Author: Mike Simone

  • Motivation: Minor Milestones, Power Week Two

    Motivation: Minor Milestones, Power Week Two

     

    ENTRY FIVE: January 3rd, 2014

    The timing of week two of my recovery came at an interesting time. Last week was New Year’s and we’ve been rolling out our “resolution” content like crazy. And when you read all the other stories out there, you’ll come across all different types of workout programs and diets. I could only imagine how overwhelming its been for people. Well, I happened to be perusing through my Twitter feed and came across something interesting. Researchers at the Lisbon University Institute conducted a study on over 200 subjects for a three week period. Each of the subjects were questioned how important they felt it was for your health to follow daily recommendations for food intake, how they might achieve the daily intake, if they intended on achieving it, and their behaviors. Participants then were to log their food intake for each week. The study found that those who believed in the importance of healthy foods, and had confidence in their ability to follow recommended intake was key to an individuals good intentions, however, consumption turned out to be optimized when the subject had actual strategies in place to combat situations that could undermine their healthy habits. So at the end of the day, planning and strategy beats out having the willpower to succeed. Funny how this directly related to my current situation.

    I’ve always been someone with strong will power, and always planned every single thing out. But, I knew that this injury would put me out for a while, and I knew that I need to have a calendar, set specific milestones, and document my journey. I know what I have to do, and what I’ve been having to do, but it’s certainly been optimized by keeping track of everything.

    Now back to the injury, I’m continuing to see steady progress. A few small milestones have been keeping me energized and excited. Overall, I haven’t been experiencing as much pain as the days and weeks go by. More and more I’m beginning to naturally use my arm, but still being careful not to lift or pick anything up. A few times I catch myself moving into a position where I stretch and I can feel the tightness and it reminds me. But one really great thing has been sleeping. I’ve finally able to comfortably lay on my bed, type on the computer and fall asleep. The first week I was still waking up at 4AM or some with pain. A few other positive things have been that it’s getting a bit easier to shower, dry off, brush my teeth, and even when I need to lean across my bed to reach my phone or alarm clock, I don’t need to get up now, I can carefully reach across my body. I can even raise my arm up with a water bottle to drink, and sitting at my desk to work and type isn’t as uncomfortable anymore either.

    The only thing that’s been sort of messing with me has been my inability to really do any kind of working out. I still can’t run because of the “arm swinging motion”, and even though there’s some research that if you have an injury on one side, you can train the other and it will help reduce atrophy. Seems interesting how the body wants to naturally balance itself out, but I rather not look like Quagmire after his marathon reclusiveness after he discovered the “dirt” you could find on the internet. But overall, I’m feeling good, diet is still super clean, I’ve been loading up on veggies, keeping the carbs and fats down while maintaining my protein intake. Body seems to be losing a bit of muscle and holding a bit more fat, but that’s expected. I’m hopeful that by the end of the month I’ll be able to get three-four good runs and jogs in.

    In the meantime, staying positive…

    This content was exclusively published on HUMANFITPROJECT.com

  • Motivation: The Surgery That Stopped Me

    Motivation: The Surgery That Stopped Me

    I never thought about injuries. I never thought about envietable time limits. This is my first hand account of sensing something was wrong, finding an injury, weighing my options, deciding on next steps, and documenting the physical and emotional road to making a comeback.

    I’ve been blessed with a dream of a life, living in a world of activity, adventure, sports and fitness. This was a reminder to never take things for granted. Hard lessons have been learned, acceptance, and deeper level of appreciation slapped in the face.

    I’ve made typos in my documentation, and have barely made any edits. This is the story as raw as it gets. I call it #TheIronWill.

    ENTRY ONE: Approximately early Fall 2013

    Injuries suck. And they suck because they mess with you on so many levels, even more so for athletes. When I recently found out a had a tear in my right shoulder I was completely devastated. Of course, things could always be way worse, but being a competitive person, and a guy who’s life revolves around being in the ocean year-round and weight training– it’s a pretty shitty situation.

    How the damage was done

    About two years ago there was a large swell that swept up the east coast in December. Some even called it, “Doomsday”, because it was an abnormally large system, and coincidentally, a month or so after Hurricane Sandy. As usual for me, I got prepped the night before, did my yoga [SEE: The 10-Minute Yoga Fix], some stretches, got my board, fins, wetsuit, prepared my food, and I was all set for a full day of surf. That morning, I got up early, same routine, dynamic warmup, stretches…I was good to go.

    I remember one wave swinging in that I got into position for. Paddled, was locked in, then went up to the lip to go for air.

    This is NOT a photo from the beach that day, but to put things into perspective. It could have looked something like this:

    MIKE SIMONE Invert

    photo: unknown

    Everything was executed perfectly, but I knew I tried performing this in shallow conditions, the water was obviously bitter cold, and my muscles were stiff — the impact was going to rough. I tucked my right elbow in and prepared for impact. As predicted, the impact was powerful and I couldn’t stick it. I came back up to the surface slightly frustrated, but felt physically fine, except for some slight whiplash in my neck and tightness on my top of my shoulder… again, this was something I’ve felt before.

    After my surf session, I got back into the gym as usual. Everything seemed fine but I did notice a bit more stiffness in the shoulder after a bunch of bench and shoulder presses. I decided to dial it back with less volume and weight. Another week or two passed, and I noticed my strength had gone down, but I figured I was just overtrained. So I decided to take a couple more days off in between workouts, and work around any chest or shoulder exercises, then continue on.

    A few months later, I had a trip to Miami in February and went through a CrossFit workout which even involved overhead presses, but I felt strong, there was no irritation, and I thought I was out of the woods. For the most part I trained rather conservatively and was all-good. Then as spring approached, I started to train more outdoors and was combining bodyweight workouts with 5K runs. After one of the workouts which involved: 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 kettlebell swings, and 100 toes-to-bar while running a 5K, I noticed my entire right shoulder was very sore again. Later that week, I wanted to test to see if it was a fluke thing, so I tried to lightly bench press, no good. It was very unstable-feeling.

    After all these months of dialing back, then picking it back up, then dialing back, I finally decided to go get checked out in July by my orthopedic guy, Dr. Brian Torpey from Professional Orthopedics. Sure enough, an MRI confirmed: SLAP tear. The only lucky thing was, there was no bicep or rotator cuff involvement.

    The analysis and head games

    SLAP tears really suck. No one is exactly sure how to treat them, and whether surgery is worth it. Most throwing athletes never really return back to their previously level of play. Thank god my baseball career had been over for years. But I knew this would interrupt my surfing, and my weight training. So over the course of July to November I was back and forth on what I wanted to do. In a way, when I backed off with the volume, stopped overhead work and bench pressing, I naturally rehabbed it. Then when I wanted to “step on it” a bit, I noticed more dull pain and soreness after a full day of paddling. But my strength, motivation and head started to play games with me. I couldn’t get over the thought of being injured, knowing I’m injured, but training in a limited capacity. I didn’t like the idea of limited-capacity. But it was a constant back and forth on what to do. Surgery, or no surgery. I even began to sink into a depression. My entire life and purpose for training was to progress and evolve, now I was dealing with being “limited”.

    My Options – Non-Surgical Rehab

    Some people have asymptomatic tears, and others with more pain. For me it would come and go. Out of all the doctors I spoke with, each quite simply laid it out: you can live with the tear, get back to normal, but not necessarily back to the level in which you want to train at again. And, it could get worse, or it might not.

    My Second Option – Surgery/Rehab

    Face a long road to recovery, but for the things I enjoy in life, I’d be back to 100% capacity at about three months. Four-six weeks in a sling as the labrum reattaches and heals itself back to the glenoid– only to remove it for range of motion exercises. From there I’m looking at several, several weeks of additional rehab and re-strengthening.

    THE DECISION

    I’ve opted for the surgery route. Not being able to bench press, do dips, muscle-ups, overhead presses, is just not something I’m willing to accept yet. I’ve bit the bullet, and made it happen.

    The week’s takeaway

    1. Injuries suck. Do everything in your power to prevent getting hurt. Train smart by warming up, learning proper mechanics, and most importantly, keep the ego in check.

    2. When faced with a decision, think things through, but then stick to your guns, don’t second guess yourself. Teetering back and forth will do you no good.

    3. Stay positive. No matter how hard it gets.

  • Motivation: Helpless Hell Week

    Motivation: Helpless Hell Week

    I’m exactly one week post-operation and things seem to be going well. A lot has gone on in the past 7 days, and a lot of quick improves were made, some funny stuff happened, but it’s still a long haul.

    ENTRY FOUR: December 27, 2013

    I’m able to completely use my hand, type, and bend my elbow without any pain. I do have a dull pain from time to time, and a sharp pain if I move it too quickly. The first couple days I was taking pain pills every 4 hours, and I slowly weaned away to every 6, then 8, now it’s usually only one per day if I really need it. I did this over a course of 3-4 days. I think I tried to stop too soon, but I hated taking the damn things. You can’t go to the bathroom… Terrible.

    First session of rehab was on the Monday after surgery, getting stretched out killed, but at the same time it felt really good. My therapist was very impressed with the range of motion. I also had a follow up appointment with the doctor on Friday, he was also impressed with the range of motion of how I looked and felt.

    However, it did turn out that the tear was a bit more extensive than originally thought. The doc told me I actually have 6 sutures around the shoulder, and it was progressively getting worse. All of the muscle mass I had surrounding the joint was essentially masking the pain and allowing me to push harder and harder without me knowing I was worsening the injury. Deadlifts, for example, never hurt me to do them, but it was putting tons of strain on the bicep tendon that’s attached to the labrum.

    MILESTONES

    I filled out some milestones today. Added running to my list at about 4-5 weeks.

    This content was exclusively published on HUMANFITPROJECT.com

  • Motivation: My Pre-Surgery Prep Plan

    Motivation: My Pre-Surgery Prep Plan

    Going into this I knew I needed a plan, just like I followed training and diet plans, I’ve now needed one that will test me mentally more than anything else before. Depression and feeling “down in the dumps” is was not going to be an option. I’d be back, and contrary to what some less-optimistic on the surgery say, I’d be back stronger.

    ENTRY TWO: Approx. Late Nov/Early Dec 2013

    I’m 174 lbs, 5% body fat, have a 6 minute mile, a 400+ lb deadlift, and countless other high level PR records. This is definitely not an exciting time going into surgery. I’ll be out of the game for months.

    THE POSITIVE OUTLOOK

    Become a runner

    Focus on work

    Give the joints a rest

    Detox from supplements

    Slightly Change diet

    Hit the reset button

    It’s a test of what I’m made of

    KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER

    Rehab, rehab, rehab

    Diet/nutrition

    Supplementation

    Positive attitude

    Alternative training and build up weaknesses.

    This content has been exclusively published on HUMANFITPROJECT.

  • Brandon Routh Talks About His New Role, Bulking Up, And Leaning Out

    Brandon Routh is Superman, and not because he played the character in 2006, but because the dude just seems to have it all figured out — everything from the whole Hollywood thing to staying in shape and feeling great.

    I had a chance to catch up with the new star for his training, diet, and life-conquering secrets. And, what we expect to see from his character in season three of The CW’s Arrow.

    Don’t miss Routh in Arrow on Wednesday’s at 8/7C on The CW.

    MEN’S FITNESS: How would you compare your role as Superman to your new role as Ray Palmer on Arrow ?

    BRANDON ROUTH: The human part of Clark Kent versus Ray Palmer whereas Clark is very much kind of introverted, Palmer is definitely an extrovert. So he’s (Palmer) very much more energetic, but they’re similar in their nerdiness. Clark is kind of nerdy and goofy, versus Ray, is a nerd about technology and gets really excited and passionate about the new tech and all.

    MF: Who do/did you like playing better?

    BR: I mean, Clark is my first love and a great character to play but I am honestly having a fantastic time playing Ray Palmer as well because I get to be funny in both and kind of get to bring out that quality which is something I really enjoy being able to do almost everyday so far.

    MF: Any challenges playing this new role?

    BR: Challenges… I would say, I have to speak very quickly and not do a lot of stuttering, with Clark I can kind of do some of that, but with Ray he’s kind of a mile a minute and I just have to learn some techie jargon and I’ve actually embraced the challenge but I have to make sure that I’m enunciating very well.

    MF: What can we expect to see from your character in season three?

    BR: I think Ray’s kind of brought into to show us a bit of a mysterious figure -– we don’t know what his plans are for Queen Consolidated or his plans for Felicity Smoak but except that he wants her to be an employee and its hard to make that happen -– so there’s a lot of mystery shrouding him. Does he have good intent? How does he sort of fold into the rest of the story? I’m kind of really enjoying just learning what it is fleshing out the character and seeing the other interactions of the character in the show so far and developing my own storyline and I’m glad I have the chance to show people how it comes together.

    MF: Can we talk fitness? You’re super into it, right?

    BR: Oh yes, absolutely, and I was always an athlete growing up. I played soccer and I swam. I played basketball and baseball but I also played soccer and swimming but I played basketball a lot and when I got to L.A. I played charity soccer games but when I acted I got into weight-lifting and that type of stuff and also into nutrition.

    MF: You seemed like an “endurance-guy” but got into lifting? Can you tell me about that?

    BR: It was kind of awesome because when I first trained for Superman, I had not lifted heavy weights really, I had a trainer and it really never was like, ‘oh I’m gonna go to the gym’ and I’d go and workout once and never come back. I never had education about it. So, my body was really kind of ready for it, because there’s a saying anyway, when you’re new to it you’re body really can put on a lot more muscle easier the first time and that was the case for me you know, having good nutrition and also, supplementation and a lot of time in the gym. I put on 20-25 lbs in about 5-6 months leading up.

    MF: That’s significant. That’s a lot of weight.

    BR: My body responded very well to lifting heavy weights and lots of egg whites and chicken. I’m not sure I would put on mass the same way now knowing the things I know now about nutrition, I follow more of a Paleo bullet-proof style. It would be a much more gentle approach now, and my body would appreciate it.

    MF: You’re a bit leaner now right?

    BR: I’m leaner now I’m between 220 and 225. Now, I’m about 210-212, but roughly around the same amount of muscle mass. Give or take, I just lost a little bit of inner fat, the vascular fat. The skinny-fat that you can’t see but you can see it in there.

    MF: That’s a good place to be.

    BR: Yeah, I’ve been good a year ago I switched my style of eating -– so that’s all I talk about nowadays. It’s been just an amazing way to lose weight, have a tremendous amount of energy everyday and maintain without fluctuating.

    MF: What does a typical day would look like?

    BR: Are you familiar with bullet-proof coffee?

    MF: I heard you say Paleo…

    BR: So, bullet-proof coffee is a coffee blended with grass-fed butter and coconut oil.

    MF: Hmm. Interesting.

    BR: So I’m having 500-600 calories of fat blended in my coffee every morning, the whole idea of this way of eating is that fat is not our enemy, good fat, especially good-quality fat is not our enemy in fact it’s very powerful in overall energy for the body–brain, cognition and function and focus and also in fat-metabolism. It helps regulate hormones, it tells us that we’re full, there’s all of these amazing things but we live in a society that’s been largely living under the idea that fat is bad for us. High fat, low carb, moderate protein. Most of my calories come from fat, then protein then carbs.

    MF: That keeps you lean and keeps the muscle on.

    BR: I never lost weight before I started doing this, I lost like 20 pounds doing no cardio just lifting heavy weights twice-a-week and started having bullet-proof coffee every morning and just dropping most grains and adding veggies–it’s the most satiating diet plan I’ve ever been on and it cuts the sugar craving.

    MF: You just gave out the whole secret to dieting in 30 seconds.

    BR: For me, the magic is right there. I think for me it’s gonna stay and people modify it.

    MF: I’m glad to hear it has worked for you.
    MF: So career-wise, you didn’t think being an actor was possible for you?

    BR: Yes, I think what I was saying was that I didn’t <em>think</em> it was possible. How could a kid from a small town in Iowa become an actor? I’m very far away and I know nothing about Hollywood and business and I’ve never taken a real acting class or school. But my parents are both musicians and I was always performing whether it was marching band, jazz band, school choir, show choir, plays, musical theatre and so, I had that thought, but then never thought it would be possible. And when I went to the University of Iowa (proud Hawkeye), it was that course of going to college that I looked into some of the suggestions of some friends and looked into modeling and acting for local commercials just to make money as a college student. And the agency I went to originally then said, ‘hey, there’s this showcase in New York, here’s a place you could go to and you could really be successful’ and I was like, ‘okay I’ll give it a shot.’ That kind of opened up.

    MF: And now you are where you are.

    BR: And now 14/15 years later here I am.

    MF: You’re the man, that’s great. Would you just accredit that to being positive, head-down, grinding out the work and just trying to make things happen?

    BR: I would say yes, absolutely, hard work is important -– but not stressing about hard work and just making it as fun as you can and enjoying the process of hard work is what I would say, but hard work is definitely -– whatever that means to you, is definitely important. Being dedicated and following through is important I’ve found in my life, and just being open to suggestions of other people. Being open to walking through doors that you might be scared of. So it’s kind of facing some fears and just peeking around the corner and seeing. For most of these things you can say, ‘oh, that isn’t for me, or that is for me.’ If you don’t get your foot in the water, you’ll never know.

    Don’t miss Routh in Arrow on Wednesday’s at 8/7C on The CW.

    Variations to this content have been published on MENSFITNESS.com and HUMANFITPROJECT.com

  • Passing Time With NBA Champ Tony Parker

                   rsz_tony_and_crowds

     

    San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker is living the high life.  And there’s no sign of things slowing down for the 32-year-old NBA champ. The man welcomed his newborn son, Josh, into the world back in late April, he took down the Miami Heat with his team in August, signed a new three-year contract extension, and successfully launched his fourth signature watch with Tissot.

    I was lucky enough to grab 10 minutes with the man in the brand’s lounge in midtown to find out how he stays fit, and what’s up for 2015 and beyond.  Here’s an audio transcript of our interaction.

     

    Variations of this content are published on MENSFITNESS.com and HUMANFITPROJECT.com
  • Riding Shotgun With Two IndyCar Champs

    Riding Shotgun With Two IndyCar Champs

    Target and the Chip Genassi Racing Team invited me out to Long Beach, California to experience my first ever IndyCar race, workout with two of the best, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan, and hang around behind the scenes.

    After spending three days with two IndyCar drivers Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan, their pit crew, and trainers, it’s official, these guys are athletic, and as well-oiled and fine-tuned as their cars beneath them.

    Ryan Harber of St. Vincent Sports Performance, and trainer to Tony Kanaan says that a driver’s heart rate is typically “sustained through a 2-plus hour race between 160-180bpm”, which is, if you think about it, fairly equivalent to a high-intensity workout. In fact, he says the most important element to a driver’s training is their muscular and cardiovascular endurance.

    “Imagine doing a 150-pound single-leg press, hold for 1.5 seconds, down and up for 2-plus hours.” And that’s just the lower body, the upper body also experiences high-levels of fatigue. “If you’ve ever driven a car without power steering, or have lost power while driving, that’s what these guys are dealing with throughout the race,” he tells us.

    Another factor or condition working against a driver is their breathing. “A driver’s harness limits their intake because it’s so tight.” So what do these guys to combat limited oxygen? Well, they become more efficient and adapt. “To tackle this we use circuit training and throw different stresses at them,” Harber says.

    Finally, drivers have extreme speeds to contend with. “There’s nothing we can do to mimic the G-forces in the car, but we can prepare the body as best we can.” Harber says a lot of drivers train like triathletes, or are triathletes when not in the car. “He (Kanaan) swims, he bikes, he runs. And did a full Ironman in 2010.”

    DIXON and KANAAN on FITNESS

    Dixon told us back in October during his championship tour in NYC back in October, “I probably work out 5-6 days of the week. Two hours in the morning, and then 2-3 days a week I’ll also do another two hours in the afternoon. In the winter, I do more with weights and building strength, but in the summer when it’s racing season, it’s all cardiovascular. I’ve also picked up training for triathlons.” And after seeing the man workout with us in-person, he’s certainly got the conditioning.

    “The biggest things are cardio, stamina, and strength. And I know mentally, if we’ve got a hot day, a difficult day, I know I’m one of the best guys out there – that makes me more confident.” Kanaan explains, “If you’re not fit, your leg starts hurting, or you can’t hold the steering wheel, you’re going to make a mistake, or you’re not going to be consistent in the race.” And Kanaan’s training is also relatively similar to Dixon’s. He does CrossFit three times per week with 40-minutes of cardio (swimming or running), then two times per week are what he calls, “Tony Kanaan” days which consists of traditional weight lifting. As far as race weeks, he only trains three times per week and only will go hard on Monday then taper to ensure proper recovery.

    Contrary to anyone who would think otherwise, these drivers have not only mastered their art of racing but have build their bodies for the track with endurance, efficiency, and longevity in mind.

    This content was originally published on MENSFITNESS.com