Training experts- I need some thoughts

[Soror]

I've got about 9 weeks until teacher training for Silks. I want to be in the best shape possible and I've finally gotten to the place where my brain is ready to learn more but my body is not. I need to be stronger but I'm forever torn about how much to practice and how much time to spend specifically on Silks, straight up strength training or something else. Mostly it is shoulders/upper bodies and lower abs- the stronger that I make them the better. I have to drive 1.5 hrs for Silks so I can't realistically go to a lot of classes but I've upped it to 1 class and 1 open session a wk, I have Silks at home to practice some skills- although not the height to practice everything and I do Aerial Yoga 1x a wk as well- although the moves are different there is some strength transference and grip strength of course. 

 

After last open aerial I was very sore for a solid 3 days and when I'm that sore it definitely effects what I can do. So, I'm in this perpetual loop of of thinking, "I need to do more, " and "I'm going to hurt myself." 

 

Shoulder injuries are a risk and I'm a little off and susceptible to such things- I did a pt last year from overdoing chaturangas. I'm thinking perhaps going back to my pre-bought electrolyte recovery mix would be good as it seemed it genuinely helped w/ soreness-I've been mixing my own at home due to cost but it doesn't have all the same stuff. I've even thought about creatine- my electrolyte mix has some but I did read some studies that seemed to show that it does help w/ muscle building. I'm not interested in anything crazy but am ok w/ creatine as I'm familiar w/ it from my electrolyte mix. I'm thinking I need to make sure I don't run at a deficit.

 

Anyway- here is my schedule--

Sun- Open Aerial

Mon- Yoga

Tues-Aerial

Thurs- Aerial Yoga

 

I practice various things on my own on different days with varying frequency- mostly yoga, silks, pull-ups and ab stuff.

 

gosh I know that is a big rambly mess :( If anyone can make heads or tails and give me thoughts I'd appreciate it, I finally have a plan as to what skills to practice now I just don't know about frequency and when to throw other stuff in.

 

I also need to work on flexibility- but yet again I overstretched Sun when I was nice and warm and am still sore- I don't want to hurt myself BUT I'm pretty close to have full front splits on both sides and that would certainly be a help to various moves. I'm a mile away from middle splits but I need to work on those as well to start moving my way there.

Edited July 22, 2016 by soror

[kiana]

Personally making sure that I get enough protein and enough minerals does a huge amount with muscle soreness. I go for 125g protein (1 g/lb of lean mass). I make most of my mineral requirements effortlessly because I eat a lot of vegetables but I found that I actually had to pay attention to potassium and making sure that I actually hit that requirement really helped me. I added in more potatoes instead of other starches specifically because of the potassium content. 

 

p.s. I'm so jealous that you found a Silks class, I'd love to do that but it's 3 hours each way for me and I just can't. 

 

Edit: Oh and I'm sure you're already doing this but stay hydrated :)

Edited July 22, 2016 by kiana

[Soror]

Personally making sure that I get enough protein and enough minerals does a huge amount with muscle soreness. I go for 125g protein (1 g/lb of lean mass). I make most of my mineral requirements effortlessly because I eat a lot of vegetables but I found that I actually had to pay attention to potassium and making sure that I actually hit that requirement really helped me. I added in more potatoes instead of other starches specifically because of the potassium content. 

 

p.s. I'm so jealous that you found a Silks class, I'd love to do that but it's 3 hours each way for me and I just can't. 

 

Edit: Oh and I'm sure you're already doing this but stay hydrated :)

You know I had been slacking off on protein recently b/c I feel bad for eating so much and it saves money BUT now is probably not the time. I do have a tendency to get off w/ my electrolytes so I pretty much supplement daily w/ potassium, salt and vit C. I need to look again at pot b/c I'm not sure how much I'm getting through diet. I do like to drink coconut water so that has some. I could drink more too, I sweat a TON and I'm sure I don't drink enough which doesn't help.

 

ps. I hear you :) I drove 2hrs one way for 3 months before starting at this place which is just 1.5 hrs away, it was my dream to bring it to my community for whatever reason I don't know but it was~

[hornblower]

Can you get in a pool at all? For the shoulder I love backstroke for regaining range of motion.

[Soror]

Can you get in a pool at all? For the shoulder I love backstroke for regaining range of motion.

Not easily and I SUCK at swimming it would be good for me. My ROM is pretty good every now and again it will get "caught" in certain movements but not reliably. That would probably really good for me, I'll have to think on it. We don't have a pool and getting to one requires cost and driving. Of course not being a good swimmer at all, not sure if the benefit is the same.

[kiana]

You know I had been slacking off on protein recently b/c I feel bad for eating so much and it saves money BUT now is probably not the time. I do have a tendency to get off w/ my electrolytes so I pretty much supplement daily w/ potassium, salt and vit C. I need to look again at pot b/c I'm not sure how much I'm getting through diet. I do like to drink coconut water so that has some. I could drink more too, I sweat a TON and I'm sure I don't drink enough which doesn't help.

 

Not sure how tight money is but the best inexpensive things for helping me meet mine are lentils (amazing for fiber as well), choosing protein-rich vegetables (broccoli or spinach instead of green beans or corn), and chicken dark meat which is often on sale much cheaper than breasts. Cottage cheese is great as well but not quite as inexpensive as lentils or chicken. 

[Laurie4b]

At my age, my caution to anyone younger is something I learned the hard way: 

 

First, do no harm. 

 

In order to do no harm, you must listen to your body. It sounds to me like you are overdoing the exercise part of it and pushing is going to slow you down not get you farther down the road. Your muscles are built during recovery time, not during the actual exercise. The exercise tears them down a bit; recovery gives your body a chance to haul off the garbage and rebuild stronger muscles. 

 

If your muscles are sore, they are trying to rebuild. Allow them to do that before you tear down again. I don't know the intensity of your schedule because I don't know what's involved in each component, but I would follow any intense day with a gentler day. 

 

And if you injure a joint, there comes a point at which it's just not coming back all the way. You want to think really long term--like will you be able to reach overhead to get something off a shelf, walk up flights of steps, etc. when you're 80. I would suggest checking any new moves you know you will be learning with your PT to see if you need to modify anything. 

 

And if you injure a joint, there comes a point at which it's just not coming back all the way. You want to think really long term--like will you be able to reach overhead to get something off a shelf, walk up flights of steps, etc. when you're 80. 

 

[Soror]

I missed your post before, yes I do not want to injure myself for sure. I did think about getting a check w/ a PT to make sure everything is good. I notice my elbows bother me in strict pull-ups, I'm assuming that is just a weakness there- I don't know for sure though- I've never had any elbow issue before. 

 

I've been thinking and thinking about my schedule. 

 

This past Sun. I did not push as hard as I didn't want to be as sore as I was and I feel much better, like I could tell I worked it but just a bit.

 

I've been trying to make it to a Wed am yoga class but I decided that especially w/ Silks on Sun now I need to skip it- even more so as I learned that it is ashtanga- aka a million push-ups.

 

Here is the schedule I decided on--

 

Sun- Silks Open 2hrs (heavy on core and pulls)

Mon- Yoga- 1- hr- lots of strength work here- especially pushes & core

Tues- Silks Class- 1hr (more core and pulls)

Wed- Off

Thurs- Aerial Yoga Class(and pull-up work)- 75 min

Fri- Silks at home- skill practice

 

Whenever I can manage light yoga and stretching, ab work. I'm feeling pressure as I need to be stronger and I don't want to whine about not being as strong as I want but not put in the work BUT I think this is probably where I need to stay for the time being. I'll revisit when this becomes easy enough I'm not experiencing as much soreness (although anytime something gets easier we just move onto something harder). Working my abs will get me a good way and I rarely have any soreness there so I can practice it more often.

At my age, my caution to anyone younger is something I learned the hard way: 

 

First, do no harm. 

 

In order to do no harm, you must listen to your body. It sounds to me like you are overdoing the exercise part of it and pushing is going to slow you down not get you farther down the road. Your muscles are built during recovery time, not during the actual exercise. The exercise tears them down a bit; recovery gives your body a chance to haul off the garbage and rebuild stronger muscles. 

 

If your muscles are sore, they are trying to rebuild. Allow them to do that before you tear down again. I don't know the intensity of your schedule because I don't know what's involved in each component, but I would follow any intense day with a gentler day. 

 

And if you injure a joint, there comes a point at which it's just not coming back all the way. You want to think really long term--like will you be able to reach overhead to get something off a shelf, walk up flights of steps, etc. when you're 80. I would suggest checking any new moves you know you will be learning with your PT to see if you need to modify anything. 

 

And if you injure a joint, there comes a point at which it's just not coming back all the way. You want to think really long term--like will you be able to reach overhead to get something off a shelf, walk up flights of steps, etc. when you're 80.