Alan Wake Fan Film Shoot

Alright, before I really get going I probably should apologize for nothing anything for almost a month… nope, Chuck Testa. I don’t feel bad at all. I was on vacation in Mexico. Then I was going crazy finding new work, and building my portfolio… this blog just fell to the way side.

But Alan Wake is why I’m writing to you now. It’s the first in a series of projects I’m working on. It was a very ambitious fan film for a videogame by Remedy Studios. After my accident (which I’m recovering from quite nicely) I played the game for the first time. Finished it that day. Bought all of the Downloadable Content. And played it until I had 100% completion for it, the DLC and it’s little sister sequel American Nightmare. I knew I had to make a fan film.

Plus, the game’s stellar use of noir style lighting was going to give me a chance to try out all these lighting ideas I had.

I wrote the script, tracked down props, had a nightmarishly stressful prep week (considering this is a fan film, and the general idea is supposed to be FUN) as people bailed and equipment wasn’t available. But I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and said “I’ve done all I can. The prep work is finished. If this fails, it’s not because I wasn’t ready.”

Then the phone rang the guy who was letting us use the property said he couldn’t be there. And also the light kit I was borrowing, was no longer available. And more people bailed. And the cable for the monitor was broken.

It’s ok… you still have this.

And we did. Despite a plethora of on set SNAFU’s, we pulled it off, only going over time by 45 minutes. Things like failed lights, unable to use green screen, bad mosquito bites, and other small issues didn’t stop us from getting decent quality footage. All that prep work allowed me to change and salvage the project. Some crew didn’t even notice things were falling apart. They said all in all, it was a very smooth shoot.

This was also my first time really using the Canon 5D. And let me tell you, that girl can sing. Reviewing the footage… so many shots are useable because of it’s low light capabilities. And the lack of noise at high ISO (relative to the 7D, which is what I own and normally use.) is incredible.

This prop Bourbon was aptly named "Apple Sauce" By Tim Lundy because we used Apple juice and Soy Sauce to get the coloring. 

I’m very excited to release this project in October. Until then, thank you for all the love and support.

James

Abandoned America

**All of these pictures are unedited. **

I love finding places the world has forgotten. I get wrapped up in other people’s memories. Seeing something touched, and manipulated by humans only to be left to waste away is so fascinating.

I'm really curious as to Joel's take on this. He was visiting from Canada. He didn't say much during the excursion. He just seemed to be taking it in.

But it feels weird when it’s my memories being tampered with. Treating them like they’re not worth keeping. 

I found an old neighborhood I played in as a child. It’s less than a mile from my house. One of my best friends lived there. I played in a tree there. We talked to the cute girls in our class there. I had no idea it was gone.

Or going.

It was eerie to see the vacant lots where Jared’s house stood. Or see Brandon’s yards replaced by loads of refuse. Finding house after house boarded up and abandoned with apparent haste, overrun by weeds and untended gardens and yards, no longer separated by fences.

This really stuck out to me. just the way the light hit it. I'm not sure what i'll do with this one... but something is going to happen with it.

I need to go back to explore it more in depth. Even if just to capture what remains for my own interest.

Climbing Again

Day 1:

Monday July 2^nd, marked 3 months since my accident.

In physical therapy, I worked really hard to push myself, hoping to be allowed back on the wall. Monday was the day they checked to see where my improvement was.

They cleared me. And after an exhausting PT session, dinner and some rest, I booted up, chalked up and very gently checked out my arm.

It was hard. I felt so weak. Not just in my bad arm, but my baby soft fingertips, and every muscle in my back.

I felt sweat drip down everything. I was overcompensating to protect my fragile bicep.

My friend Joel from Canada was with me and we climbed until he was torn to pieces (I was done much earlier than he was.). And I was sore. 2 days later, I could feel aches in my back. And the pangs of abuse in the bellies of my forearms.

But it felt good. Not “lusty” like it used to. But just good to move. I’m still months away from seeing the true use of that muscle again. And maybe even longer before I trust it again.

But that’s ok. Baby steps.

Day 2:

I climbed again on Friday. This time with ropes. This went much smoother. The long balancy low end problems were much less stressful. I worked through several grades (stopping at 5.7) and I’m pretty certain I could go up some more…

Day 3:

I slacklined today. I’m terrible at it. I have good balance. So it must be the slackline that made me fall constantly. It was good work and fun and the friends there were awesome and patient.

However, when it came time to climb I felt a weird anxiety creep into my stomach. There were so many people there. The top rope walls were littered with people and I couldn’t help but shy away from climbing… as if somehow, they all might watch me on these low end problems and judge me. That maybe they would get frustrated because I would need to do laps instead of hop on, do my route, hop off.

Where’d this come from? I don’t know. But I got so nervous wearing my harness. I kept thinking “I’ll use the autobelay in the corner. Then I won’t bother anytone.” Like some how I was lame, or somehow this awesome community might shun me like a leper.

So I went to the boulder wall. At least here, my friends were climbing. I wasted time, stalling, talking to people about their workouts. I was justifying it by “helping” them prep for comps later this year. And then I climbed.

I think I did all of the v0’s again. Definitely had more energy this time, so I did a few of the v1’s. This was supposed to be my warm up. But every time I looked to the wall I began to panic and climb another boulder problem.

I repeated this until I was tapped. Until I was pushing that line of “too much.” The line I used to love because I wanted to know my limits. However “knowing” my limits know could mean irrepairable damage to my bicep. I choked on routes. I over thought v1’s… I felt my blood boiling. I heard someone say “V2. Cake warm up.” And I wanted to growl at him. My head got foggy and the demon inside me started to show his ugly face.

I was in pain. Not physically, my arm was fine. Fatigued, but solid otherwise. My pride was hurting. It was heavy and it weighed me down like a bear hanging on my back. The struggle was knowing what I am capable of, and simply not being able to do it.

I’m not a coward. But the constant hesitiation I felt whenever I went to use my arm, was maddening. Moves that aren’t in my playbook right now, simply because I don’t have faith in my arm.

I packed up my shoes, said goodbye and left. Bouldering days are going to be difficult. And I’m sure I’ll have more days like this. Days that make me not want to go back at all. Days that make me find safety in my desk chair, letting dust collect on my weights and my rings and my pull up bar.

I’m not a coward. But having even a moment of weakness like that makes me sick to my stomach and angry with myself.

The real test is in doing what I have to do today, so that later, I can do what I want to do.

          

"shichi ten hakki"

A Canadian 4th of July

The last several days, I’ve had my good friend, Joël visit me in my humble hometown. Joël and I met in Australia when people thought I was Canadian (I’m from Vancouver Washington). And he happened to be passing through and wanted to see Portland, and catch up. I was more than happy to have him as my guest.

Learning what an American "Large" popcorn looks like During Spiderman, "It comes with a refill?! I could bathe in this thing!"

He picked the perfect time too. Independence day, the 4^th of July was fast approaching and he hadn’t ever experienced it before.

So we BBQ’d, met friends, hung out and introduced him to real fireworks… which I guess I mean “fireworks you could purchase and blow up from the comfort of your own home.

My favorite part of it was probably when he swore to tell his friends back home that all the Americans ran around firing guns in the air all day.

That. Or showing him Prune Hill, where you can see all of Vancouver and Portland lighting their Mortars off.

All in all, introducing someone who’s not from the U.S. to our Independence Day was pretty awesome.

Take care on the rest of your travels Joël.

This video has nothing to do with this post... I just thought it was funny/clever. 

Adding a Little Flare

Normally this would go into my blog over at IEFilms. But it’s resting in a state of Limbo, while I decide it’s fate. So, for now, here it is…

A "Submarine" that i hit toys in and slept in.

I used to make a lot of my toys. I could make just about anything out of cardboard and shipping tape (I have my parents to thank for supporting that creativity). Over the years that grew into prototypes for items I thought people could use. Objects for games like Paintball and airsoft.

I started collecting my own tools and building my own kit in college, coming up with increasingly difficult and time consuming projecting. And then I all but stopped. Maybe graduation gave me the sense that I have to spend money to be “legitimate.” That I can’t, or shouldn’t build props if I want to be taken seriously.

That’s a very expensive mentality.

I’ve been scrounging for props for a new video;

An old fashioned typewriter. Luckily, we had one in the garage.

A tweed jacket for my actor, Timmy… Done, $6 at Goodwill.

And finally, a flare gun. $68-75 on the internet. This was killer. I wanted to so bad. But I wasn’t going to be able to afford spending that kind of money.

I begged people whom I thought would have one. Nothing. I was searching online… Nil, at least without spending loads of money I don’t have. I was ready to rewrite the script.

And then FreddieW (A youtube group made up of Freddie Wong and Brandon Laatsch posted a video commentary on their video “Real Life Portal Gun” where they say “We didn’t have the real thing. So, we made do.” That might be me paraphrasing. :)

And I’m trying to reapply that mentality where I can. My girlfriend might shake her head at that, as she’s been saying that for months. Other friends have said it as well.

So there I am, grubbin’ on a burger at Red Robin’s when BAM! It hits me. I have a plastic toy revolver that I found from when I was little, Gorilla Glue, a PVC pipe that happens to be the size I need, and one can of obnoxious Safety Orange Spray Paint. This is what I need it to look like.

Real                                                                       

1.5 hours later, I’m holding a prop that I’m pretty satisfied with (keep in mind, a lot of that time was spent waiting for paint to dry.). Oh, and I saved $75. Booya.

Finished Piece

 

Would John Woo accept that in a close up? No. No, he would not.

Am I John Woo, or have a John Woo budget? No. A resounding no to both of those.

But I think this will do great. I’ll keep you informed as I can. Next post like this will be lighting (Inspired by Ryan Connolly of Triune Films and Film Riot.)

For now, Good Night. :)

3 Pull Ups, 2.5 months

What’s that you say? 3 whole pulls ups?

Well… it’s 2.5 months since I tore my bicep, and a week ago I couldn’t even start 1 pull up. So yeah. It’s a big deal to me.

I’ve also done 30 push ups with no rest, and 18 unassisted dips. (the last two exercises had been hard because they stretched the muscle, not because they directly used the muscle.)

The physical therapy is going well. It’s about an hour and a half now. 30 minutes Ultrasound and massage. Then 50 minutes of Endurance weightlifting. Then ice. Followed by a nap.

It feels more like my body is working through rust than it is anything else. The time spent waiting made me atrophy and each day my body feels more and more like it did.

My doctor says that based on the progress, it’ll be about 6 more weeks of PT before I’m at 90% what I was (I’m a little skeptical, but cool. I’ll keep trucking along then.). I’ll eventually get back to full use again. And I’m allowed to start top-roping at the gym in July.

So, here’s to continued progress, listening to my doctors, and learning everything I can during the process. Thanks for reading. :)

Muscle Carrs

I saw this guy (as he was in the process of cutting me off) pull a trailer with an old 60’s Mustang on it. It was covered in mold and moss and was in serious need of some Lovin’. The expired tags said 1995 on them, so we can assume it’s been unkept or abandoned for at least 17 years.

I’m not a car guy. It’s rare that I see a car and go, “Man, I want to cruise around in THAT.” But something I have wanted to do, maybe as a project with my father, was to restore a classic. Give it hours and hours of time. Sand blast the rust off, Degunk the engine. Do what needs to be done to make it purr.

I don’t know a lot about cars… so it would be a huge undertaking. But I think it would be fun to do that. Give it to my dad when it’s finished. Then start another.

Anyways, random thought.

Make Me a Pizza!

Back in this post, I talked about pizza. Since then, I’ve been working on making my own homemade pizzas (I buy the dough… I’d make WAY too much mess making dough.). It’s still not mind blowingly healthy. But I’m enjoying  experimenting in the kitchen. I’m really wanting to spend more time cooking. :)

Also to help change my eating habits, I’m saying no fast food for the month of June. I did this for two months last year, and I not only had more energy, more money and slept better… but I felt I looked better. I lost some weight during that time. So here’s to that. Let’s see what happens.

Ok. We’re half way through June, and not drinking soda is a bust. In fact, I’m drinking some right now. And fast food, I’ve done well with. Parents got Arby’s and brought me some. And I’ve had subway twice.

So, yeah. There you go. Still playing with different meal ideas. I’ll keep experimenting. :p

The Season's End 5/26/2012

As I’m sitting here, sun kissed and sleepy, I realize this day marked the end of a very long 9 months. It was about that time I started working at best buy. And coaching the college kids, and continued to bite off more than I could chew by getting another job. By working upwards of 70-80 hours a week and making around $1000 a month after taxes (do the math… something is wrong here.).

here's me trapped in the coaches box. They caught me mid pacing during the men's vault.

I said to myself “after Christmas, it will slow down.” It didn’t. I left best buy at the end of February. When I gave them my 3 weeks notice, they gave me 1. Track picked up as the season rolled on and so did work. And despite losing one job, I was still running myself ragged.

But now I’m sitting here. In a chair. Thinking about the lack of sleep and personal time, the health issues I’ve had, and the amount of stress I was under… I can’t help also thinking about the amazing time I had. The people who came into my life and made me smile. I’m thinking about the changes in my financial situation and the stability I’ve found.

Sure, I’m a bit weathered. But I’ve got a big ol’ smile on my face. One of my highschoolers had a personal best jump of 9’6, adding almost a foot to her PR. And she narrowly missed being on the podium . three of my six college kids made it in the top 8.

Bogdan attempting 15'3" He finished 2nd overall.

Here I am, in my cave of wonders. 

It will take me a bit to recuperate and want to do anything other than sleep. But I’m very happy with where the last 9 months have left me. and I’m stoked for the months to come.

This is my 2012 Pole Vault crew. :)

Rain in May (and June) 5/24/2012

I meant to write this sooner, but the weather has been so nice, I haven’t wanted too.

Well… now our couple days of monsoons have been causing some light flooding streets and homes. And it’s been some of the most awesome thunderstorms I’ve seen in a while. All of this has reminded me that… we’re still in the Pacific Northwest.

So yeah. This picture made me laugh. The beautiful evergreen state. We’ll get our loads of sunshine after a couple more weeks of rain. :)

The Source 5/23/2012

I happened to be having dinner with the family downtown and realized I hadn’t been back to the gym since my accident. So I ran in to say hi.

I was greeted by such warm and amazing people. Friends who wanted to know how I’ve been and how I was healing.

I love promoting the Source Climbing Gym, wearing their gear, getting people interested and in their door. They really are friendly and they care for their climbers. Personally, it felt like home. Or a home I haven’t seen lately.

Between catching up, I perused the routes. Felt chalky holds. Mentally read routes and mimed my way through it from the ground.

I just started physical therapy, so it will still be a while before I’m on the wall. But I think sport climbing will be good to get me back into it. Or at least more gentle than bouldering would be.

So until then, I’ll be patient. My new shoes will collect a bit more dust and I’ll keep thinking about getting that green light.

If you haven’t checked out the Source Climbing Center, you should. They offer a lot of classes to teach you how to use the climbing equipment safely and their staff are top of the line and some of the most amazing people I know.

Fortune Cookie 5/20/2012

Who doesn’t like these? Who doesn’t have some superstition or ritual to eating these little treats? My cousins add “In Bed” to the end of theirs. Me, I won’t read my fortune until the cookie is eaten.

But I’ve noticed a trend with FC’s (That’s fortune cookie for those in the know.) that don’t really have fortune’s in them. Like this one…

 

Did they run out of Chinese proverbs, and wishful thinking statements? I bet the lucky numbers on the back don’t mean anything either.

Well, today, an athlete of mine named Tonja gave me a fortune cookie and said “Because I’m nice, I’m giving you a fortune cookie. And hopefully it’s better than the one’s you’ve been getting lately.” There was no fortune inside.

So either the FC makers have given up all pretense of this tradition. Or I’m not long for this world. :(

Regionals 5/18/2012

I love to travel. Currently, I’m at Mt. Tahoma… or Tacoma, Washington. Mt. Tahoma might just be the school’s name, for the Regional track meet with the High School athletes I’ve been working with.

I’m lying on a big soft comfy bed in a brand new hotel, where someone else is picking up the bill. Not bad. And I’ll be doing this for the better part of the next week. A lot of that time will be spent in buses, vans and it will be a lot of time spent away from home. But it’s nice to not be home. Sitting, working, sleeping.

I kind of with is had my camera with me. but I don’t and I’m enjoying joking with my athletes and getting to know them better after the past ten weeks.

I love traveling. And I love coaching. It’s fun when the two get together and party like this.

My athlete is hiding over there on the right in 7th. :)

And I’m proud of my kids. How hard they’ve worked. And how far they’ve come. I’m excited to see what the rest of the season will bring. I look forward to bring some part of it. And I will enjoy the comfy beds.

Oh, and this “build my own pizza” from Farelli’s blew my mind. $28?! Totally worth it.

My Life as a Hardened Criminal

In an effort to lead a healthier life, I’ve been making changes to my diet. Not cold turkey or anything. But instead small things, like eliminating soda.

Soda is how I get caffeine. The teas I like don’t have it, and I don’t like coffee. So it’s soda. I’ve fought the caffeine headaches pretty well. Combating it by chugging water, which has been helpful. I’m down to one can a day, and the headaches aren’t that bad.

So I try to go one day without soda at all. By 4pm, my brain was splitting. If I’d had other symptoms, I’d have thought I was ill. So I cave. I swing by 7-11 to pick up a Big Gulp, money in hand. The headache made it hard to see straight.

I hop in my car and drive away.

It was about 3 miles later I realized I still had a death grip on my money. I never paid. And I run the scene over again. I got my drink, walked out the door passing the clerk, into my car and I unknowingly fled the scene.

Now, something you should know: I have no stomach for thievery. In the three times I’ve stolen in my life, I have felt extreme forms of guilt.

When I was 3, I took gummy bears from those plastic bins at a grocery store. Mom said she’d tell the manager and they would have the cops take me away. I cried a lot.

When I was a bit older, I was in Sunday school and found an F1 racer matchbox car. I love it. Took it. And yes… that’s stealing from a church.

And finally, in kindergarten my Bucky O’Hare action figure was stolen just days after the arduous journey made by my parents to buy it for me. I was 5. I was pretty certain of who took it, so I took his Donatello Ninja Turtle Action Figure. I still feel terrible.

So yeah. 20 years later I steal a Cherry Pepsi. And when I found that money still gripped in my hand, sweat formed on my brow. I turned the car around and made the trip back. Walked in, cup in hand, and casually said: “umm… I think I just stole this.”

“Yeah, we were just talking about that. We wrote down your information.” He shows me a list: License Plate, Model of car, color, physical description, height, beenie, glasses, etc. Pretty good, considering I was there just a moment.

“Well, I apologize. My head is just killing me.”

“No problem. I’m surprised you came back. If it had been beer, we would have called the cops.” I laughed at this. “there’s nothing we could really do over a Big Gulp, except see if you came back. Next time, the drinks on us to say thanks for your honesty.”

Wait, what? I stole, came back and paid for it… so you’re giving me my next one free? I’m confused… and I won’t hold them to it as he wasn’t a manager. And yeah.

But my conscience is clear. The guilt is gone. And I walked around with my chalice saying “Here be my spoils!”

A Life In Motion

I’ve had two and a half weeks to stew over my arm. To really take some time to think about what I want. As my old coach approached me about getting healthy and new training techniques, he made me realize that I don’t want to come back this time. At least not for pole vault.

When I was waiting to see the doctor and find out if I need surgery, I kept thinking “you can have track. And Vault. Please don’t take climbing from me.” I knew this day has been coming for a while. Pole vaulting has left me with so much damage to my joints, spine and muscles. I spent a lot of time wanting a goal. It’s hard to spend so many years reaching for something and fall short. Even after I stopped loving it and knew the toll it was taking on my health, I chased the dream anyways.

So I’ve been thinking about starting a new blog. A third one? Why? I can’t even keep up with this one, and there’s another one collecting dust. I want a place where I can talk freely, share whatever is going on in my life. Post adventures, Pictures, Videos.

And that banner needs to go. V10 or Bust? As Tim Lundy pointed out “Guess we all know it was a bust.” (I laughed hysterically at that… and how I didn’t think of it first.). It was good in theory. But now, it’s time to adapt to the situation. Once I can start Physical Therapy, it’s supposed to take 3-6 months to recover. I’d rather not come back reaching for some goal that blinds me from the joy I get by simply moving. I don’t want to waste hours of my day obsessing over goals like that anymore.

I want to spend my time enjoying the beauty of motion. The human body is incredible. The way we fall down and can get up. We heal and scar. I want to explore this. Find the need to move in others. See what drives them. Maybe motivate others to follow in their footsteps, or create paths of their own.

I’d love for others to be involved; telling their stories or sharing pictures. Whatever it is that makes you move, don’t hesitate to share it.

I’ve gotten in contact with several people who have a passion for movement. Each having a vastly different discipline than the others. Hopefully over the next few months I can meet with them, shoot some photos or videos and share their stories with you. :)

If you’d like to show your support, there’s a little follow button at the top of this page that you can click in order to get updates as they come out. You can also share your thoughts in the comments below.

Take care and goodnight

James

Gear Shifting Goodness

I feel like I’m beating my head against a wall any time I have to say I’m injured again. This one is by far the worst I’ve had in the last year and it is not climbing related. It happened while pole vaulting. My right bicep tore. It’s deformed (though a week later, it already looks and feels so much better.) and I can’t flex it.

The dark pics are from a couple days after...

Doctor says the tendon is in tact. So no surgery. Just 3-6 months physical therapy. Might be able to get on a wall in a few months. We’ll see. No rush.

Originally, this post was very sullen and depressing. My extra time was being spent over analyzing what I could have done wrong. But a week of going over it, I was left feeling it was simply a fluke. My vault was fine. It just happened. And I let it go.

I took more time before this, letting my mood adjust and find something positive in this. First off: I’m hurt. I can’t change that. It’s time to focus on getting healthy. Second: I love photography/videography. Now’s a good chance to work and build my portfolio. And finally: my body has needed a serious break for a very long while now. I may not have wanted this, but I’m pretty certain I needed this.

One Week Later...

So the gears shift. I’d love for photography/videography to be the way I make money. I have a business, but have struggled to put the time and energy into it that would make it a viable source of income. Well… I have time now.

I’ve lined up some paying gigs. And have been in contact with several climbers about doing some still photo shoots and possibly some videos in the near future.

I may redesign the blog soon (this week or next) to reflect the shift in focus. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. :)

James

Workouts: Week 3

Day 1: Rings

Middle Finger feels fine. I’m not testing it’s strength. But it doesn’t hurt. My ring finger still hurts. I’ve added stretching back into the mix and the trainer showed me a few ways to tape my fingers and wrist. They worked. And were definitely interesting.

There's three different styles of tape jobs here. combined, that finger was completely immobile.

Since I couldn’t climb, I did one of my favorite home workouts… condensed. I hung my EXF rings from the jugs of my Metolius Simulator (the model i own, isn't sold anymore.). All of these exercises are at body weight, unless otherwise specified. Also, a quick note, these aren’t specifically for climbing. I coach Pole Vault at a local high school and college. These workouts are similar to what I have the athletes do.

(This is what the setup looks like.)

Rings

1x8 Pushups

1x8 Hi-Lows

1x8 Archers

1x8 Lay outs (started on my feet, dropped to my knees for last four.)

1x8 Pec Flys (knees… I’m out of shape.)

1x8 Rows (wide)

1x8 Rows (close)

1x8 Dips (died at 6: did not properly finish the last two.)

The rest between each was about 15 sec. or however long it took to adjust the rings.

Core Routine

1x24 Suitcases

1x24 Russian Twists

1x16 V-ups

1x16 Baby ups

No rest between sets (Later I realized I messed up, it was supposed to be 1x32 on the suitcases and Russian twists)

Back Routine

2x20 Opposite arm opposite leg (on stomach)

1x20 leg lift (on stomach)

1x20 Torso Lift (on stomach)

1x20 Superman (on stomach)

No rest between these first four exercises.

1x8 Wide Grip Pull ups

1x8 Narrow grip Pulls ups

1x8 Typewriters Pull Ups

1x8 Pike Pull Ups

Rest between pull ups was about 30 seconds.

At this point, hypertrophy was making it difficult to move through range of motion. I finished with my shoulder series. The whole routine is done twice, resting only between the end of the first complete series and the start of the second. I use these as a type of maintenance to keep the tendons and small muscles in my shoulders strong. I learned this for pole vaulting, but the benefits for climbers would be similar. Weight should be light. For people just starting out, and placing this at the end of the workout, I’d recommend between 5-10 lbs in each hand. I typically don’t do more than 15 lbs.

1x8 Side Shoulder Raise (both arms, same time.)

1x8 Front Shoulder Raise (alternating)

1x8 Heavy Hand Bicep curls (alternating)

1x8 Military Press (both arms, same time)

1x8 Tricep press (alternating, above head)

1x8 Finger rolls (same time)

1x8 Wrist flexion (same time)

1x8 Back Flys (same time)

1x8 Front-Back Flys (same time)

I’ll try to do a video of these exercises to show what it is exactly I’m doing, so if you’re interested you can throw them into your routine. :)

This is the point you set the weights down and rest… 2-3 minutes. Do the whole shoulder routine again. If it’s not burning at the end, focus on your form. Don’t swing the weights. Control every motion. If it’s still not burning, you need more sets and reps.

After all this, I collapsed. Drained. That took 30-40 minutes. 6 months ago I would have done the workout wearing a 15 lbs vest after a climbing session. The reps and sets would have been higher (2-3x12-15) and it would have included a finger board workout to make a solid 1 hour of training after climbing.

But enough whining about what was. I grabbed a bite to eat, iced my wrist and fingers (which didn’t hurt during this.), showered, and now my muscles are shaking like they’ve been woken up from a coma.

Day 2: We’ll keep this one short.

I can do jugs and slopers. I can use the finger. Open handed hang is a no go. Today’s workout was the same as Day 1 of this week. But I changed up the order.

Pull up and back series.

Core Routine

Rings

Shoulders

This workout went a lot better. I didn’t feel like a bunch of midgets beat me up in a dark alley. My recovery of the following couple days was a lot faster and I was able to do the whole thing with some confidence (less shaking. I’ll do a post sometime on Neurological training).

Goodnight. Expect a post on nutrition and weight goals soon.

Day 3: Dag Nabbit!

Friday totally snuck by me. It’s not a “I didn’t feel like working out.” It was a “oh crap, I was supposed to work out and forgot and it’s 5am and how is it 5 am?! I need to go to bed.” Kind of thing. I did work out with the college kids. Did some high bar stuff (Bubka’s, windshield wipers, swing drills, pull ups.) but my finger felt super sore so I spent most of the rest of practice coaching (without actually doing the workouts too…) and stretching my finger. So yeah. I apologize (to myself, my lack of exercise doesn’t effect you.) for skipping a workout and opportunity to improve.

However, NOT using my finger after it told me that it was sore was a good thing. It’s been two days since and I realize… I’m using my finger without issue (except when playing guitar). The stretching really seemed to help work it out and make it feel better. So I’ll be keeping that up and hopefully I can start getting back on the wall soon. We’ll see what the (doctor required) Physical Therapist says when I see her on Thursday. I hope it’s the same PT who helped me with my Achilles. She was amazing. She had me back and sprinting in 2 months of two tears in my Achilles. (I wasn’t sprinting well… but I was sprinting.).

Peace, children. Or adults. Or whoever reads this. :)

Oh! What do you think about doing the exercise videos? Does that interest you? Would you like me to post the videos for how to do each exercise?

James