Measurement of Change

Today I took my first APFT in 2 years.  Yeah, normally taken every 6 months, but after partially tearing a tendon in my shoulder while in the M5 course I was taking any chances.  The Ortho doc said surgery was a last option because it was only half torn and I didn't want surgery anyways.  Did some Physical Therapy, stretched, rested, rested, rested, and did some more resting.  About 6 months ago, I finally began to do some working out with my shoulder, doing push ups etc.  I could have been running and working my abs the entire time but I had been severely lacking in the self-motiviation area and I really hate to run alone.  So, during this deployment I did some soul-searching and as I've posted recently, I started working out again consistently.  Charged hard but rested my shoulder when I needed to, no sense or desire to tear it again.

The time came for an OER for this deployment and my boss, MAJ. Marcus Lee, said I needed to take the APFT at the end of October for my eval.  I was more than willing to take it, but warned him that if my shoulder didn't feel right I was stopping and getting a temp profile.  Luckily he understands and isn't a stuck-up nurse.

Halloween came, APFT completed, and I must say I'm happy with my performance.  249/300 overall score: 53 (77% push ups), 73 (96% sit ups), 15:49 (76% run).  Given the conditions for the run, I still a little disappointed with it but was sick for 3 days from all the Afghan dust I inhaled.  When I arrived to Dwyer, I could barely do 10-15 push ups with my shoulder, 30-40 sit ups, and normally ran 2 miles in 16-17" in ideal conditions.

CPT's WOD

300 Lunges.  Every 2" stop and do 10 push-ups.

CPT's WOD

5 rounds:
1" Tire flip
1" Knees 2 elbows
1" Sledgehammer
1" Burpees
1" Ab wheel
1" Jump rope
1" Tire throw

With all the time I had on my hands while deployed to Afghanistan, I decided I needed to make some changes.  It had been too long of a time since I've committed to a regular physical fitness regime.  Ever since I left the Infantry, my motivation has slowly dwindled to near 0 with the addition of small tire around my mid-section.  Motivation, complacency, laziness, mediocricity, under-achiever...I'm not sure what to call it, but the fact remains, change was apparent and not for the better. 

I'm coming back to the understanding that quality nutrition is an elemant of health that cannot be overlooked.  After undertaking Advocare's 24Day Challenge and seeing how much of a difference I felt because of good quality nutrition, I'm convinced that my diet must change.  Unfortuneately, being in the middle of a desert doesn't help much, but once back stateside, dietary improvement will be made. 

I've been on a regular exercise program for the past 12 weeks!  I completed the workout program Insanity and all 9 weeks of it with improvements in each "Fit Test" exercise each and every time we took it.  My job as an ER nurse in a CSH means that I'm on-call 24/7.  When a page goes off for a trauma, I drop what I'm doing and get the the ER.  There were several times I had to stop in the middle of an Insanity workout and go the the ER, out of breath and sweaty.  In all, I think I missed maybe a weeks worth of workouts, but I'll take that for sure, especially after seeing the results I've gotten. 

Now that Insanity is pau and I've still got more time than I know what to do with, I created my own "Crossfit" workouts.  My boy, Ryan Hepworth, is now working out with me.  A big Mormon of a guy who works in the ER with me.  We've been hitting the gym for 2-3 weeks since Insanity ended.  Good guy, easy to be around and is a good workout partner.  I created 20 different workouts for the "Crossfit" sessions and we will still hit the gym as already scheduled, I think.  I just learned of the "Crossfit Endurance" program and am eager to learn more about that.  I think I'll just start when I get back stateside. 

Here are some results of my 24Day Challenge and Insanity workouts. 

Measurements first: 
Before: Wt: 176lbs              After 171lbs
          Neck: 16.75"                     17"
          Chest: 39.5"                 
          Abd:  36.5"                        33"
          Biceps: 13.5"                     15.5"
          Thighs: 22"                         23.25"
          Calf: 15.75"                       16.25"
          Bodyfat: 20%                    15% (according to Army measurements)

Now for some pictures:

Pic of the Week

More patients than space inside? 

Pic of the Week

Pic of the Week

Hurricane Popcorn Anyone