Nope, that's about where mine hurts after I walk. This is a good article about the psoas and how it mimics all kinds of other pain: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=38131" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpac ... p?id=38131</a>
Is there anything I should be doing nutritionally to prepare for a physical test a few days out? Strength wise I'm where I want to be, and on Wednesday (April 4) I'm being tested on push ups/sit ups/2 mile run. I've heard so many conflicting things. Carbo load the night before, protein load 2 days before, take no-xplode 20 minutes before, caffeine 20 minutes before etc. I know these will give minor gains, but is there anything anyone recommends?
Little disappointed in the newest post. He talks about how horrible it is to sleep on your stomach with your head cranked to the side (basically the only way I can sleep) and only recommends getting a softer mattress. A few doctors have said that it would alleviate much of my back pain by switching to sleeping on my back. I sleep on my side sometime but end up on my stomach like a pretzel with my weight on an outstrecthed arm (I wake up with a completely numb arm at least 3 days a week). The only advice my doctor gave me was to sew a tennis ball into a sleeping shirt on the belly which would force me to roll over. One, I can't sleep with a shirt on at all, two, it would be worse than a drug addict suffering withdrawals trying to get a good night sleep on my back. Has anyone ever successfully made the switch?
I used to sleep on my stomach or my left side. When I broke my left collarbone and ribs, the only way was on my back. It was difficult, but the intense pain if I put weight on my shoulder was far worse.
Yes. Ok, fine, my point was merely that it can be done. Use pillows to help make it a comfortable transition, I needed pillows under my knees at first.
It's sad to see that only extreme pain is the only way to force yourself to do it. Ive tried a handful of times and never could get past tossing and turning for two or three nights straight. Shit has got to be harder to do than quitting smoking. Fuck.
Kind of changing gears here, I am thinking of moving to a more Paleo way of eating. I know that lots of the folks who frequent this thread eat Paleo, I know that we have a cooking thread. Would a separate Paleo thread to discuss the basics, share ideas, these are my favorite products, here is what works for me/doesn't work for me, share recipes, etc. be interesting to anybody else but me?
I've done it, but it is a giant pain in the ass, as is anything that involves re-training your body. Worst part for me was that, when I would start going to sleep I would get this feeling that I was falling, so I would wake up and then the process would begin all over again. I will say though, I did wake up slightly more refreshed, or at least a bit more limber. When I would regularly sleep on my stomach/side I would usually wake up with something stiff (hah!) or sore.
A list of things you should do to fix your spasming psoas included as #3 'Quit sleeping on your stomach!". I'm with Kubla Kahn...I don't know if I can do it. I can't imagine falling asleep any other way. And as for a Paleo thread, I wouldn't mind. I have a bunch of recipes I'd like to share. That being said, we could use the Cooking Thread and just label each one 'PALEO' in big letters.
I think it's a good idea...but if y'all don't, y'all can definitely hit me up and I'll answer as I can. I'll also recommend that you read <a class="postlink" href="http://www.whole9life.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.whole9life.com</a> and <a class="postlink" href="http://www.marksdailyapple.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">www.marksdailyapple.com</a>. Both are excellent resources. I've got some other sites on my facebook as well, I believe but those are the two that come to mind. If anyone has a nook and wants a paleo cookbook, I can lend you the one I bought, just send me your email.
Re: the sleeping thing... Make a nest of pillows. It helps. I've been sleeping on my side for awhile and slowly transitioning to my back. The pillows to support have helped a ton.
If you do anyyyything...eat a good mean sans grains but heavy on the good fats the night before. Like avocado or nut butters or whatever.
Regarding the Paleo thing, I have about a million questions, not all relating to Food, so that was why I was thinking that having a dedicated thread would be nice. I know there is a ton of info out there on the internet, much of which I have looked into but a lot of it is contradictory, and I trust the advice of many here. So, here is my current question. I run, or rather, I used to run, now I struggle. I have trained for and run a dozen half marathons, so I know the difference between "I'm tired" and "I can't" and I have been tilted into the "I can't" category on my long-ish runs since I started the no carb thing a couple months ago. Today, for example, I set out for 8 miles, after 3 miles I was exhausted, my legs felt like cement, I was light headed, etc. So, I turned around and walked pretty much the entire way home. It was also quite hot, I only brought water since I don't think Cavemen had access to Gatorade, so that may have been part of it. I have managed three 8 mile runs on the diet, but none were pretty and by the end (or before), I was just simply out of gas...can't go anymore. I am supposed to be doing a half marathon in two weeks, and frankly, I honestly don't think I can finish it with the way I feel now. In poking around, it looks as if Paleo favors more quick bursts of energy exercising, so are Paleo and any sort of endurance type of thing just mutually exclusive?
First off paleo doesn't necessarily mean low carbohydrate. If you need to to fuel your workouts you can pound down fruit and tubers like there's no tomorrow. Just understand that this will interfere with your weight loss goals if you have any. Endurance and paleo are not mutually exclusive either. Plenty of cross fitters and distance runners eat paleo. Most of the big names in paleo are against things like marathons because they are long, boring, put a lot of stress on your body and don't really contribute positvely to overall health. They break down a lot of the fast twitch muscle fibers which are more important in old age. The long and short of it is if you really like distance running for the sake of distance running and not for health benefits then play on. Just understand you're not doing yourself any favors in longevity and may pay the consequences of long term injuries, especially if you're running on pavement. And one of the main guys pushing this idea is Mark Sisson who use to be a world class marathon runner. That's not necessarily my point of view, I think there is a lot of merit to the idea we were born to run, but that's just what I've read. And I follow it because I find running boring as shit unless it's short (no more than three miles), barefoot or in vibrams and in grass or the woods.
Thanks Frank, I run for exercise, stress, and because it is a social activity that I do with some friends. Do I love it? Hell no. Do I want to keep at it? Probably. It (normally) makes me feel pretty good and is really great for pounding out the day's frustrations. When I am not running with friends, I have a lovely trail through the woods so it is good for a little meditation time. I don't do marathons, I am with you on the fact that they are probably a little more than your body wants to take, but I do run 2-3 half marathons per year. Again, about half of them are social activities, half are "serious" (I use that term pretty loosely). This morning I did have an apple before my run, so that is some carbs and natural sugars. Apparently that just wasn't enough fuel. Plus, thinking back, I did an intermittent fasting day yesterday, so essentially consumed steak, wine, coffee, and an apple in the 24 hours before attempting an 8 mile run on the hottest day so far this year. So, yep, lots of things that I did wrong. I guess I need to play around with food, because frankly, if this is what I am going to get while running while following Paleo, then one of them has to give. Potatoes aren't my favorite, and I haven't tried them again yet, but maybe I will tonight and try again tomorrow. Maybe I just need to know and accept that there are just things that I will probably have to go non-paleo on. Gatorade and Gu being two of them.
Are these the type of people that would be up for something else? Because ten minutes of sprinting with breaks in between followed by 50 minutes of shooting the shit and drinking wine sounds like a hell of a lot more fun than running for an hour and probably more productive.
I will third the idea as I was coming in here exactly for some ideas on meals. The wife and I start Whole30 tomorrow as a kick-off to a paleo lifestyle and I wanted to start menu planning. I am doing an egg scramble in the morning with peppers and zuchinni, but would love some more breakfast ideas and one of our favorite meals is a pork tenderloin in a balsamic reduction and as I was thinking about meal planning I realized it was entirely paleo compliant (if you don't add rice or something.) So it would be nice to share that with others. It would be fun to share and I think where most people fail on stuff like this is falling into ruts on meals so we could discuss individual meals, bulk cooking, snacks and what not without completely de-railing the cooking thread and making people on there, or ourselves, self-conscious.
Yeah, there are a lot of us and we're clogging up the thread. I just started one. <a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.theidiotboard.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8864" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8864</a>