P90X

So I have been going to hand therapy for the last two weeks. I have been seen by multiple hand therapists at one time as they work together trying to further diagnose my condition. I guess my injury isn't something they see everyday. One of the therapists said that she was just so excited to work with someone other than an old person. I laughed at that and I really am happy that this Umass hand therapy office has taken such an interest in me! It is like I am a star!

Unfortunately, my current diagnosis does not seem very good. My intrinsic muscles in my hand are apparently exhausted from climbing so much. My extrinsic muscles in my hand are also very under-developed. With those two issues, all of the stress has been placed on my fingers and my tendons sheaths essentially became destroyed. They therapists think that I have adhesions built up in my tendon sheaths, which is constricting my tendon. So when I crimp, it hurts. When I am not putting weight on my ring fingers, it is fine. That being said, they do not think that i will be climbing until March. Super sad face. I also apologize if I am not using the correct medical terminology; this is all very new to me.

Although I am injured, I feel like I can take away a lot from this experience. I have read a lot of books about climbing and have been putting more of my focus on coaching. Last week, I decided to start P90X. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a 90 day at-home fitness program that gets the body "ripped". I strongly believe that if I go through this program correctly, I will get in what might be the best shape of my life. I have always wanted to try this workout, but climbing has always gotten in the way. Now that I have the time, I am dedicating myself to this fitness program and also to a nutrition plan. My goal is to prove that P90X can really give you a "ripped body". I also want to lose 2% of my body fat. I am at 17% now but would like to be at 15% for when I begin climbing again. I decided to cut out all of the saturated fats and bad sugars that I am eating. So bye, bye skittles, burgers, cheese, ice cream, cookies, etc!! (We shall see how long this lasts). Essentially I just want to be more healthy.

So it is week 2 of P90X for me! The first week was brutal. However I am already feeling stronger. The P90X instructor also advises us P90X-ers to take photos on day 1, 30, 60, and 90. Here is a picture from my day one. Maybe we will see results? I am hoping so because I have lost a bit of muscle from all of my non-climbing these past 8 weeks. Also, I hope you don't mind my crazy attire.

Day 1 of P90X

I am somewhat looking forward to the next 12 weeks of P90X! I am doing it with a few friends and it has actually been quite fun! The friends and the load of workouts is helping me keep my mind off of the fact that I can't compete in any national or world championship events this year. Oh well that's life. Hopefully by the time these 90 days are over I will be healed and ready to climb again!