I wasn't exactly sure if I would be able to easily access the pipeline at the very edge of the northern state forest border. A few turnarounds in folks' driveways and I decided to bail to the back-up spot: the intersection of the pipeline with Treaster Kettle Road.

It was still totally dark when I got there so I chilled a bit in the Tacoma Lodge but got antsy and split with a bit of lighter sky in the east at 6:45. It was colder than I expected: 14 degrees. It took twenty minutes to go the first 50 yards as the stream through the gas line was just barely too big to jump and just barely to deep to wade with dry feet. So the only option was a heinouse bushwhack stream crossing through thick Mountain Laurel. Every other stream crossing was cake.

As day broke, the first mile or so is an easy grade and it feels odd to have so much space around you in the middle of the mountains of Central PA. No "green tunnel" here. It looks like PA, but feels like Wyoming. I was thinking it would be some nice cross-country skiing and eventually did see some ski tracks further on. I probably need skis.

The view from Thickhead mountain, south across Detwiler Run and the Mid-State Trail to Grass Mountain is one of the best. A deep, steep-sided valley without a road at the bottom. My knees start reminding me of why I hate long, steep, rocky downhills. This does not bode well.

Once I get to the top of Grass Mountain, the view south as the gas line makes a few turns to wind it's way through some convoluted ridges is amazing. I wake up a nice wilderness hobo spending "January" in Rothrock as part of the off-season from his farm job in southern Huntingdon county. Nice guy. Very knowledgeable about the trails in the area and we chat some more on the way back through. Usually when I get this view I'm just crossing the gas line on some trail and it feels good to finally be walking it. Actually, it feels terrible because my knees are definetely in some pain by the bottom. The nice part of this is, the view from the bottom UP the mountain is as nice as the view DOWN. But the next stretch is kinda rolling and I continue on to gain the far ridge of Broad Mountain, seeing 8 turkeys on the way.

I start down past Rag Hollow Road, but it's clear that my knees will probably sore for weeks and I have my CrossFit Level 1 cert in 6 days, so I turn around sometime before 11:00 and loaf it back to the truck under blue bird skies and warming weather. The snow-covered northern slopes of Grass and Thickhead were incredibly slick with the warmer weather. Just the surface had melted in the shade so it was too hard to edge or plunge step. I could have definetely used my trekking poles... both for my knees and for those descents. I also ran into two other backpackers off the MST on the way back. Good to see people getting out.

After 6588 feet total elevation, 12 miles, 9 hours, 8 turkeys, 4 squirrels, 3 hikers, and 1 itinerant wilderness hobo, I was definetely ready for my truck and a good home-grilled, double cheeseburger with provolone, salami, sauteed onions, and bacon.

Basic Low Back Rehab Routine

I'm recoverying from an L5-S1 herniation with no sciatica, most recently in December.

Following the suggestions in Low Back Disorders, this is the routine I'm doing now. I see alot of suggestions for exercises on the web for low back pain and herniated discs (Mackenzie, bird dogs, etc) but few information on how to incorporate these into long-term recovery. In some ways Low Back Disorders is very specific (how to roll over in bed!) in other ways, it's vague (like what are the rest times between the sequences for the static holds he recommends). This is my best shot.

During rehabilitation, McGill's goal is to improve low back and abdominal endurance (not strength) and groove proper motion and muscle activation patterns. I do this routine twice every day. I focus on form, abdominal bracing (independent of breathing), and glute/hip activation (during squats).

NOTE: "5-4-3" is shorthand for a reverse pyramid of static holds. The long version would look like this:
hold for 7 seconds, rest for 3 seconds --> Do this 5 times
rest 1 minute
hold for 7 seconds, rest for 3 seconds --> Do this 4 times
rest 1 minute
hold for 7 seconds, rest for 3 seconds --> Do this 3 times
move on to next exercise

The beginner's low back routine:
(1) 6 cat/camel motions (not stretches)
(2) 20 "potty" squats (air squats, basically)
(3) 5-4-3 curl-ups (NOT situps)
(4) 5-4-3 L & R side bridges (I do the 5 static holds for left then the 5 static holds for right, then I take a 1 minute rest and move onto the 4 round)
(5) 5-4-3 bird dogs (I do the 5 static hold with left arm out, then the 5 static holds with the right arm out, then I take a 1 minute rest and move onto the 4 round)
(6) 20 more potty squats (air squats)

I've been doing it for about two weeks and I'm increasing the pyramids from 5-4-3 to 6-5-4. I've also started substituting overhead squats (broomstick) for the second set of air squats. Focusing on the glute activation is definetely a help. I'm keeping a log of how my back feels and potential reasons why (four hours sitting in SAR training for instance). Next I'm going to add some stretches for my hamstrings and my hip flexors and see how that feels.

Gadd's Endless Ascent

Will Gadd just climbed more ice in 24 hours than I will in my lifetime (actually, given the limited climbing I do and the extended link-ups he does, this probably isn't the first time). Ended up being 196 laps on on 40-meter (131 feet) Pic of the Vic in Ouray. By my math, that's over 25,700 feet of vertical ice in 24 hours. Eight pitches per hour for 24 hours. Yikes! That's just about an 8000m peak from sea level, all straight up. No placing pro, no belaying, no swinging leads, just climb and lower, climb and lower, climb and lower. Definitely impressive, but even better for the rest of us, it sounds like he's gonna give some careful thought to what worked and what didn't on his blog. The first installment lists the damage. Nothing permanent, just blisters, lost fingernails and overtrained muscles and tendons, but it will be interesting to see what he has to say about nutrition, training and gear.

This is actually just one big monomodal WOD: As Many Rounds As Possible in 24 hours - climb 130 feet WI4. I've thought about this type of thing before. Long extended undurance efforts in a CrossFit style for depletion days. Like, instead of AMRAP:20, something like AMRAP:daylight or AMRAP:darkness, or even AMRAP:24 hours.

SOUNDTRACK: Bladder Bladder Bladder's Designated Drinking Driver . I know next to nothing about this band or this song. This song is stuck in my head since I listened to it this afternoon during my "workout." It gave me a powerful thirst for some beer, I do know that.

Low Back Rehab Program: Two Diagnostic Tests

So clearly I'm putting alot of faith in Stuart McGill's expertise. Of course, I'm also putting alot of faith in my ability to understand what he teaches and then use it intelligently to make this the last time I have to "rehab" my back. This is probably simple hubris, though, because the book itself is written to help the working clinical professional and my plan is to simply go it alone. I finished "Low Back Disorders" and I'm ready to get cracking on working out again as long I'm not risking another tweaked back. First though, there are a two simple tests that I think are instructive.

Back Bridge Test
The first can indicate whether a person is correctly activating the glutes for hip opening. This back-bridge test is performed lying flat on your back, legs bent, knees flat on the floor. Tense your entire "core" muscles to maintain a nuetral spine as you open raise your hips off the floor, opening your hip (it's kind of like what they are showing here, but don't extend the one leg at the knee). Use your hands to feel (the fancy word is "palpate", but just start poking and prodding) which of your muscles are most strongly activated. Feel your abs (not just the six pack but all around your abdomen), then check your glutes, check your hamstrings, and check your quads. Which are working the hardest? Can you feel them working? I

Go ahead, do it now. Once you know what it's supposed to feel like you'll never do it the same again.

Your glutes should be most strongly activated. The hamstrings should be only slightly activated However, in people who have had lower back injuries, it's very common to have the hamstrings and the extensors in the lower back take much of the effort rather than glutes. This places much more of a compressive load on the spine. If you pretend to squeeze a coin between your butt and activate your quads slightly, you can feel how the glutes and hips can take the load, and this is how the body is supposed to function. Retraining hip opening to emphasize the glutes will be key.

Abdominal Muscular Enduance (aka my Spinal Fran)
OK, so now to the good measurable stuff, testing muscular endurance. Given that endurance in the 'core' musculature is protective of the spine, defining any defficiencies in this area will help guide the rehabilitation program. It will also provide a useful measuring stick of progress. This will be my "Spinal Fran" benchmark. There are three static hold tests and by comparing the length (in seconds) of static holds in these different positions, one can determine what underlying defficiencies are limiting long-term recovery in low back pain patients. So, I put together a crude test lab in my living room (see picture) and, after a trial run to get everything right, here's what I got on my second tests

Left Side Bridge = 61 seconds
Right Side Bridge = 75 seconds
55 Degree Flexion = 153 seconds
Back Extension = 138 seconds

To interpret the results, he notes that the following ratios are statistically significant in populations with low back pain. I believe these values also have some use as predictors of future back pain.

55 degree flexion/back extension >1.0 -->My value is 1.11
Right Side Bridge/Left Side Bridge outside the range 0.95 to 1.05 --> My value is 1.23
Right Side Bridge/back extension > 0.75 --> My value is 0.54
Left Side Bridge/back extension > 0.75 --> My value is 0.44

So, if I've done these correctly, this indicates that my flexion/extension ratio is aberrant (>1.0), indicating that my back extension endurance is low. I'll be working these with Bird Dogs.

It also shows that the right side lateral abs have statistically higher endurance than my left (RSB/LSB outside the range 0.95 to 1.05). I'll be working both sides with Side Bridges.

Finally, it also shows that the relative endurance of my lateral abs to my extensors is OK (less than 0.75).

Interesting. And it will be interesting to see how these change over the next few months.

A Review of Stuart McGill's "Low Back Disorders" - Part 1

In an effort to resolve my own chronic back issues once and for all, I am making the effort to read -- and try to really understand -- Stuart McGill's "Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation." This review is an effort to very concisely summarize some points that he makes in the book. The book is intended for professional clinicians, which I am not. I will try to summarize in the least technical terms possible the points that are helping me to shift how I think about my back and how I can get to a permanent pain-free situation; one where I don't have to worry about my back giving out every time I head out on some little trip. I encourage anyone who is actually working through their own back pain to consult the original source, it's entirely possible that I've completely misunderstood entire portions of the book.

Parts 1 & 2

The book is divided into three Parts: 1 - The Scientific Foundation, 2 - Injury Prevention, and 3 - Low Back Rehabilitation. I'm still working through Part 3, so this review only covers the scientific foundation and injury prevention. I know, if you're reading this all you really want o know is what to do, but I haven't gotten there yet. The first two parts are164 pages long. I took 8.5 pages of notes in very small print, so obviously I'm leaving alot out.

1 - Most chronic low back pain issues are not the result of a single traumatic incident (unless of course they are the result of, say, a snowmobile accident (see first image), or a fall from height which applies a very high load in a single event); they are the result of "cumulative trauma pathways." This is either the repeated application of a low load (ex, repetitively flexing the spine while picking light objects up off the floor; see second image) or a sustained load for long duration (ex, slouching while sitting at a computer or a carpenter constantly bending over to put nails in a floor; see third image). These loads are typically well below what people believe is damaging to the spine but repeated or prolonged exposure is indeed damaging. So, even though I typically can pinpoint an incident where I 'tweaked my back,' it is more likely that the hours of sitting slouched at work and poor control of lumbar flexion in other everyday tasks is the real culprit. These are the low-level loads that permit me to 'tweak' my back.

2 - Using the "core" musculature (extensors, anterior abdominals, and lateral abdominals along with a bunch of other supportive tissues, like the lumbodorsal facia, is discussed) to lock the rib cage onto the pelvis supports the spine in a neutral position is key to reducing loads on the spine during all everyday tasks from getting out of bed to opening a door to picking up a pencil off the floor.

3 - Interestingly, muscle endurance (NOT strength) and lower (NOT larger) range of motion is protective of the spine. So, even though it's common to think, "I need to be stronger and more flexible," you really need to be more precise. You don't need strength so much as you need endurance in your stabilizing core muscles so that they can maintain the low-level contractions necessary for stabilizing the lumbar spine in all of your everyday tasks; from opening doors to tying your shoes to shoveling snow. Further, more flexibility in the lumbar spine makes you MORE likely to get injured. Now, it might be that you need to increase flexibility in the hip (say, the hamstrings or psoas), but you need to stretch those muscles correctly; which is to say, keeping the spine neutral and being conscious to not accidentally stretch the lumbar extensors. This error is particularly common in the toe-touch type of hamstring stretches, where you bend over (or sit) and touch your toes. This is stretching your extensors more than your hamstrings and exacerbating instability issues in the lumbar spine.

4 - I've already commented on how poor motor control can lead to spine buckling and injury, even when picking up very light objects.

5 - McGill encourages you to think about your spine this way: it's a fishing rod with the reel end on the ground (this is the flimsy flexible spine itself) supported by guy wires that allow it to support a load (the guy wires are the anterior, lateral, and posterior musculature that, when stiff, permits the spine to bear massive loads. The key points: 1 - without stiffened (slightly taught) musculature, the spine is flimsy and flexible under even the most modest loads (few pounds); and 2 - if any of the guy wires are more or less tight than the others, this will lead to instability so all the muscles must work together.

6 - Spinal flexion early in the morning should be carefully avoided. The spine lengthens while you sleep overnight because the spinal loads are lower than the osmotic pressure, therefore the discs fill with fluid. These engorged discs greatly increase the pressure of any flexion in the morning, so absolutely no flexion stretches in the morning (no toe touches, no bringing your knees to your chest, etc) and be very careful when putting on your socks and tying your shoes.

7 - Sciatica symptoms are the result of nerve irritation. Therapy is two-fold: 1 - avoid end ROM in the spine, and 2 - perform "nerve flossing." There's a demo here, but I can't verify that is done absolutely perfectly, but that's the general idea. If you have sciatica, best to review this with you PT, and not rely on a blog or youtube.

8 - It is useful to remember that muscles and other soft tissues are not rigid and static but creep (slowly elongate when under load) and have more viscoelastic properties. This comes up several times in the discussion of herniated discs and how the nucleus of the spinal discs can 'migrate' or flow depending on the posture of the spine. In diagrams, the nucleus is typically shown in the middle of the annulus, but it's useful (if not completely technically accurate) to think about the nucleus moving closer to the edge of the annulus in response to repeated flexion (or extension) or prolonged flexion (or extension). When the nucleus is off-center and then full range of motion flexion/extension or large loads combined with flexion/extension are performed, it is much more likely to result in a herniated disc. Best to give the disc a few minutes to equilibrate while in a neutral posture before beginning to load it. This comes up again and again. It also affects the order in which rehabilitation exercises are performed, so it's an important concept that requires more detail than I can provide here.

9 - Some specific advice for preventing low back disorders:

a - avoid end ROM in the spine, keep it neutral;

b - reduce the reaction moment on the spine by keeping loads close to the body, directing force vectors through, or around, the lumbar spine, and simply reducing the weight or load itself;

c - avoid exertion after prolonged flexion (ex, immediately picking and moving boxes after sitting for awhile, instead stand-up, move around for a few minutes first, then begin exertion);

d - avoid high torques on twisted spines (note that significant torque should only be applied to neutral spine);

e - use momentum properly to reduce loads (note that slow and smooth isn't always the best way to spare the spine);

f - make seated work less demanding on the spine by constantly changing positions (there is no "perfect sitting posture"!), get out of the chair as often as possible (maybe every time the phone rings?), and get a little exercise in the middle of the workday;

g - Limit flexion early in the morning;

h - do as much variety as possible, repetitive work, even at low loads, can be very damaging over the long term;

i - co-contract the lower back and abdominal musculature to stabilize the spine even with very light loads.

10 - In general, workers should not wear any sort of lumbar back support. There's a whole chapter on this, if you really want to know why, check out the book. It's clearly stated and the supporting evidence is convincing (to me, anyway).

11 - During all daily activities and especially during rehabilitation exercises, prevent pain first. The pain is the result of injury and continuing to irritate the tissues causing the tissues to sensitize to even very minor irritation. In addition, the pain results in an entire series of cascading issues that basically makes gives your back a "limp." This "limping back" ingrains poor motion and muscle activation patterns that will prolong back pain and limit recovery and rehabilitation. Never work through the pain. This is not a "No Pain, No Gain" problem. Eliminate the pain first. Only work through a ROM that is pain-free. Always.

IMAGES: All the images above were photographed from Stuart McGill's "Low Back Disorders: Evidenced Based Prevention and Rehabilition" 2nd edition. They are provided here without permmission but with full credit.

Interesting Christmas Gifts 2

So, I just got back from 4 days climbing and camping in the Catskills and Adirondacks. I also just started taking the Pre-Req class so that I can begin volunteering for the local SAR team. I'm also trying to wrap up McGill's back rehab book and will summarize what I've got out of it so far, but first let me finish up some comments on a few odd-ball christmas gifts.

FoxPro Skyote Coyote Call: OK, first a disclaimer: my uncle and cousins run FoxPro over in Lewistown. My brother got me this little blue plastic hand held coyote call. I don't know the first thing about calling in coyotes. At least not yet, but I will. What interests me the most is this: Up until about two years ago I didn't really believe there were coyotes running around the woods I play in most often: Rothrock State Forest. Sure, I routinely heard coyotes camping up in the far end of Bald Eagle State Forest (I grew up right on the border between the two) but I spent a fair amount of time hiking and camping in Rothrock and never heard a single coyote yip. It was common for me to just go out for the evening, park the truck, walk a little ways into the woods, lay my foam pad out and sleep in the woods (mainly because I love waking up in the middle of the night and seeing the stars, noting how they've changed positions, then waking up in the morning to all that green... great way to start any day). Surely, if they were out there, I would know it.

Well, my brother is a trapper and so I went out with him early one morning to run his trap line and we tagged along with a friend of his to check his traps as well. My brother struck out, but the other guy hit the jackpot that morning: a fox at one location, and lo and behold, a coyote at another. Well, there was no denying coyotes around here anymore. I'm hoping that now when I go out I'll be able to get an occasional coyote to answer, just to confirm that they're around. It adds a little edge -- a little back-of-the-neck fear -- to know that there is definetely something within earshot that could, if it wanted, sneak up on you and tear your tree-hugging throat out while you're sleeping peacefully under the stars.

Antique Double Shot Glass: I like liquor. Usually whiskey. Typically on the rocks, occasionally sipped warm from a shot glass. I also like to make cocktails. I'm proud of my Long Island Iced Teas and Margaritas, but I'm struggling right now to get my Manhattan's right. Up until now all that I have for measuring are single shot glasses. Now, I live near Penn State, which was recently voted #1 Party School in the country. But do you think you can find a good quality double shot glass with a line on it to show where a single shot is anywhere in town? Basic thing like that? Nope. Sure there's a bunch of thin, low-class single shot glasses with different variations of PSU logos on it but nothing substantial. Nothing that could be put in a sock and used to knock in some loudmouth's teeth. My mother-in-law came through this year. Found this bad boy in an antique shop. This thing is hefty, it's got the line for measuring a single shot and it even has a few small, dull knicks in the lip. I like to think it's already taken out a few teeth. I've tried it out. It works... for drinking, not tooth-loosening.

Henry Rollins' "Get in the Van": I've always considered myself a big fan of Black Flag. Actually, though, I am really just a big fan of the "Wasted... Again" album (because it avoids the long drawn out noise and metal influenced later years) and a few other tracks. My brother turned me on to Black Flag when I was, perhaps, fourteen or fifteen years old and mainly listening to gangster rap like Ice-T and NWA. I swiped the tape from his Nissan Pulsar and listened to it endlessly. I did the same thing with Youth of Today's "Can't Close My Eyes" tape. I wish I could say that those tapes instantly flipped a switch in my brain that allowed me to reject both gangster rap and the hollow pointless whining of popular music and the coming grunge wave, but it didn't. As the CIA might put it: I failed to connect the dots. I didn't recognize that these two bands were just the tip of the iceberg of an entire world of underground punk and hardcore music. I eventually found that iceberg but it took a few more years and some terrible music in the meantime.

Now, I've never been a big fan of Henry Rollins, but I might be changing my mind. I love the State of Alert songs on Dischord's "1981 the Year in Singles" comp, but by the time I really got into punk, Henry had moved onto spoken word, then Rollins Band and Rollins Band does nothing for me. He got muscular and attracted -- at least in the people I knew -- a very football-jock fan base. This point was proven to me at Woodstock '94 when, lacking anything better to do, I wandered down to the "mosh pits" during the Rollins Band set and realized these were not "mosh pits" or "circle pits" as I knew them, but were just big jocks jousting with well-timed punches. There was no pretense of dancing, no change of pace to the energy of the music, just an excuse for violence. Now that's not always a bad thing, so I took a few turns, but was clearly the smallest in the pit and so the target of everyone else there.

So, in my mind, Henry was just a guy who happened to be the lead singer for Greg Ginn's Black Flag. This is still more or less true but I've had a chance to read through about 1/3 of this book so far. I didn't mean to, but it's laying on the kitchen countertop and it's written in short paragraphs like a diary so, while the water is heating or the chicken is broiling, I sneak in a few short paragraphs. In the last few pages that I've read it's begun to take on the same honest, introspective but deeply misanthropic tone that I so enjoy in Mark Twight's writing. Now, given that people are always quoting Rollins' "200 lbs is always 200 lbs" quote to me, and that Twight provided an interesting expansion on the comment, I may have to look a bit more deeply into what Rollins' has to say. "Get in the Van" is clearly demonstrating the commitment he had to punk rock and one of the most important american bands ever, so that's a decent place to start.


SOUNDTRACK: Black Flag "Wasted". Probably my all-time favorite Black Flag song. It might be the best 0:53 seconds of some people's life. It's from before Rollin's time with band, though, so it's Keith Morris on vocals. You can hear Henry kind of screwing it up live here.