Yesterday, I got back from a fun but exhausting weekend of rugby (games vs. Raleigh and Norfolk, then a fun stay at our coach's house involving a hot tub and a puzzle!). I was super tired and wanted a nap, but then I realized I had an hour before the gym closed. So I busted ass and managed to get there and finish a workout in that hour.
Today, I woke up early, intending to do the PT for my shoulder, but instead rolled over and went back to sleep.
Then this evening, practice was canceled thanks to DC Parks & Rec (dear rain: please stop making our fields too soggy to practice, this is no way to prepare for Ruggerfest!!), so I came home intending to have a nice, relaxing evening doing my shoulder PT and some ball handing.
Instead I watched a movie.
I guess some days you're on the ball, and some days you're not...
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Accountability and the fitness game
My, but this blog has been getting a bit dusty around the corners, hasn’t it? But that’s off-season for ya – kit bag kicked under the bed, boots shoved in some corner where hopefully the smell won’t bother anyone, and rugby pushed, if not to the back of my mind, then at least less constantly at the front of my thoughts.
Instead, like any dutiful rugger, the off-season brings for me a new obsession: fitness. Lifting, core workouts, sprinting, nutrition, when can I get to the gym?
After all, this is my first off-season as an Official Adult, without finals or new classes or shuttling back and forth between home and campus. No traveling to foreign countries and (knock on wood) no long, drawn-out illnesses to keep me from finally focusing all my energy on Being the Fittest Rugby Player I Can Be. For the first time, I should really be able to set some serious goals and meet them… right?
But it’s been harder than I thought. There are the usual distractions – after all, now I’m earning a paycheck which can be spent on Happy Hours and new books and Netflix – but that’s not it. I also can’t blame the cold weather or my new neighborhood not being safe to run in at night or my mysterious shoulder injury for making me skip workouts or shave the end off of my sprints or occasionally eat a bag of popcorn for dinner instead of a well-balanced meal.
It’s a lack of accountability.
See, back when I played for American, we spent the off-season playing The Fitness Game. Workouts had a point value, and at the end of every week you’d add up your points and send them to a team leader to be totaled and reported in a summary to the rest of the team. I’m sure that some people cheated, gave themselves points for workouts they didn’t do, or “forgot” to report their negative points (incidentally, a three-drink minimum doesn’t result in less drinking, merely VERY strong drinks) – but the cheating didn’t make a difference. The thing is, everyone knew – we were all in the game together. We badgered each other to go to the gym or to go running between classes, we noticed who was getting the highest point totals and talked about who was slacking, we could tell during that first week of practice who had been keeping up their fitness in the cold or the heat. Even after I graduated, I spent the summer in a house of ruggers and we dragged each other to the gym and sprint workouts before sevens practices.
Now instead of heading to the university gym, I come home and lift in my laundry room. Instead of sprint sessions on the track, I try to find a well-lit park somewhere in the neighborhood. Instead of tallying my points once a week and having to admit to someone when I’ve slacked off – well, no one knows the difference if I go home and watch TV on my couch instead of going into my freezing cold laundry gym. And without that accountability, it can be awfully hard to give into temptation.
So what’s a rugger to do?
At first, I just got frustrated and criticized myself for not doing better. Don’t I have more willpower than that? Aren’t I committed to being a better rugby player?? Skipping workouts makes me a TERRIBLE PERSON and I should be ASAHMED OF MYSELF for being such a PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A RUGBY PLAYER.
But yeah, that didn’t work. Turns out I’m not a great self-motivator.
So now I’m trying something new. After all, there’s still plenty of ruggers in my life, and we’re all on Gchat all the time anyways. If every morning, Caboose and I agree to talk about our workout plans for the evening and whether we did what we’d meant to the night before – then she’ll know if I slack off. If I make gym and sprint dates with my teammates and the DCers I know from the U23 team instead of going out for a drink – well, there’s temptation gone and it’s not like I’ll stand anyone up for a gym date.
It’s a new fitness game. It’s sort of like being a responsible adult. And so far, it’s working. Which is good for me, because after all – there’s that first spring practice coming up. And no matter what happens in the off-season, there’s still those fourteen other players on the pitch that I’m accountable to as soon as the season starts.
Instead, like any dutiful rugger, the off-season brings for me a new obsession: fitness. Lifting, core workouts, sprinting, nutrition, when can I get to the gym?
After all, this is my first off-season as an Official Adult, without finals or new classes or shuttling back and forth between home and campus. No traveling to foreign countries and (knock on wood) no long, drawn-out illnesses to keep me from finally focusing all my energy on Being the Fittest Rugby Player I Can Be. For the first time, I should really be able to set some serious goals and meet them… right?
But it’s been harder than I thought. There are the usual distractions – after all, now I’m earning a paycheck which can be spent on Happy Hours and new books and Netflix – but that’s not it. I also can’t blame the cold weather or my new neighborhood not being safe to run in at night or my mysterious shoulder injury for making me skip workouts or shave the end off of my sprints or occasionally eat a bag of popcorn for dinner instead of a well-balanced meal.
It’s a lack of accountability.
See, back when I played for American, we spent the off-season playing The Fitness Game. Workouts had a point value, and at the end of every week you’d add up your points and send them to a team leader to be totaled and reported in a summary to the rest of the team. I’m sure that some people cheated, gave themselves points for workouts they didn’t do, or “forgot” to report their negative points (incidentally, a three-drink minimum doesn’t result in less drinking, merely VERY strong drinks) – but the cheating didn’t make a difference. The thing is, everyone knew – we were all in the game together. We badgered each other to go to the gym or to go running between classes, we noticed who was getting the highest point totals and talked about who was slacking, we could tell during that first week of practice who had been keeping up their fitness in the cold or the heat. Even after I graduated, I spent the summer in a house of ruggers and we dragged each other to the gym and sprint workouts before sevens practices.
Now instead of heading to the university gym, I come home and lift in my laundry room. Instead of sprint sessions on the track, I try to find a well-lit park somewhere in the neighborhood. Instead of tallying my points once a week and having to admit to someone when I’ve slacked off – well, no one knows the difference if I go home and watch TV on my couch instead of going into my freezing cold laundry gym. And without that accountability, it can be awfully hard to give into temptation.
So what’s a rugger to do?
At first, I just got frustrated and criticized myself for not doing better. Don’t I have more willpower than that? Aren’t I committed to being a better rugby player?? Skipping workouts makes me a TERRIBLE PERSON and I should be ASAHMED OF MYSELF for being such a PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A RUGBY PLAYER.
But yeah, that didn’t work. Turns out I’m not a great self-motivator.
So now I’m trying something new. After all, there’s still plenty of ruggers in my life, and we’re all on Gchat all the time anyways. If every morning, Caboose and I agree to talk about our workout plans for the evening and whether we did what we’d meant to the night before – then she’ll know if I slack off. If I make gym and sprint dates with my teammates and the DCers I know from the U23 team instead of going out for a drink – well, there’s temptation gone and it’s not like I’ll stand anyone up for a gym date.
It’s a new fitness game. It’s sort of like being a responsible adult. And so far, it’s working. Which is good for me, because after all – there’s that first spring practice coming up. And no matter what happens in the off-season, there’s still those fourteen other players on the pitch that I’m accountable to as soon as the season starts.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
ACL injury prevention
Ages and ages ago, I read and bookmarked this New York Times article, The Uneven Playing Field, that talks about how women and girls tear their ACLs disproportionately often in comparison to men.
One of the causes of this (according to the article) is that females tend to move differently than men - for example, "Girls tend to run differently than boys — in a less-flexed, more-upright posture — which may put them at greater risk when changing directions and landing from jumps."
The article also describes "a customized warm-up of stretching, strengthening and balancing exercises," designed to prevent ACL injuries. Of course I read that and thought, Sign me up! Like most rugby players I've had teammates tear an ACL (or MCL, or meniscus...) and it's something I want to avoid if at all possible.
Of course, the New York Times article didn't actually describe what those exercises were.
But recently, I found this American Physical Therapy Association pdf - Exercises to Help Prevent ACL injuries. Six exercises designed "to improve strength, flexibility, and coordination,
as well as to counteract incorrect existing patterns of movement that may be damaging to their joints".
Score! I know what I'm adding to my fitness routine.
One of the causes of this (according to the article) is that females tend to move differently than men - for example, "Girls tend to run differently than boys — in a less-flexed, more-upright posture — which may put them at greater risk when changing directions and landing from jumps."
The article also describes "a customized warm-up of stretching, strengthening and balancing exercises," designed to prevent ACL injuries. Of course I read that and thought, Sign me up! Like most rugby players I've had teammates tear an ACL (or MCL, or meniscus...) and it's something I want to avoid if at all possible.
Of course, the New York Times article didn't actually describe what those exercises were.
But recently, I found this American Physical Therapy Association pdf - Exercises to Help Prevent ACL injuries. Six exercises designed "to improve strength, flexibility, and coordination,
as well as to counteract incorrect existing patterns of movement that may be damaging to their joints".
Score! I know what I'm adding to my fitness routine.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Rugby boot camp!
Today our coaches ran a 5-hour (plus an hour for lunch) boot camp, which was basically an excuse to get us all together and get us back on the same page with a continuity we can't get at 2-hour practices that not everyone can get to.
It was a really excellent use of a Saturday. We got together at ten and started with some basic ball-handling before having a "reintroduction to tackling" session - progressing from tackling on our knees all the way to full contact drills. Then we took an hour break for lunch, and when we returned we split. We did lineouts and scrums!!!
Oh man I missed scrums.
I was locking (no idea of this is an indication of the position I'll be in for the rest of the season), and originally was in the same situation I've always been in previously locking: usually my body position was off, and at best I got in the first hit before becoming useless, and at worst I was actually holding back my prop. Then someone basically grabbed me and pulled me into correct body position while my head was in, and it clicked! It was like my muscle memory was like "Oh that's how you lock!" and after that, I was able to hold myself up without pulling back on the prop, make the first hit, and keep the pressure on until the ball came out of the scrum.
Oh man... scrumming... did I mention I missed that?
We ended the practices with a scrimmage. It was pretty messy and chaotic, and I felt like a rookie again ("I'm supposed to be where? What? Okay, okay, do this.... wait! No! Do that! ...who has the ball!?), but it was a scrimmage on the first practice of the season.
And now I'm tired (the parents are in town, and they took me to dinner and then to Linens and Things where we bought $85 worth of things that did not include the two items we went in the store for) and I have a large bruise on my hip and so, so happy that my favorite thing ever is back in my life.
PS TRUE OR FALSE I AM FACEBOOK STALKING POSSIBLE NEW ROOKIES.
Friday, November 10, 2006
And here comes the end...
Tomorrow is Saturday!
Tomorrow is OUR HOME GAME THAT IS ACTUALLY AT HOME!!!
We're playing on the Mass Ave field (a block down from Katzen, across from the seminary) against UMBC at 11:00. Basically, if you consider yourself my friend and don't have a pretty important serious engagement... you should be there.
Also, my parents are coming. Which is cool... except it means I can't go to the social. And I have to find three restaurants for us to eat at! (One for dinner tonight, one for dinner tomorrow night, and one for breakfast on Sunday before I go to practice for the PRU U23 team).
The AUWRFC season will be over with our game tomorrow, which makes me VERY sad. However, I get to play rugby for another week (SCORE!!!) because of PRUs - practice this Sunday, and games vs. the VRU and EPRU Saturday and Sunday next weekend, up in Baltimore. HURRAH!
While it'll be nice to see what my knees look like without bruises, I will miss rugby. Also, I will miss seeing my ruggers 3, 4, 5, 6 or sometimes even 7 days a week. What do people do without rugby?!
Oh, right. The fitness game.
Tomorrow is OUR HOME GAME THAT IS ACTUALLY AT HOME!!!
We're playing on the Mass Ave field (a block down from Katzen, across from the seminary) against UMBC at 11:00. Basically, if you consider yourself my friend and don't have a pretty important serious engagement... you should be there.
Also, my parents are coming. Which is cool... except it means I can't go to the social. And I have to find three restaurants for us to eat at! (One for dinner tonight, one for dinner tomorrow night, and one for breakfast on Sunday before I go to practice for the PRU U23 team).
The AUWRFC season will be over with our game tomorrow, which makes me VERY sad. However, I get to play rugby for another week (SCORE!!!) because of PRUs - practice this Sunday, and games vs. the VRU and EPRU Saturday and Sunday next weekend, up in Baltimore. HURRAH!
While it'll be nice to see what my knees look like without bruises, I will miss rugby. Also, I will miss seeing my ruggers 3, 4, 5, 6 or sometimes even 7 days a week. What do people do without rugby?!
Oh, right. The fitness game.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Fitness yay!
So I finally got up off my ass and got back to playing the fitness game for rugby. Considering I only did about two and a half weeks in the two months I was in Madrid* I was worried that I'd be a little slow or a little weak.
I went running in our neighborhood, a route I did before I went to Spain that takes me less than 20 minutes and that is somewhere between 1 and 3 miles. It's got a lot of hills. When I did it before I went to Spain, I didn't make it the whole way - I stopped and walked a LOT on the way back. But when I did it today, I ran the WHOLE WAY! (Okay, I lie, I took like a 20 second break to scratch my legs at the halfway point but THAT DOESN'T COUNT!) So apparently, walking at least a mile a day and walking up and down five flights of stairs everytime I had to go to my apartment kept me sort of in shape!
I could possibly also attribute my not stopping to the fact that I got a book on CD and uploaded it to my iPod and was thus distracted from internal whining about muscles hurting and my stomach churning etc etc, but I'm going to not do that.
On a sort of related note, does anyone know of any websites or books that deal with nutritional health for a jock vegetarian who wants to eat healthily but cheaply while keeping up her energy and maybe gaining a little muscle weight? Please?
*Which I consider TOTALLY acceptable, btw, because being a little slower or weaker in rugby this season is worth having gone to the parks in Madrid instead of running.
I went running in our neighborhood, a route I did before I went to Spain that takes me less than 20 minutes and that is somewhere between 1 and 3 miles. It's got a lot of hills. When I did it before I went to Spain, I didn't make it the whole way - I stopped and walked a LOT on the way back. But when I did it today, I ran the WHOLE WAY! (Okay, I lie, I took like a 20 second break to scratch my legs at the halfway point but THAT DOESN'T COUNT!) So apparently, walking at least a mile a day and walking up and down five flights of stairs everytime I had to go to my apartment kept me sort of in shape!
I could possibly also attribute my not stopping to the fact that I got a book on CD and uploaded it to my iPod and was thus distracted from internal whining about muscles hurting and my stomach churning etc etc, but I'm going to not do that.
On a sort of related note, does anyone know of any websites or books that deal with nutritional health for a jock vegetarian who wants to eat healthily but cheaply while keeping up her energy and maybe gaining a little muscle weight? Please?
*Which I consider TOTALLY acceptable, btw, because being a little slower or weaker in rugby this season is worth having gone to the parks in Madrid instead of running.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Rugby love
Yesterday I went to this rugby-specific workout in Dupont that was kind of the MOST AMAZING THING EVER. It was $10, but it was soooo worth it. It was the perfect workout - it tired me out, but not so much that it killed me (I followed it up with an ab workout, running a mile, and then went out to Dupont for Adventures with the crew), we did a variety of things (sprints, rucking, jumping/hoppy things for your legs, things good for your arms), and best of all it was all aimed towards rugby!
Also, Deanna at one point commented that I was quite bouncy. This was followed by a considering look, after which she declared that she thought she might make me a flanker. That is, a forward. This is a proposition I view with both trepadation and excitement. I mean, I'd get to scrum! On the other hand... I'd be in scrums. Y'know.
Also, Deanna at one point commented that I was quite bouncy. This was followed by a considering look, after which she declared that she thought she might make me a flanker. That is, a forward. This is a proposition I view with both trepadation and excitement. I mean, I'd get to scrum! On the other hand... I'd be in scrums. Y'know.
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