Most recent migraine
My most recent migraine occurred after a hockey game about 8 weeks ago. I have to admit, I hadn't been stretching my neck like I should have been and it was 5 or 6 weeks since my last adjustment. The migraine came with the normal symptoms: black aura, followed by numbness in my hand then the pain in the head and eyes. It was interesting this time around though, because the aura wasn't that big, the numbness slowly spread from my thumb to my pinky, and the pain wasn't that bad. I didn't take any medicine. I just stretched for a bit and went to bed. I was even able to sleep.
Since then, I've been making a point to get adjusted by the chiropractor every 4 weeks and I've been stretching my neck everyday, many times a day. I haven't had a migraine since, which is good considering I play hockey once a week and do a serious MetCon at least once a week. I am consistently reaffirming that my formula for prevention is regular stretching and chiropractic adjustments every 4 weeks or less.
Cool Philly-based primal workout video.
Here's an awesome video that this brother and sister team submitted to MDA as a contest entry. It's them doing their version of a primal workout, in Philly, set to the Eye of the Tiger. I think it's awesome!
CrossFit: 18 Minutes and 48 Seconds of Hell | Nerd Fitness
Here's a great minute by minute recap of Steve from Nerd Fitness' first Crossfit WOD. Go Steve! Don't let it discourage you!
Yesterday, with the encouragement of my buddy Jordan and recent interviewees Brandi and Adam, I went to the Peachtree CrossFit Gym here in Atlanta for my first ass-kicking. For those of you who don’t know, CrossFit is a type of gym/crazy lifestyle where you have a specific exercise routine every day that you try to finish (with perfect form) as quickly as possible. Each day the routine is different, mixing in different exercises, building different muscles, and pushing your body to its limit in practically every way.
via CrossFit: 18 Minutes and 48 Seconds of Hell | Nerd Fitness.
Is that a snatch?
That's what this guy at the gym asked me. I replied, "It's technically a power snatch, but yeah." I like that guy, he's a little bulky, works out in a wife-beater (small), preaches everything he thinks he knows, and always leaves his weights wherever they are when he's finished. But that's neither here nor there.
So what's the difference between a snatch and a power snatch? Well, with a snatch (full), the bar is received overhead and in a full squat (thighs parallel to the ground or lower) whereas a power snatch, the bar is received overhead but in a quarter or half squat. The same is true with a clean vs. power clean; the word power indicates the bar is received a bit higher up.
How to Improve Your Posture | Mark’s Daily Apple
I love good posture articles; especially ones that fall in line with my school of thought. This article from Mark's Daily Apple suggests that conventional notions regarding what is "good posture" may actually be wrong.
The key to avoiding back pain (and, it turns out, achieving healthy posture) lies in the pelvis. Or, rather, the key lies in the positioning of the pelvis. Popular posture advice tells us to tuck the pelvis, to bring it forward. Tucking the pelvis is conducive to achieving that arched, S-curve back that the experts say is healthy and natural, but it’s actually counterproductive to sustainable, healthy posture. Gokhale blames medical professionals for that one, suggesting that the constancy of seeing patients with poor posture (which is almost everyone in developed nations) has conditioned doctors to consider the average S-curved back as normal and actually ideal. It’s not, though. The ideal posture should be mostly straight (or J-shaped, with the bottom curve of the “J” representing the curve of the anteverted pelvis), and it should be effortless and natural.