Face Crunches!

Definition: FACE CRUNCH

[feys] [kruhnch]

-idiom

1. To exert oneself to such a degree that one’s face contorts into unrecognizable forms.

Word Origin and History

2010, from face (1250-1300) and crunch (craunch – 1795-1800), certainly of compound origin. The phrase was created by Jerry and shared with Corey immediately after their first engagement with the legendary personal trainer Morgan Arthur.

Imaginary Etymology Dictionary, ©2010 Jerry Zepp



Long post this time, but there’s a lot to talk about =)

Let there be no doubt that Corey and I now recognize that training with Morgan is going to take our training to a whole new level. I knew that working with him was going to be a good idea, and now I have a bit of a better understanding of why…it’s not that we’ve been doing the wrong things, it’s that there are things we should have been doing that we haven’t. Morgan’s going to help with that.

But first let’s discuss our triumphs of the past few weeks. Each week, we have done at least two pack runs, taking it up from the last entry (when we were at 6 miles and feeling it) to our current 9 miles with 25 lbs. last Tuesday evening. 8 miles hurt, but 9 miles ragged us out completely. There is a feeling you get when you complete a really hard workout that pushes your limits…a really good feeling. It’s kind of a mix between exhaustion and excitement, with a touch of “I’m a badass” thrown in. We’ve been rather enjoying the experience lately.

We’ve been in the gym less, still vague on exactly what we should be doing there. I’ve been comfortable with my level of shoulder strength, and we’re both averse to putting on weight considering what our goals are. Knowing that we were going in for personal training, we’ve been content to let the gym workouts go to the wayside and see what he has in store for us.

So last night was the first and long awaited workout at the Okinawan Karate and Conditioning Center http://www.okinawankarateandconditioningcenter.com/index.html. I’ve known Morgan and Terri for about 6 years now, as my girls have trained under them since they were wee gremlins. Both of the girls are now Green Belts in Okinawan Seidokan, and karate has been a weekly thing continuously for years. This is the one thing that both girls have consistently wanted to do, and the one thing that Ingrid and I as parents have been extremely happy about their interest in. Sensei Morgan and Sensei Terri have a way with kids, and their influence on our daughters over the years has been welcome. As parents, you can teach your kids about respect, honor, and commitment and they’ll get it…but there is something about hearing and more importantly seeing those qualities in someone outside of the family whom they respect that solidifies it in them.

I have no doubt that Morgan had our hour training session scripted out. He was ready for us. He did a bunch of research into what we’re doing, touched base with contacts from his past who might have valuable input, read this blog to see what we’ve done up until now and basically did his homework. He came up with a conceptual plan and affirmed through his contacts that it was a good one. My understanding thus far is that the work we’re doing on primary muscles is good and necessary, but we need work (I can attest to that now!) on support and secondary muscle structure. The basic concept is two-fold. First, secondary muscle structure works as a force multiplier.  When the primary muscles fatigue, the secondary muscles step in and take up the slack allowing the primaries to recover enough to continue performing. Second, injury avoidance is a big deal for what we’re doing. To quote Morgan, “When you’re out there with that pack on your back, if you twist an ankle and that ankle doesn’t have rock solid structural support, you’re done.” Apparently there are a bunch of other benefits to focusing on these muscles as well…they’re smaller than the primaries, so you get more bang for the buck when you strengthen them because they support the strength of the primaries but are themselves lighter. More strength + lighter weight = directly supportive of our goals. Plus (I can attest to this one too!) the process of strengthening those secondary muscles is very intense, burns a lot of calories, and hence leads to trimming the body as a whole…cutting further into weight. His intent is for us to come out of the back end of our training with him with much more dense muscle mass, and as trim as possible. The idea is to go for super strength in the lightest package possible that can support the full 25lbs. pack weight for 30 miles a day for four days.

As mentioned before, my current intent after Nijmegen is to transition directly to training for the 2012 Bataan march, heavy division, running the whole 26.2 miles. I’d really like to do that event in under 6 hours. I shudder to think what training with Morgan will be like with that goal…heavier weight (35-40lbs.) but “only” 26.2 miles in one day as opposed to the four day thing.

On to the actual workout. Corey and I knew we were in trouble in the first 3 minutes. Morgan jumped right into tearing down our ability to use our primary muscles so that we could focus on the secondaries. It worked. I spent the next 57 minutes doing face crunches, almost consistently except for the 5 min break I had to take because I was about to pass out from low blood sugar. Like I said, Morgan was ready for us, but he knows what we’re trying to do, he knows what we’ve done up until now, and he knows what we need to work on and the amount of effort we’re willing to put into reaching our goals. We wanted that tailored training, and he’s going to give it to us.

I have to admit that Corey did better with it than I did. I think that his lifetime of playing soccer means that his secondary leg muscles are stronger than mine. On many of the exercises we did, whatever body part we were working was literally shaking, whereas Corey was pretty steady. Not that it was easy for him, he was face crunching too…just that he’s got a bit more strength in these muscles than I. I’m good with that though, we all have our relative strengths and weaknesses and this one can be his.

I also had a bit of a surprise as I mentioned…my blood sugar dropped. Once that happened, I quickly ran into individual muscles just outright failing here and there. Morgan would say “up an inch” (referring to one leg or the other while we balanced on the other leg on a half moon ball while juggling 4 lbs. medicine balls), I would pass that “up an inch” instruction on to my leg, and nothing would happen. He’d say “up another inch” and I would (mentally because I was mid-face crunch and couldn't do anything but grunt) comment that the leg didn't do anything the first time he said that, and he wants me to do it again? 

I have a plan to deal with that though. Ingrid and I chatted a bit and she’s planning on making up a big batch of (whole wheat because it burns more slowly in the body than non-) lasagna and putting it in the freezer. I’ll take that in for lunch on Thursdays (Morgan Day), drop a Gu on the way to the Dojo, and make sure I have an extra with me for halfway through, just in case.

So we’re optimistic. It’s gonna continue to be hard, but we knew that going into it. I have been putting a lot of effort into all this over the past year and a half and very much enjoy the results. It makes sense to take it up a notch. I like being able to do things that would have been impossible for me a few years ago, things I haven’t been able to do since my time in the Corps.

Oh, last thing…Morgan and Terri are excited about moving their personal training work to a bigger facility in the near future. This is going to allow them to expand and better tailor their services. I’ll be the first to recommend that if you’re in the northwest of Philadelphia area and looking for actual “personalized” personal training, weight loss management, sports conditioning, that sort of thing then you’ll want to talk with them. And if you are even thinking about karate for your kids, I strongly recommend looking them up. Check out their web page, send them an email, or give them a call.

Pack Runs!

It’s been a tough month for workouts, pushing hard into new territory.  This past week saw the longest 25 lbs.+ pack run that I’ve done to date, with 7 miles on the trail last night.  I’ll get to that in a few minutes though.

After our first 2 mile pack run, Corey and I have pushed hard for distance increase over the past three weeks.  We’ve done probably about 10 pack runs altogether and a few non-pack runs as well.  I figure we’ve logged about 45 miles with packs.  We’ve also done a couple more hikes, but with the tail end of summer in full swing it’s still hard to commit to entire days on the weekends.  We’ll visit those a bit more earnestly in the coming months.

On days that we’re not running, we’re in the gym with our standard weight training, with a day off here and there for breaks…usually about one a week.  Labor Day weekend was great though because the family went down to the Chesapeake Bay for a visit with friends and I did *nothing* all weekend.  I felt spoiled the first two days, but found myself desperately missing my daily workouts by the third day.  New lifestyle I guess.

I’m still running in the KSO Treks, and still loving them.  They are so comfortable, and my lower leg and foot strength has caught up to what’s required to use them.  I used to think my feet were ugly before from the Bataan training…I didn’t know what ugly was.  I have big gnarly veins sticking out all across the tops of my feet now.  It’s worth it though.  I’m convinced that the Treks have solved the lower leg pain I dealt with over the past year or so.  What I’m not sure about is if that’s a result of the forced improvement in lower leg strength, or the lessened shock impact due to using more foot muscle to strike on the ball of the foot when running as opposed to heel striking.  Ultimately it doesn’t really matter though; I’m pain free and very much enjoying it.

Another positive thing is that Corey and I are working through scheduling for some personal training with my daughters’ Sensei of the past 5 years.  He’s one of those guys who has forgotten more about fitness than I’ve ever known (despite 8 years in the Corps), and has agreed to help us with some personal training including training plans to make sure we reach our long term goals.  We’ve been chatting back and forth about the probability that we may be focusing too much in areas that we don’t necessarily need and perhaps not focusing enough on some areas that we do.  This should help either fix that, or put our minds at ease about the concern.

Now onto the 7 miler last night.  I’m pretty stoked about this run.  We’ve aggressively increased distance over the past three weeks as I’ve already mentioned.  I believe that we have “caught up” to a peak point, where we’re not going to be able to increase distance further at the same fast pace.  We had done six miles before, and that went well, but left us a little bit wanting for more.  Seven was a bit of the same, except that while cardio wise we probably could have handled more, body conditioning wise we’re probably right at the limit at what we can do without injury.  We’re both nursing specific areas (Corey his right knee and left calf, me my right foot and where the quads attach to the hips) that feel very stressed and at their limit.  This is a great stage for me, because progression from here is going to require specific steps in strengthening our weak points…giving us solid short term goals with measurable success.  I like this stage =)

General body shape wise, I’m still trimming down quite a bit.  Weigh in this morning was at 152 lbs, probably due to the heightened running schedules, and I can easily see increased muscle build in upper body, core and legs over the past three weeks.  That will probably settle down some as we move further into this new workout routine as body makeup finishes adjusting to what is needed of it.  I am pretty close to minimum fat levels, not much left of that to lose.   That’s a mixed blessing though.  I already have a propensity for cold injuries, and as we move into winter training I’m probably going to pay for the lower body fat and hence lower ability to maintain heat.  We’ll see.  Corey I believe has impressed himself over the past month, and has said multiple times that he’s very happy with the physical results so far.

So overall, a very positive several weeks.  Thanks again, Ingrid, for adjusting schedules to make room for the often ridiculous time commitments required for all of this!