The Truth Hurts…

So I’ve been having issues with pain in both shoulders on and off for the last 2 years, and today I went and saw the 3rd orthopedic doctor about this extremely annoying recurring problem, as the last 2 doctors were unable to come up with any answers. I already underwent physical therapy and still do the stretches and exercises on my own at home, and while they have helped my range of motion improve, the pain persists. In many cases, it also prevents me from reaching my full potential on certain crossfit movements. Well I finally got an answer today…

The diagnosis? Impingement Syndrome. That basically means there’s not enough room between the bone on the top of my shoulder (the acromion) and my rotator cuff, so when I raise my arms, the acromion rubs against/impinges on the rotator cuff tendons and the bursa (small lubricating sac between the acromion and the rotator cuff), causing pain, irritation and inflammation. Woohoo.  The treatment? Each shoulder got an extremely painful shot of novacain, followed by shots of cortisone, a steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine – which were equally painful despite the fact that my shoulders were supposed to be numb from the novacain. And if you know me, you know I have a very high tolerance for pain, so you also know those shots really friggin’ HURT! Now I’m supposed to ice heavily for the next two days, followed by little to no overhead movements or lifting for the next 4 weeks. That’s right, 4 whole weeks. If you’re a crossfitter you know how long that actually is. Ugh. Which also means that if you’re a fellow crossfitter, I’m expecting you to hold me accountable to not pushing myself and focusing on lower body movements for the next 4 weeks, so my shoulders can actually heal. Guess that muscle-up is just going to have to wait….

Tis the Season…

…to step it up and rock some PR’s before 2010 is over!! We had the opportunity to do a CrossFit Total yesterday, hitting 1 rep max’s on the backsquat, shoulder press and deadlift. I did my first ever CFT back in January, almost a year ago, wow time flies! On that CFT I squatted 165, pressed 75 and deadlifted 205, for a CFT score of 445.  This time I squatted 220, pressed 80, and deadlifted 245, for a CFT score of 545. In all honesty I might be able to get 5lbs on my squat and DL, but I’ve still got 3 weeks before I start making my New Year’s resolutions for 2011. One of my 2010 goals was to backsquat 250, so I’m still 30lbs short, but definitely a lot closer than I was in January! :-)  Becca had an impressive CFT as well, hitting 140 on her backsquat, 80 on her press, and 250 on her deadlift – which btw was a 25lb PR for her! Total CFT score 470, up from her January total of 375 (125 backsquat, 70 press, 180 DL).

We also have a couple other PR’s to boast about…. for me, I got a new maximum height box jump on Monday – 43 inches! And Becca stayed after the CFT yesterday for ladies night where they worked on the split jerk, and she rocked a PR with a 130lb split jerk  – good work babe! :-)

It’s interesting to note that neither of us have really been doing strength programming since we stopped doing Wendler at ACF, until very recently when Becca started doing it on her own again. I personally feel that if you want to improve your strength in specific areas and specific lifts, the strength programming makes a big difference – makes me wonder where we’d be on our CFT if we’d been doing programming all year! But you know, every day is a new opportunity to grow and push yourself, and we’re ready for the challenge :-)