Have you found out where you will be finishing school or are you doing that back at home?Alright, time for a synopsis of the last few weeks. We did class PT most mornings, which was usually either a self-paced run (with or without intervals) or some kind of HIIT calisthenics. I did a little bit of my own stuff here and there, mostly rows with bands, but also some neck and grip work. Some extra push ups and planks when I felt like I could absorb the training. Right at the end I did an A+A session with technical stand ups and sprawls that ended up being really good, so I’m going to keep that in mind for next time.
If nothing else, it was a good reminder of how much sleep affects how much training volume I can handle. We had our PFT this last Monday, and I improved a little. My 1.5 mile run dropped from 11:10 to 10:42, and my push ups (2 minute max) went from 80to 89. We used the new version of the PFT that uses the plank, so I don’t have anything to compare to the curl ups. The plank was done before the push ups, so I stopped at 2:16 in order to avoid blowing out my shoulders and trunk too much before the push ups. In retrospect, I could have pushed it a little more. Strategy data for next time.
I definitely missed having a “big pull”. I did band deadlifts for a while, using a chair as a base plate, but the edges of the chair were a little too sharp and were starting to damage the bands. I was getting all hot and happy about the possibilities of doing band-only deadlifts once I got home, but I think that might be a bit of a pipe dream. That said, I still plan on doing lots of band rows and curls. The way the bands tighten up at the end of the ROM seems like a good way to train bent-arm pulling for grappling. You can pull fast and explosively at first, and then you have to fight like hell to keep the pull locked in.
I think I lost about 5 pounds or a little more, putting me back around 160. Definitely could have been worse. I was able to maintain an almost-zero-carb diet. Turns out that you can order summer sausage from Amazon, so that helped. I would just eat whatever meat/eggs/cheese I could get at the chow hall, and then supplement with the extra food from Amazon (and the commissary, once we were allowed access) as needed. Things actually weren’t too rough on this front. Definitely going to restock my pemmican stores once I get home.
I'm headed back to Seattle for the rest of 4th year (until spring of 2021); most of my rotations are based in the Seattle area with one at NMC San Diego. I'll start applying to residency programs in a couple months, and I should know where I'm going to residency by the end of this year. Besides my rotation in San Diego, I won't be doing much in the way of Navy stuff until I start residency. With any luck, that will be in either San Diego or Camp Pendleton.Have you found out where you will be finishing school or are you doing that back at home?
Yes, and I really should qualify the above with the statement that it really is all theory. I can empirically state what I ate and when, as well as the fact that I got sunburned and how unusual it is, but all the cellular biology stuff is theoretical.That's some fascinating theory on nutrition and tissue quality, @Snowman . Do you have some background in biology?
Say I wanted my skin to... I don't know... stop bullets. What should I eat?
So I’m thinking of going back to BJJ and was wondering if you were seeing infections in any of your classmates or hearing of it. Being a doctor, you’re the best person to ask. Great work!With the way things have busied up, most of my training is sort of “catch as catch can” in nature. Trying to hit BJJ once or twice a week, a decent ruck once a week, and a running session with pick ups once a week. The rest will likely be whatever volume of A+A I have time for. Another LSD session per week would be nice, but given how I’m usually supervising 1-2 kids while I work out, it’s not especially realistic.
July 11
Snatches-8NR @ 24k
BJJ-1 hour
July 12
Rows-6NR
Sprawls-6NR
Rucked 67 min w/ 50 lbs
July 13
BJJ drills-5 min
Mace-2 sets
Snatches-16NR @ 32k
KBS-overspeed-4NR @ 36K
July 14
Rows-3 sets
Push ups-3 sets
July 15
BJJ drills-5 min
Mace-2 sets
Snatches-16NR @ 32k
KBS-overspeed-4NR @ 32K
July 16
Mace-2 sets
BJJ-1.75 hours
Note-Good news/bad news sort of night. Good new; I rolled with a purple belt and was getting some good licks in. Bad news; he used an Ezekial choke to sweep me and broke my hyoid bone. It’s not bad, just a little pain when I swallow. It’s definitely broken, though. I know what it’s supposed to feel like when I squeeze it, and it feels much squishier and sounds much crunchier than it should. It feels like the break is on the left side, where the wing thins out.
July 17
Rows-4NR
Sprawls-4NR
Snatches-12NR @ 32k
KBS-overspeed-3NR @ 32K
Ran 28 min w/ 5x20 second pickups
Note-Had an appointment scheduled for a COVID antibody test at the student health center today, so I called them early to set up a twofer and get an x-ray of my neck. The radiology report isn’t back, but it looks pretty benign. Nothing is clearly displaced, which means that the tissue surrounding the bone has done a good job keeping things aligned. It should heal fine on it’s own as long as I don’t jack it up too bad in the next 4-6 weeks. Worst case scenario, the pieces don’t marry together, and I just have a false joint there. Which isn’t really an issue.
With the way things have busied up, most of my training is sort of “catch as catch can” in nature. Trying to hit BJJ once or twice a week, a decent ruck once a week, and a running session with pick ups once a week. The rest will likely be whatever volume of A+A I have time for. Another LSD session per week would be nice, but given how I’m usually supervising 1-2 kids while I work out, it’s not especially realistic.
July 11
Snatches-8NR @ 24k
BJJ-1 hour
July 12
Rows-6NR
Sprawls-6NR
Rucked 67 min w/ 50 lbs
July 13
BJJ drills-5 min
Mace-2 sets
Snatches-16NR @ 32k
KBS-overspeed-4NR @ 36K
July 14
Rows-3 sets
Push ups-3 sets
July 15
BJJ drills-5 min
Mace-2 sets
Snatches-16NR @ 32k
KBS-overspeed-4NR @ 32K
July 16
Mace-2 sets
BJJ-1.75 hours
Note-Good news/bad news sort of night. Good new; I rolled with a purple belt and was getting some good licks in. Bad news; he used an Ezekial choke to sweep me and broke my hyoid bone. It’s not bad, just a little pain when I swallow. It’s definitely broken, though. I know what it’s supposed to feel like when I squeeze it, and it feels much squishier and sounds much crunchier than it should. It feels like the break is on the left side, where the wing thins out.
July 17
Rows-4NR
Sprawls-4NR
Snatches-12NR @ 32k
KBS-overspeed-3NR @ 32K
Ran 28 min w/ 5x20 second pickups
Note-Had an appointment scheduled for a COVID antibody test at the student health center today, so I called them early to set up a twofer and get an x-ray of my neck. The radiology report isn’t back, but it looks pretty benign. Nothing is clearly displaced, which means that the tissue surrounding the bone has done a good job keeping things aligned. It should heal fine on it’s own as long as I don’t jack it up too bad in the next 4-6 weeks. Worst case scenario, the pieces don’t marry together, and I just have a false joint there. Which isn’t really an issue.
Hah, I'm just an almost-doctor, but that's a fair question. I don't know of any COVID infection among any of the folks in my gym but it's still probably a moderate/high risk sort of activity. It seems like proximity and airflow are a fairly big deal for viral spread. It's apparently pretty darn hard to spread it outside, even at relatively close proximity. But it sounds like close proximity indoors, with lots of talking, is a good way to spread it; not surprisingly you see more young folks get it after bars open up in a given region (it doesn't end up being that severe for most of them, obviously). So back to BJJ. My gym is in a pretty large warehouse space, with fans, and the mats have an 8 foot grid pattern marked out to help people more or less space out. You pick a training partner at the beginning, and that's who you stay with the whole class. After class, if people want to roll with other people, they can. I would say that my infection risk at BJJ is lower than at a bar (because there's more space and air movement), but more than a lot of other activities (it's still inside, and I'm in really close proximity with 2-3 people each time I go). I certainly wouldn't call it a COVID-safe activity, like most outdoor activities (although a friend of mine apparently saw some people grappling in the park, so that's one way to do it).So I’m thinking of going back to BJJ and was wondering if you were seeing infections in any of your classmates or hearing of it. Being a doctor, you’re the best person to ask. Great work!
Good to hear that it healed well. Did it heal in once piece? Did you have to stop training for a while?I had my hyoid bone broken from a bow and arrow choke on me before. I didn’t think much of it at the time as it was just a painful choke then but it felt weird and I thought it was like a lodged fish bone instead.
Got referred to an ENT and at some point he looked at me perplexed and said, “did u get hit or something” and that’s when the penny dropped.
Good news - it healed eventually, took a while.
Good to hear that it healed well. Did it heal in once piece? Did you have to stop training for a while?
Mine basically doesn't hurt at all. I rolled with a couple guys yesterday after explaining why I wanted to roll without chokes or neck frames, and it seemed to go fine. As long as I don't get choked or take a forearm to the throat for a while, I doubt I'll cause further damage. If I do keep training, though, there's a better chance that the bone pieces will never really fuse together, and I'll end up with a little "joint" there. Which isn't really a big deal, as far as I can tell. So I'm just trying to run the risk/benefit calculus to decide how to engage in training for the next 6 weeks.
Alright, that's useful to know. Thanks ?I stopped training for about 4 weeks (ie until i could not feel any pain or even discomfort). It feels like there is a slight asymmetry but nothing crazy so yes there is a “little joint” as you mentioned.
Also I learnt not to tough out bow and arrow chokes haha.