Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Day 20

So I’ve decided that the 30 Day Challenge doesn’t necessarily have to mean 30 days in a row…. but 30 Days total… So here I am on Day 21, just 9 days to go 🙂 My numbers were a bit lower than they have been this past week or two. This definitely shows me the importance of doing them regularly. Lesson learned…

I’ve figured out a fantastic way to practice squats – I stand over the end corner of my mattress and squat down onto that. It is just the right height and gives me that little lift to get back up without falling or killing myself. Yes, it’s the simple things!!

(Imagine your bed where the butt comes down. It is a great help!)

My push-ups were challenging today because my left leg didn’t want to cooperate, and my sit-ups were good.

I’m definitely loving this challenge as it feels good to get my body moving. After today’s little challenge I did about 20 mins of gentle yoga: cat/cow, butterfly, reclining twist, wide-knee childs pose, supported shoulder stand – all of which felt yummy!

Here are my numbers:

(assisted)         (half)           (assisted)
Squats         Push-Ups      Sit-Ups

Day 20:                52                   45                37

Day Wotsit:          64                   51                 40

Day Something:   62                  49                  40

Day 17:                59                   48                   43

Day 16:                    MICHAEL FRANTI CONCERT

Day 15:                62                   48                   37

Day 14:                54                   29                   43

Day 13:                                  SPA DAY…

Day 12:                60                   21 (pull ups)    32 (unassisted)

Day 11:                61                   34 (ring dips)   34 (unassisted)

Day 10:                60                   30 (ring dips)   33 (unassisted)

Day 9:                                    DAY OFF….

Day 8:                  60                   40                    35

Day 7:                  62                   33                    41

Day 6:                  60                   31                    41

Day 5:                  58                   27                    35

Day 4:                  60                   25                     33

Day 3:                  51                   21                     28

Day 2:                  40                   18                     22

Day 1:                  42                   23                     23

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Days 12 – 14 (Day 13, Spa Day!)

Woot woot, two weeks in!!!!!! Love it. Cheated a bit yesterday though and had a spa day instead of a workout, but I feel like that works seeing as it is good for the body, mind and soul!! 😉

My stats today are kinda disappointing – squats and push-ups down to day 3 & 5. Hey ho, I guess that’s what happens sometimes and what a day at the spa does for you! I am having real trouble with my half push-ups because of the weakness and spasticity (which shows itself in drop foot) in my left leg.

I would love to find out ways to modify that. If you have any suggestions please fire away. (Currently I am doing half push-ups so knees are bent, but my left leg doesn’t want to bend nor have weight put on it…).

(assisted)          (half)                     (assisted)
Squats             Push-Ups            Sit-Ups

Day 14:     54                  29                         43

Day 13:                             SPA DAY…

Day 12:      60                  21 (pull ups)         32 (unassisted)

Day 11:      61                  34 (ring dips)        34 (unassisted)

Day 10:      60                  30 (ring dips)        33 (unassisted)

Day 9:                               DAY OFF….

Day 8:        60                  40                         35

Day 7:        62                  33                         41

Day 6:        60                  31                         41

Day 5:        58                  27                         35

Day 4:        60                  25                         33

Day 3:        51                  21                         28

Day 2:        40                  18                         22

Day 1:        42                  23                         23

Musings: Yoga and CrossFit

The Philosophies behind Yoga and CrossFit

As much as I love the physicality of CrossFit and the strength and determination it has given me, I shall always love yoga, as without yoga, I would never have found CrossFit.

Avid CrossFitters follow a paleo diet, plan and think about their workouts, ensure they are getting the right sort of and right amount of liquid, rest, vitamins, supplements and, at some gyms and in the CrossFit world there is a strong sense of community and a bond that comes with wanting the newest pair of Reeboks, and of course, a camaraderie of having battled through a killer work out with other members of your box (gym). With it being steeped in the military, there is also the strong sense of serving, and an underlying knowledge that everyone in the community is not only there for themselves, but there to encourage and support others.

Yoga, however, by the nature of it having it’s roots in a practice over 5,000 years-old, offers something that the new exercise of CrossFit cannot (although with it’s increasing popularity in the west, comes ego, the fashion-ista yogi and everything that comes along with that). But, true yoga offers a connection to spirit and to thousands of other practitioners who have come before us. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra’s (verses about how to live) also offer practical philosophical guidance as to how to have a yogic life, such as Ahimsa (non stealing) and Satya (telling the truth). By the nature of practicing yoga, even the most beginner yogi is receiving this knowledge.

And so, although CrossFitters can argue CrossFit is a way of life, which indeed on many levels it is, I would argue that Yoga is more than that. Yoga is way of being. ‘Being Yoga’ is, in my mind, my ultimate goal. ‘Being Yoga’ means being kind, being gracious, strong, powerful, focused, humble, able to give and receive, being balanced, calm and creative. It also provides a connection to the Universe and is the doorway into understanding life beyond the physical. Yoga is non-denominational, so it is not asking you to pray to a god, instead it is asking you to be your best self.

Today I am grateful that Yoga has brought me to CrossFit, which is enabling me to gain more physical strength and a closeness to my partner.

The Light in Me, Honors the Light in You.

Namaste,
Jane

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Day 4

JANE – And just like magic, I woke up today and hardly ached at all. What’s up with that?! I’m also still walking without a cane which is super exciting. My balance is a little bit wobbly and I have a limp, but at least I’m walking!

Here are my numbers so far:

(assisted)   (half)             (assisted)
 Squats.  Push-Ups.   Sit-Ups.
                        Pull-Ups.
Day 1:  42        23                23

Day 2:  40        18                22

Day 3:  51         21               28

Day 4:  60         25               36

HOW ARE YOU DOING???!!!

Today I am going to share one of the warm-up exercises I do. It’s a shoulder and arm stretch done using a length of PVC pipe. Stand straight with your legs wide and toes slightly pointed to the side. Then hold the pipe with arms straight and stretched out in front of you, wide enough so you can keep them long whilst moving them in front of you, then above your head and finally reaching them behind you. Keeping them straight, lift them up behind you, over your head and down in front of you.

 

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Day 3

JANE – Day 3, still trucking’. Woke up even more sore than yesterday, but raring to go, and more determined than ever to beat my last two days of numbers.

I did half push-ups today instead of pull-ups. Half push-ups are with knees on the ground.

Here’s how I did:

Air Squats: 51 (Day 2: 40, Day 1: 42)

Push-ups: 21 (Day 2: 18, Day 1: 23)

Sit-ups: 28 (Day 2: 22, Day 1: 23)
Before each workout, I do a few minutes of warming-up. This is usually a few stretches, and finishing with a couple of minutes on the mini-trampoline. Here is a video of me on the trampoline, showing the lack of movement and spasticity in my left leg. This is vastly better at the moment than it has been. I have chosen to show it on here so people without the disease can get a better understanding of what it’s about.

Back to Basics – 30 Day Challenge: Day 1

DAY 1

TAVIS: MS has to be one of the strangest diseases ever. One minute the symptoms can be strong and debilatating and the next they can be hardly noticeable to the untrained eye. Last night Jane said to me “Look babe, I don’t need a cane to walk around right now” I could hardly believe especially since she hasn’t had much time to exercise or anything. It just kind of came back to her where she is having more mobility in her left hip. Of course it’s not completely back to normal and she still fatigues after a bit, but it is a huge improvement from even a week ago.

Just having a little more ability to walk without a cane inspired her to start working out again, and so this morning we started back with basics: some stretching, a short walk to the corner followed by a mini workout. When we started our CrossFit journey I found it worked best if we got a gauge of what she could do in a few minutes and then use those numbers as a bench mark to try and beat. So that’s what we did again today.

With her first day back she had a hard time getting back into the mindset but it is only a matter of time before she is back into it full swing.

Airsquats 2min max effort  (42)

Jumping Pullups 2 min max effort  (23)

Situps 2 min max effort  (23)

JANE: The last few months have been difficult health wise. My balance has been off and my left hip has been weak. Also my left knee doesn’t bend very much, so I’ve been walking very slowly with a cane/walking stick. I’ve got used to the looks and questions, and have recently learned to be grateful for the help my cane provides. Then, yesterday, out of no-where, I realized I didn’t need it anymore. This wasn’t a complete surprise as during my last neurology appointment, my neurologist said she fully expected me to be walking again unaided soon. That was a couple of months ago, so I had brushed it off as something she had thought but wasn’t going to happen and then, it happened. Yesterday. Boom. Just like that. No warning, no reason, no nothing.

So, this morning, Tavis and I decided it was time to get working and get busy again. Hence our short workout. It was a little bit lame, but believe me, for someone who hasn’t been doing anything except some gentle swimming and low key yoga stretching, it was quite remarkable.

I invite you to join me over the next 30 days and see how I improve, and maybe even do the challenge yourself. (It would be great to hear how you get on!). It’s not hard: 2 mins air squats – 1 min rest – 2 mins pull-ups/push-ups – 1 min rest – 2 mins sit-ups. Done.

A wise man, (Jesse Modica), once said: “MOTION IS LOTION”, let’s see if this is true. xo

Day 27- Google First Page and Thank You!

Day 27– Thank you to everyone that is reading our blog; liking our facebook posts; and for your supportive comments. These past 4 weeks have meant more to Jane and I than we could have ever imagined.

The first day we posted the blog we received 277 views, and we couldn’t believe it! We have been averaging 60 views a post, up to 117. Our blog has just been placed on google’s first page for Multiple Sclerosis and CrossFit. The support we have received from all of you has been incredible and we couldn’t be more thankful.

As I have said in our About Us page, a month ago I was thinking that within a year Jane would be in a wheel chair if her health continued to decline at the rate it was going. Everyday it was getting harder and harder for her to get around the house, and she had stopped going outside other than to the car and store.

I was in complete disbelief as I watched the love of my life slowly lose her ability to walk. Watching her try to come to grips with what we thought her future was going to be, is one of the hardest things I have had to deal with. Seeing her so frustrated and upset because of her limited ability to walk broke my heart. I tried my best to be strong for her because I knew if she saw me get emotional it would make the situation even worse.

I couldn’t accept it and none of it made sense to me. I knew Jane could be physically strong, I just didn’t know how. I had seen how strong she was when she was a full-time yoga teacher four years ago, Jane Gould Yoga, before her health began declining and she had two miscarriages. The problem after was that taking one-and-a-half-hour yoga classes exhausted her. Half way through the class she needed to stop and rest for the rest of class, and with each class, because of the fatigue, she did less and because she did less, she slowly lost confidence, as well as physical strength. But not only physical strength, lesions in her brain had caused her to lose balance, feeling, given her ‘drop-foot’ and a host of other symptoms. The MS had taken it’s grip.

And then somehow, it came to me that CrossFit might help her. It had been right in front of my face for the past year and I just didn’t see it.  So I began to research CrossFit and MS. I talked to Mike founder of 38 Degrees North, Petaluma, and we came up with a program for Jane…Next the blog came and here we are…

It is amazing to witness Jane’s small miracles. The workouts are short in duration, and although she fatigues once her core warms up, she is able to do the exercises if we modify them. The benefits we have seen in just 4 weeks have been incredible. Jane has more flexibility in her hips, has more energy every day, and last Saturday she got around the entire day with out fatiguing or struggling to walk. As each week passes, her confidence is growing and she is becoming mentally stronger.

We started this blog as a way to chronicle our experience battling Multiple Sclerosis; to hopefully show Jane’s progress; to show how we’re mapping out the exercises and adapting them; and to give hope to others that might be in a similar situation.

If you know anyone who might benefit from reading our blog please pass it on, and keep the comments and likes coming, it will continue to move us up the Google ranks and hopefully help others. We can’t tell  you enough how much we appreciate it.

Thank you so much!

Tavis & Jane