Day 94 - Entering the ShredderSphere

Today marks the first day of daily accountability through the ShredderSphere on Adam Waters' Real Time Physique Blog.

My current mission began back on Sept. 10. I've been blogging and posting pictures (almost) daily since Day 52 after I had seen the camaraderie grow among the original Shredder Council. I upped the ante so to say, to include public accountability as part of my mission and have also enjoyed the benefits of the camaraderie from other original Shredder Council members.

Although today is Day 1 of the ShredderSphere accountability phase, I will stay true to my original plans and goals for my current mission, which will end on Dec. 26 when I make my return to the ice for the first time in over 3 years and play in a charity hockey game with many of my old teammates from High School. I reached my fat loss goals early, and am currently following StrongLifts 5x5 strength training program w/ 2-3 additional cardio sessions per week, with strength gains (with some muscle mass) and cardiovascular fitness as my primary goals to be in peak condition for my hockey game.

After this, I will be taking a short break to rest after what will then be over a hundred days (107 to be exact!) of hard training and enjoy the rest of the holiday season with friends and family.

I will then begin a new mission shortly after the new year that will coincide with the remainder of the ShredderSphere timeline. I'll outline those goals more when the time comes, but in short, it will be more strength training, followed by an intense 4-5 week cutting period to trim my body fat even more using a similar self devised program that I followed for my original fat loss stage. The difference will be the inclusion of more compound lifts as well as working on technique for the power lifts, such as the power clean, clean & jerk, and snatches.

So for me, daily accountability trudges on. For others, it starts now. But whether you've already been practicing daily accountability, just starting, or restarting looking for that extra push, we're all in this together. Shred on!

Get your game face on!
Raiden

P.S. I also thought it would be nice to commemorate this occasion by celebrating with a bit of graphic work w/ my pics since I was doing some image work at "work" work today for a paper I'm writing and it got me in the mood to do some more. I've included a "ShredderSphere" comparison front pic to follow my progress over the next 100 days, but I want to keep my Mission 1 comparison pics because, well, I'm just so damn proud of them so far, and as I mentioned, my mission 1 isn't over yet.

Speedbump 3: A life changing discovery

This is a continuation of my story documenting the parts of my life that have brought me to Day 0, when I decided to change my daily habits for life, and for the better, to ultimately achieve my goals of reaching the best shape of my life, being fit and healthy, and full of energy. For other posts, see the rest of my story.

I first starting really following a regular workout program after hockey season had finished up in my Grade 12 (final year) of high school. I had done a little bit of lifting here and there, and knew the basics regarding reps, technique, breathing, rest periods, and progression, but I didn't make it a regular thing until then. Mostly because I was young, still growing, didn't have the time, and didn't feel like I needed them. That all changed with the onset of my back problems. It was now necessary for me to make a commitment to strengthening my back muscles, and the rest of my body to support everything.

This however, wasn't my life changing discovery.

This is perhaps the hardest thing for me to write about and I still think that there's a part of me inside that is still suffering from denial. I don't know if I've ever fully accepted this, but I've been slowly learning to live with it. At the time though, I was riding an emotional roller coaster. I was finishing up my senior year at high school, enjoying the last bit of time I had together with my class before we all went our separate ways.

About a week before our grad class was to go on our class trip canoing down a river for a few days, after I had spent some time getting tests done at what seemed like unnecessary hospital visits, I was told that I had ulcerative colitis. I had never heard of it up to that point, but hearing the phrase "chronic disease" didn't do much for me. I was prescribed medication and rest. Rest, as in, you really should skip this class trip of yours that involves 3 days of paddling and sleeping on the ground. I was crushed. I refused to give up on the class trip and without really understanding what was going on with my body, I demanded to go anyway. The doctor's of course didn't recommend it, but said they couldn't stop me, but warned me that it would set back my recovery time.

I went on the trip, and had one of the best times of my life spending the days paddling down the river in a canoe with all my friends that I had grown up with since pre-school. It was only after this, and all the graduation ceremonies, that I would have to focus on my newly discovered affliction.

If you don't like to read about poop and bottoms and such, skip the next paragraph.

Ulcerative colitis is an auto-immuno disease affecting the gastrointestinal system, in that it is the body's response to rid itself of some foreign body or toxin, that isn't really there or really a threat (much like allergies). This causes inflammation of the bowels that is triggered often during times that the body is put under stress. Usually, the first sign that is recognized is blood in the stool. This inflammation can be put into remission and the symptoms will subside with medication and rest (and removal of the stress). It is similar and related to Crohn's disease. Both are classified as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which is not to be confused with Irritable Bowel Syndrome which is only symptomatic. The only difference between Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis, is the part of the GI system that is affected. Crohn's is found in the stomach itself, while Ulcerative Colitis is found in the large and small intestine. The biggest problem with these diseases, is that when the tissues are inflamed, then they are unable to absorb all the nutrients that the body needs that it gets from normal digestion. For this reason, when the first flare up is exhibited, weight (not specifically fat) loss is usually one of the signs. The other side of that, is that since the body isn't getting all the nutrients it needs, one usually also suffers from chronic fatigue.

By the end of the summer, through rest, some strength training for my back (I had also started massage therapy), and medication, I had my condition somewhat under control, but I still didn't fully understand what it was doing to my body. I wasn't doing everything that I was supposed to such as avoiding alcohol and fatty fried foods, eating small meals, taking all my medication, getting plenty of sleep, and avoiding stressful situations. I was starting University in the fall, so I had that adventure to look forward to, but my life had to shift focus from sports, to taking care of my health. This wasn't something that was going to happen overnight, especially for the athlete that was most known for his reckless abandon, sacrificing his body to stop that puck or baseball, diving in the air to keep that ball from going out of bounds, and slide tackling guys twice his size.

Speedbump 2: Injury and Pain

This is a continuation of my story documenting the parts of my life that have brought me to Day 0, when I decided to change my daily habits for life, and for the better, to ultimately achieve my goals of reaching the best shape of my life, being fit and healthy, and full of energy. For other posts, see the rest of my story.

After my crazy year in Grade 10, I slowed down my high school sports compared to the previous year. In Grade 11 I only played soccer and golf in the fall, hockey for one team and basketball in the winter, and then volleyball (and some golf) in the spring. It still was a lot, but at least I would get days off to rest. It was this year that my second speedbump started to manifest. I started having lower back pain, the great affliction that most people associate with getting old. I was 16. It wasn't too bad in Grade 11, it started out as mostly just a dull ache and I never thought too much of it. I would get spasms every now and then when I was playing hockey. Later in the winter season though, I injured my right knee in a game of basketball, straining my Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL). I went to physiotherapy for ultrasound treatment, did some resistance band exercises, and strapped my knee into a brace and kept playing. Hey, no pain, no gain, right?

Well, the knee wasn't too bad and got a bit better after a few months and was probably around 90% and by volleyball season I was running around making digs just fine. By the time summer came around again though, the nagging back pain started to affect my golf swing a little bit. The previous summer I had my best year of golf, qualifying for Nationals and winning and placing in a lot of the local tournaments after making a decision to drop baseball and focus on my golf game (two totally different swings!). Maybe it was mental burnout as well, but I failed to make it back to Nationals that summer, or even come close to my performance from the previous summer.

Into Grade 12, my senior year, the back pain started to progress even more. During hockey games, the spasms were getting worse and more frequent. They were getting so bad that my body would freeze up and I wouldn't be able to move temporarily. In a fast paced game like hockey, this sort of thing can't happen. I finally got to a doctor to check into it and I was back to the physiotherapist that had worked on my knee with some back exercises and ultrasound treatment. We experimented with taping up my back for hockey games and wearing a funny brace, none which helped stop the spasms. By the end of hockey season, the spasms had progressed into more pain in my hip and shooting pain down my leg. Throw in a pulled groin late in the hockey season, and it was apparent that my body was shutting down on me.

Speedbump 1: Burnout

This is a continuation of my story documenting the parts of my life that have brought me to Day 0, when I decided to change my daily habits for life, and for the better, to ultimately achieve my goals of reaching the best shape of my life, being fit and healthy, and full of energy. For other posts, see the rest of my story.

My Grade 10 year in high school was perhaps the busiest I had ever been. Fall was filled with golf and soccer as usual, but by the time winter rolled around, I found myself on two hockey teams, as well as the varsity basketball team. Most schools around here limit a single persons athletics to a single team, but our school was small. Our basketball team lacked numbers, and our high school hockey team lacked a goalie. Between 2-3 practices and 1-2 games a week per team, I was so busy that I barely ever had a day off, and it was impossible to make everything because of schedule conflicts. My town hockey team took first priority, but alas, the girlfriend I had for all of 3 weeks was probably at the bottom. I guess that's why it only lasted 3 weeks. It's not like I could blow off a game and let a whole team down just to hang out with her. Girls just don't understand...oh, those wonderful teenage years.

Well, during this period of my life, I never suffered any major injuries, but it was about a 6 month stretch in my life that left a mark. I was young and reckless and felt like I was in great shape. I didn't realize it at the time, but I had burned myself out. I hadn't given myself a chance to let my body rest and recuperate. I probably blew my chance of hitting my goal of reaching 5'6 too. I wasted too much of my energy on sports, and not enough on growing! Well, given my genetics, I don't even think 5'6 was in the cards for me, but a little guy can dream, can't he?

The Ol' Glory Days

This is the first part of my story documenting the parts of my life that have brought me to Day 0, when I decided to change my daily habits for life, and for the better, to ultimately achieve my goals of reaching the best shape of my life, being fit and healthy, and full of energy. For other posts, see the rest of my story.

From as long as I can remember, I was always involved in sports of some kind. Like a lot of Canadians, I started skating at 3 and playing hockey by 5. I was an active kid, always running around, jumping, and climbing things. If there was an organized sport in my area, I wanted to play it. Over the years I played and competed in organized hockey, baseball, basketball, golf, soccer, badminton, track and field, and volleyball. I also enjoyed tennis, biking, hiking, canoeing, and skiing. Hockey and Golf were probably my biggest and best sports, the latter which I ended up competing at a National level (and actually an international Canada/USA tournament in Florida when I was 12).

This continued all the way up to my final years in high school, where I graduated class Valedictorian, Governor General's Award winner (top marks), and Male Athlete of the Year. Not bad for the short (5'4) dorky kid with glasses (since I was 7), eh? I was quick, agile, lean, fit, and healthy. By this time though, I had already put my body through a lot of abuse and had run into my first major speedbumps. It was going to take a lot to slow me down.