[00:00:00] I may have to put those glasses on I scratched my cornea. For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you know, I was in squirting growth hormone and bpc 157 into my eye and it's actually getting better. I thought I was gonna have to wear it today with this studio like but it looks like I'm able to stay without it.

[00:00:55] So. Today's Show let me go ahead and play the music because this is really important [00:01:00] calling all blueprint Army fall in line. It's time for the blueprint Power Hour with Coach Rodriguez on the Superhuman radio network.

[00:01:13] Are you doing Rob I'm doing better. Now. This is a really important show. I want to I want to I want to say a couple things before we start rolling with this. The occurrence of Rhabdomyolysis is happening more and more and more and more and more.  with the Advent of this notion.  that we must continue to train harder and harder and harder and harder and push.

[00:01:39] The physical limits of our bodies further and further and further the end game can only be self-destruction. You must understand that right? You got to like if you have a car and you say. I'm going to drive this car as hard as I can. I'm not going to change the oil in it. I'm just going to drive it and driving and driving and driving.

[00:01:58] You must realize that at [00:02:00] some point in time. You're going to be standing on a highway maybe in the middle of the desert with your thumb out looking for a ride because you just literally drove your car to the point where it just fell apart and while that can happen to a car and you can get a repair guy to change Parts on it or trash it and buy a new car.

[00:02:19] You can't do that with your body. And so it's time for everybody to wake. I usually don't curse but wake the fuck up because this notion that in order for me to outdo you I have to train harder and longer than you is stupid. You may as well just let's just buy guns and play fucking Russian Roulette just shoot ourselves in the head because that's what it's coming to today.

[00:02:43] You know, Dana Lynn Bailey who is a very popular female athlete gorgeous girl. Super strong great work ethic just on 411 last month. She was hospitalized for rhabdo after a particularly intense CrossFit session [00:03:00] and a lot of it has to do with Crossfit but the reality is it doesn't because there's those of us who take it upon ourselves to trash ourselves.

[00:03:06] So Rob is had rhabdo before right? Well how many times have you had rhabdo now? It's probably half a dozen since I first had it back in 2011. So how you did you think the fact that every time you have it predisposes you to get it again easier because your kidneys are being challenged every time.

[00:03:24] I've been told that but I've also been told you know, you work out like you're 25, you can do that, but your kidneys are 50.  And so, you know, it's you know to answer your question. Yes, I think once you've had it once you're probably more susceptible to it. And unfortunately, it's happened again and again and most recently a couple days ago on the 28th.

[00:03:50] I want to I want to dispel a myth real quick. John Peaks said his doctor freaked out about high creatinine levels in his blood. It only slightly [00:04:00] elevated results and it was big speech about kidney failure creates a nine is not what causes rhabdo? Okay, it's myoglobin myoglobin. Now creatinine and myoglobin are both released under muscle damage.

[00:04:15] They call it Crush injury actually interestingly. But the reality is that high creatinine levels are found in very elderly people at Lisa's stepdad who was a huge strong robust farmer who doesn't really do much anymore because he's had two heart Abe lations and he sits a lot has very high creatinine levels.

[00:04:34] Why because he's wasting his muscles are breaking down and wasting away created nine is not the end all and be all. For rhabdo, so don't worry about your creatinine levels, especially if you're eating a lot of animal protein or taking creatine. Yeah, that's a great point my creatinine and this past visit upper end of the range was 1.1.

[00:04:58] I was at one point five, [00:05:00] but you had rhabdo, but you had rabbit. Right. So there you go. John tell you doc read a book thought their read a book here. Yeah, my the doctor the ER doctor also fingered creatine and I said look, I take a couple grams of creatine hydrochloride as part of progenitor X just on the weekends.

[00:05:20] I don't even take it Monday through Friday. So, you know, it's some of this is physician ignorance, but you know a larger part of it I think is being responsible. What you're putting in your body and then we'll talk about what you're doing to its cause these hell and be and be responsible for what you're doing to your body.

[00:05:39] This is more about what we're doing than what we're putting in my opinion right now. There's no question about that. We know he went over the laundry list of different things that I use and he basically everything except creatine. He said there's no way you know, that stuff was involved. You're at least in my case.

[00:05:59] You're a [00:06:00] hundred percent spot-on. This is about what I'm doing to myself and frankly from this show. I want people to walk away with a clear understanding of what Rhabdomyolysis is what it can do to you as well as the triggers for it and most importantly okay how to prevent it going forward because it can affect anyone, you know, this is an exclusive to just weightlifters.

[00:06:29] So there is also a phenomenon called myoglobin oriya and these are people who have a predisposition to dump a lot of myoglobin into the bloodstream very quickly. And these people suffer from things like idiopathic Rhabdomyolysis. What is idiopathic Rhabdomyolysis? Hey Doc, I got rhabdo. I don't train I don't understand it.

[00:06:51] I didn't get crushed. I didn't get hit by a car didn't have a lot of traumatic muscle damage. Why am I suffering from rhabdo? So there [00:07:00] may be people out there like yourself who may be prone to releasing a lot of myoglobin and then on top of that you have a particularly arduous. Workout session or two or three days in a row and Bam you're in the Box.

[00:07:14] Yep. Yep, and there are a number of different triggers that cause it unconvinced at least again in my case. I have, you know long exposed over expanded the virtues of a training log. And in this case I was able to go back to 2011 to the first time. It happened. And look at the what five other times it's happened to try to pinpoint a cause and I can tell you this and this is very interesting.

[00:07:44] You can trigger rhabdo it to you in many many different ways. It's not just one, you know overexertion work out. It's not just too many heavy day strung together. There are just a multitude of reasons and I hope you walk away from the [00:08:00] show knowing what those are so you can avoid. So you said that there was something different about every time you got rhabdo.

[00:08:07] Why don't you go through each time and tell us what was different about it.  Okay, so as I take my notes Here. A couple different things rhabdo can occur as the result of one acute very intense session the first time I did this I was lifting stuff way over my 1 rep max in terms of partials and static holds as a result of that one workout.

[00:08:35] That was my worst rhabdo episode. I had CK levels of 13,750 upper end of the range is 310 but that's one reason second reason over use of certain intensification techniques. There was another workout that caused rhabdo that had to do I was experimenting with a new routine that I came up with that [00:09:00] combined.

[00:09:00] The occlusion method right humming restricting the blood supply. Yeah the katsu method and on top of that static olds and in that case, it was simply for biceps and I reasoned hey biceps are small muscle. How much muscle can my you know, can I break down? Well if I found out the hard way you can third.

[00:09:25] Training flat out for too long a time period you had made you had made some recommendations Carl maybe a few months ago about went to take time off. I thought they were brilliant. If you're under 40 train hard for eight weeks take a week off if you're 40 or older train hard for four weeks and then take take a week off.

[00:09:48] I had instituted that almost a year ago since the last time this happened it was serving me well, but understand that if you train flat [00:10:00] out for too many weeks in a row, you're putting yourself at much greater risk, please after eight weeks take a week off. You will only be stronger for it. And then finally and I think this is what happened this past time.

[00:10:17] I have strung together too, many intense sessions especially during the last week week and a half of that four-week training cycle. You know, I was in there Monday Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday Friday and my thought process was hey, I've got a week off coming. I want to get all this stuff again.

[00:10:38] Yeah, right, right. I got a week. I got a week coming up week off coming up. Let me Crush myself more now to make up for the week that I'm going to be off. Yeah, but alas the purpose of the week off to make you condense crushing yourself. No, and I certainly did that. So that was unfortunate. But those are what I believe caused [00:11:00] my episodes your mileage May differ, but look there's.

[00:11:04] What half a dozen off-the-cuff to be mindful of you know, as a civilization our end game is to wipe ourselves off the map. I've said this before and people laugh when I say this, right we keep testing our limits and testing our limits and testing our limits and the reality is that it's not like someday we're going to get to this point where we go.

[00:11:23] Okay, we've reached as far as we can go. Let's stop testing. No, we're going to try a little bit further and ultimately. When we kill ourselves or that's a limit. So the next guy goes well, you just don't want to go that far. So understand that our civilization pushes every envelope every envelope in every direction to the point where it kills us and then we're going to back down a quarter of an inch from there and say this is where we belong so don't be that guy.

[00:11:53] Don't be that gal, you know. There's if you're one of these people who [00:12:00] actually has developed a neuroses about training you feel guilty by taking off you feel guilty. I'm gonna go on vacation. So I have to crush myself. Now look this is me. This is me. I've remembered every I've injured everything already.

[00:12:15] Okay, and so this is like if I knew I was going to go on vacation I train for a week. I'd get into the gym and do two a days. I think while I'm gonna overreach and then I'll recover no man. This is just stupid. When are we going to realize this is just stupid. Yeah, and and you know in my case, I have no excuse right?

[00:12:35] I have had so many. Warnings in the past that you would think this would not happen to me again, but the fact of the matter is it did and I think to your point.  Being a strength athlete you might not have that conscious thought and I'm gonna I'm gonna put myself in the ground with this but you are conditioned over many months and years of being in [00:13:00] this game.

[00:13:01] That you need to get better every single time you set foot in the gym. And for a lot of people especially me because my mindset has always been strength that meant lifting more weight for more repetitions. Not just you know, a couple days a week is frequently as you could go in the gym and do it and if I couldn't do that in the big muscle groups, Then I attempted to do so in the smaller ones and you know, one of my mistakes this time around another one was I had put my heavy deadlifts on Monday right coming off the weekend of the big carbonyl rested right right strongest.

[00:13:42] And so when Tuesday rolled around instead of taking it completely off. I did Heavy neck abs and good and small muscle group. So I'll just go in and train small muscle groups. Right right. Well muscle groups. Look it might not be leg or back day that day. But every [00:14:00] day is Kidney Day interesting.

[00:14:03] Think about that very interesting. Yeah, and you know, we're very guilty of not taking off, you know. I use that word neuroses for a reason a lot of us feel guilty if we're not taking a supplement not injecting ourselves with a peptide or what do I got to do next? We don't and we treat training the same way, you know, we know we should take off but we go all just get in there and I'll just do some light I'll just do calves and neck today because no take the F off take the day off.

[00:14:32] You know, right? Look you're not a professional athlete chances are. Some of you are but most of us aren't we're not trying to keep in the kind of shape that won us a multimillion-dollar contract. Most of us are just average people who love the idea of being super human and that's cool. But remember even Superman has Kryptonite.

[00:14:56] We all have a weakness. We all have weak spots [00:15:00] like Superman didn't go. Give me some Kryptonite man. I want to challenge it. No, he knew it would kill him. Right? He stayed the Earth away from it. We need to start thinking about self-preservation in conjunction with getting stronger. Yeah, and I would also caution you that just because you're not getting sore from your workouts.

[00:15:21] Or your you know, your strength is still increasing. None of that is protection for you. I don't care a lot of guys are on Super Supplements. They they don't get sore period they feel like machines they're in the gym every day and when they're in there, they don't want to leave. So what happens they do extra work the point being there are a number of symptoms.

[00:15:46] That can red flag you but just because you're feeling good doesn't mean you are good. So let's do this. I want to take a break. Let's actually address all the different cuz you've had all the different symptoms now since you've experienced [00:16:00] rhabdo so many times and they've all been set up by different experiences.

[00:16:04] Let's do this. Let's take a quick commercial break when we come back. We'll talk specifically about these symptoms. Stay tuned. Welcome back. I gotta keep these glasses on for a little while. I just put some eye drops to my eye that the bright light that I have over here too. So, I don't look like I'm sitting in a closet.

[00:16:17] It's like it makes the eye with the scratch on the cornea literally burn and sting. There are injuries here. I'm Ray Charles today. So anyway, let's talk about the symptoms. What was some of the things that happen that you didn't think had a to do it rhabdo before each event. Well, that's a great question the first time this happened.

[00:16:39] I after that extremely heavy partials and static workout. I had a general feeling that something was wrong. However, I could not put my finger on it. I knew when I lay down that night. Something was very very wrong. Okay, but it wasn't like a headache [00:17:00] right which precedes an aneurysm or it didn't feel like there was an elephant sitting on my chest before heart attack.

[00:17:07] It was just a general feeling that something was off. So you need to listen to that inner voice. Secondly. I have also experienced a dramatic loss in strength. So I rolled into a workout one Friday and I was attempting to squat weights where I was getting three or four reps easy. I was you know, barely getting one or two.

[00:17:33] So a dramatic loss in strength can also be an indicator. How about myalgia? Did you notice any muscle pain? That's typically one of the Hallmarks of rhabdo. Not that time, but one other time yes, I'm glad you brought it up. I woke up in the middle of the night and I told Jen I said my right leg is just seized up.

[00:17:53] It's hurting me. She said she touched it and it felt like wood. So that's another sign another [00:18:00] sign. Okay moving on. These are a little more overt lapsing In and Out Of Consciousness not being able to stay awake for any extended period of time anyway, Oh, yeah. Yeah, you lose Consciousness, you know when you when you do get to the ER you need to tell them about the possibility of rhabdo because in my case one of the times this happened they lost precious time thinking it was an opioid overdose.

[00:18:32] And the kept asking Jim, you know easy did he use drink she kept telling him no and they even went so far as to give me a shot on Arcane of Court, you know, and if you do overdosed on opioids you spring right back. Apparently, of course, I didn't I just went back to sleep extreme confusion and dizziness when all of this dead tissue makes its way up to your brain.

[00:18:57] It has consequences. I [00:19:00] could not answer questions on many of these visits like who is the president what day of the week is it that kind of confusion and it makes it extremely dangerous because if you laps out of Consciousness, you know, you go out of lose Consciousness before being able to get a text off to someone for help or a phone call.

[00:19:22] You're in big trouble. Your kidneys can shut down and you're dead. And so and I will also tell you. The being able to text like that in that state of mind is it's a miracle. I got the word rhabdo off to my wife. Really? Yeah, fortunately she knew what that meant. And she in one instance. She called the ambulance and they got here in another incident.

[00:19:47] She came right home because she was close so that can be a warning sign the extreme dizziness and confusion and then finally. And this didn't [00:20:00] happen on any of the other times, but it did happen this time. If your urine gets very dark use that you said almost like the color of cola, huh? Yes, yes, but you know, here's here's how it happened in my case.

[00:20:15] I had ceased training on the 27th. Okay, and I had made a note in my book. You know, it's time for a week off urine is dark yellow. It wasn't Cola colored but I noticed it was darker than normal. So I said, you know, I'm going to try to get ahead of this right and flush flush my body with water so over the course of two three hours.

[00:20:38] I drink a gallon of water my urine goes clear. An hour later, I bring my son home when I get back here. I go to use the bathroom again.  Now I'm pissing blood.  And that got my attention. Clearly there was something bad going [00:21:00] on right so I got right to the ER right there right away and they knew about my history.

[00:21:07] So they ran some blood tests and sure enough. It was wrapped up. Now. It's important to point out. My CK levels were nowhere near as bad as they were during some of my prior visits that. Make it inconsequential it doesn't you know mean this is a good thing. It just means it wasn't as bad as before.

[00:21:29] They had hooked up some IV drips including one with some bicarbonate and flush. My kidney CK levels started to move down and they discharged me five hours. Later. The next day while you're on was still pretty dark and I tried to do the same thing though again, like drank a ton of water and sure enough here comes the blood again.

[00:21:55] So at that point, right? I got a decision to make I called my [00:22:00] doctor. I talked it over with him. I went to bed when I woke up. And this was this encompasses all of yesterday and today. I'm back to normal color. Urine, so I don't know if my drinking that amount of water. I pushed out what was left of the right red blood cells or creatine kinase whatever whatever the hell it is.

[00:22:27] But look, it's my eye smile. Globin that causes rhabdo. Yeah. So look when your urine. Starts to get dark don't fool around with it go to the ER immediately. But but here's here's something interesting that you said and I just Googled, you know any time I do a Google I put the letters NIH for National Institutes of Health to only research studies come up.

[00:22:51] Yep. So the treatment for rhabdo as you point out his IV fluids to help maintain urine production to prevent [00:23:00] kidney failure. Well, it sounds to me. That perhaps water and baking soda would be something that you could be drinking on the way to the hospital to keep things going because didn't you say when you're you just said a moment ago that when your urine got really dark again you drank water and it was and it was clear again clear for one year and Nation, but an hour later, okay.

[00:23:27] Okay, but so how much water do you drink a day Rob truthful? That doesn't have it doesn't have anything mixed in it like the drinks, you know anything like that. Yeah, but you know, probably a gallon a day. I'm very Physically Active between the gym and Jiu-Jitsu, okay.  You may not you may need two gallons a day because you are so physically active you could be getting rid of a lot through your sweat.

[00:23:53] Sorry, you broke up a little maybe. I don't know if I'm over modulating. I have my mic turned down a little bit today there [00:24:00] perhaps. You need to gallons a day because you are so physically active it could be it could be you know, I'm sure I see my doctor tomorrow right for a follow-up visit. I'm sure I'll get the blood work done at which point I'll get the right accurate to me again, but.

[00:24:21] he will be looking of course in addition to all of the other kidney and liver values. My CK levels and hopefully those CK levels of come down considerably the reference range. I was given at the hospital between zero and 310. Like I said, I was 1500 and I think when they discharged me there were 14 or 13 hundred but.

[00:24:46] The one thing that it just boggles my mind is that there is no home diagnostic kit tests like a urine stick test to see if your CK levels are rising, right? That's a good one. [00:25:00] Right? I mean, yeah, you know, we that that could be that could be a great way to triangulate overtraining to yeah, really?

[00:25:08] Yes, exactly. And so, you know, I've asked my doctor about this he says no, there's nothing you know that you can do to see it but I suspect it's going to go like this. He's going to see he's going to want to see me either weekly or bi-weekly to make doctor. Yeah. Yeah, you know to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

[00:25:29] Look it's very scary. You know when you're pissing blood not fun. You get you get scared. I don't mind telling you, you know, I was scared until we got there and I had a handle on what was going on. It's not cool. So one other warning sign that I failed to mention.  If you're drinking any reasonable amount of water, and you're not urinating, that's [00:26:00] that's an issue.

[00:26:00] Wow, good point good. Yeah, because the kidneys of already started to shut down. Already started to shut down baking soda seems to be a magical thing for the kidneys. There's so many good studies that show that baking soda can actually prevent the progression of chronic kidney disease and you know baking soda to be in in your water.

[00:26:23] Maybe maybe you should be taking a nut you people us the what those of us who do this to ourselves. How much do you ever read on how well I mean that for the ergogenic benefits? They take like a quarter teaspoon three or four times a day. I think right it is but I mean, you know, just take a quarter teaspoon once a day if you're not taking any now.

[00:26:43] Yeah, and and you know, there's a little off-topic but baking soda has been shown to improve results from both beta alanine and creatine. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know Tim Burton him Bruce I put this up there second ago. I want to pop it up. Again. He said that he agrees that he's [00:27:00] actually started to take more time off and he notices a difference already and and I was thinking of something when I was reading that, you know, Tim's got young kids and he's a family guy he goes on vacation, you know.

[00:27:12] Part of our problem in this community is all we think we are is strong right all we think you know, I recently I've gotten back into hunting and I'm going to be going hunting with my son and all of a sudden this renewed interest in because I've always been an advocate for guns and stuff like that, but this renewed interest in hunting has me thinking about other things besides going to the gym.

[00:27:41] Yep, and so maybe part of the problem is that so many of us are just so we're just you know, so one-sided one size the you know, it's all about training and training and training and training and everything has to do with resting and eating and training and supplementing it eating and training and resting.

[00:27:57] It's like get out of here. Get out of your head for a [00:28:00] while do something different, you know, go on vacation and don't worry about working out or maybe find something that you like to do as much as training and split your time. Into that. Yeah now I agree with you a hundred percent. Look, this is something that everybody needs to take, you know, keep a handle on whether you're young whether you're old.

[00:28:24] I do believe as you get older you're at increased risk fifty-year-old kidneys don't filter waste products as what is right as good as 25 year old kidneys, but honestly, I want you. I want everyone in the audience to ask this question. What's your Rush? You know, I mean think about that unless you are competing, you know in a power lifting contest or or bodybuilding or you know, representing this country and Olympic weightlifting like weight Johnson.

[00:28:57] What is your Rush?  [00:29:00] You know and have I think had I asked myself that question during especially during the final week or two of this training block. I would have come up with a better answer then. I'm going to do as much as I possibly can into these last five six days to squeeze it in because now I'm taking a week off and I also want you to consider this right everything I do is geared to building muscle and we all know how hard that is.

[00:29:25] And I know how excited I am when I see evidence that I am building muscle but understand this as you look at that dark urine headed down the toilet. That's literally your muscle gains. Going down the toilet. Yeah, good point dead muscle tissue. It's so something you just said really made me think, you know.

[00:29:50] I don't see bodybuilders getting rabbo.  Yeah, I think to your point. [00:30:00] CrossFit athletes are at much much higher risks, right and Pat and strength athletes too. But I don't see bodybuilders get you know what I look at like look at John Meadows. The guy is in his 40s now.  And here's another thing and I love when people say machine, you know machines suck, you know free weights compound move.

[00:30:20] John Meadows is just so strong. And he's so muscular and he uses a lot of machines and you know, so so so my point is maybe we need to start looking at the way bodybuilders train and Lee Haney setup that, you know, let's stimulate not annihilate. The muscle. In fact is a good question here that fits nicely into this.

[00:30:44] So Andrew Paul says that you guys. Say that average time of workout should be a for 45 minutes because of cortisol. Take over. What do you consider the workout start point the warm up the first working set for me. It's the first working set. What about you? [00:31:00] Yeah, I was about to say it's the first working set.

[00:31:03] You should also know that that General guideline of 45 minutes assumes no nutritional intervention and and no uniqueness for your physiology. Right, right. So look. Can you go a little bit longer and harder if you're using things like car Boland and Thrive and their sense of gender or whatever probably but that brings up another issue.

[00:31:26] If you're using simply generous anything drugs that are recovering you at an accelerated rate understand that doesn't buy you a ticket out of the RAB don't write it. In fact it may. It may put you on that train at the front seat, right? You're going to want to write because who doesn't want to keep going to the gym when they're at in 10 or more pounds a week.

[00:31:49] The weights are flying up like somebody turned down the gravity and you're all swollen happy, you know that that's not an easy train to get off [00:32:00] of and unfortunately, it'll bring it around oval and a whole lot worse places. Faster than you want it to I want to take a quick commercial break. I got a lot more thoughts.

[00:32:09] We're going to talk more about rhabdo. And then we got some questions. I will answer towards the end of the show. Rhabdo is a big problem. Every time you get rhabdo. It hurts your kidneys enough that that you can actually get it again easier and easier. Yeah, you don't want to start, you know in your 40s and 50s on this this situation because it's just going to get worse over time and then the thing that you love doing.

[00:32:34] You may not be able to do it anymore. Stay tuned right back.  Okay, so.  I think the.  the idea that we have to train harder and harder to see gains even in strength is really kind of misguided I go back to John Meadows for a sec. Cause he's an old guy like us think a John [00:33:00] is 47. Maybe he's getting close to.

[00:33:02] He still making gains. He's strong as unbeli. He's very very strong guy, but he doesn't train for strength. He trained. He's a bodybuilder he trains for to change the way his body looks when most of us forget is most of that's diet if I was shredded I would look amazing right now because I've got plenty of muscle size, but I don't because I'm not shredded I couldn't train to be shredded.

[00:33:28] I have to dye it to be sure. Yeah, and I'm probably the same way the thing is my goals never, you know, tilted towards pure bodybuilding per se I was always much more of a pure strength athlete and that it was also probably one of the reasons that gets me into trouble. It is burned in my mind that this is progressive resistance training.

[00:33:57] If you are not Progressive here [00:34:00] for you're not doing it, right and if you're not doing it, right you either do it, right or you don't do it at all that has always kind of been my world. Go heavier. Go home was another yeah, but you know, the problem is with recreational strength athletes like us, what's that?

[00:34:20] There's no end game. I mean even Eddie Hall once he deadlifted whatever he was. Something pounds that mean the guy is guys dropped like a hundred pounds in weight. He's not trying to do that anymore. He did that now he's focusing on getting his body back to more of a normal level of body weight his eating back to a normal level of consumption Wade.

[00:34:43] Look when Wade squatted thousand forty. That was his goal. That was his goal. The problem with us recreational guys is since we don't have an endgame. We just think we're just going to keep adding strength till the day we die. That's the problem and that's a [00:35:00] perfect and I'm glad you brought that up right for a year or a little more.

[00:35:04] My goal was to box squat 500 pounds. I hit that. But of course that's not enough so I get into the trap bar and you know, the goal was to move my trap bar deadlift from 300 to 400 pounds and I was well on my way, but but look what happened now, I honestly believe that I had done a good job with abbreviated training on most days.

[00:35:34] But there were too many consecutive days. Let me give you an example on April 22nd, which was 22 days into my last training cycle. I perform 20 trap bar deadlifts and a set of pullovers and that was it for the day but Tuesday, you know, like I said before neck ABS calves all having Wednesday, and this may [00:36:00] have also been part of it although.

[00:36:02] I'm struggling to figure out why I had just started doing top range rack poles again. So Wednesday 23rd or 24th. I pulled eight hundred and five pounds for a couple reps held it for five seconds. And that was you know, a likely contributor.  All in all I think I need to bring it down to two days a week.

[00:36:28] Perhaps one lower body day and one upper body day and the days in between very very very minimal stuff in you know, what if I can't train my neck directly anymore then, you know, maybe that's okay the world might not end. I don't know it's hard, you know, it's hard when you've been conditioned your whole life that.

[00:36:52] You need to get better. You need to get stronger, you know, your goals you'll achieve them and then it's not enough It's never [00:37:00] enough. That's part of my biggest problem too much of anything was never enough.  The I made my greatest gains on a one-day onto day off routine. This is probably back in 2000 right to 2003.

[00:37:19] I got the strongest training one day and taking the next two days off because I was just interested in getting stronger. I didn't care what I looked like.  Yeah, and you know when when I ruled out the blueprint and guys got into the feast face, that's exactly what I recommended one day, uh two days off if your strength starts to plateau again go to three days off.

[00:37:45] Is there an easy thing to do? No? No, because if you're a neurotic like most of us you feel like you need to be in the gym, right and let's face it, you know training and especially heavy weight training for me is an endorphin hit [00:38:00] if I don't get that.  I don't feel good, or at least not as good as I would without it and.

[00:38:09] It's tough, you know, it's tough to stay away from the gym because even if you go there just to do cardio, you know, I can seem but I would say to myself. Okay, you know what? I've been doing the treadmill for a while. Let me go push and pull the sled and then I get caught up in pushing and pulling the sled heavy.

[00:38:29] Okay so cracked right. So we're right back where we rightly so we're right back. Where know when I lived in Phoenix. I lost my car in my divorce. So I had to walk everywhere and I didn't walk like oh man, I gotta I gotta walk three miles an hour three and a half miles an hour. I just walked like I walked I thought about things I listen to music.

[00:38:51] I walked. Yep and. I'm going to try to get back to the two days off where I just walk but I don't mean like I can't walk with the [00:39:00] Lisa because she and I push each other. She at least is very competitive. And so am I and then next thing, you know, we're both blasting through the walk. I just need to start walking in the morning and enjoying the sunrise more meditative.

[00:39:15] You know, I've been having a conversation with Chad Jared on. About the fact that our community of people we are amped up all the time caffeine and Stems training hard. It's all about the keep the foot on the gas pedal all the time and we are literally living in a high-stress environment for decades and it's rotting our bodies.

[00:39:39] It literally is rotting our bodies. I'm using that word specifically on nervous system is getting destroyed. There's got to be time. For balance, if you can't meditate if you're not the kind of person who can sit still for 20 minutes at a time fine, then just go out for a walk but I don't mean like okay, I gotta I gotta I got my order ring on I gotta get my steps in.

[00:39:59] No just [00:40:00] walk stop and talk to a neighbor walk looking pet a dog walk. Look at the sunshine. We need we need to start to decompress. We really really do. Yeah many many years ago. I had read walking was the finest form of exercise and of course being younger I dismissed it. But the fact of the matter is walking delivers 90% of the benefits of jogging with, you know, 10% or less of the injury risk.

[00:40:31] So as I tried to say before and I need to keep reminding myself of this. It is not the notes that make the music it is the spaces in between right and those spaces are your rest days.  The arrest let's let's answer a couple questions. We got quite a few questions. We'll start out with earlier ones from Robert David.

[00:40:54] He had to go on to work. So let's go with this one first.  he [00:41:00] says. Oh interesting. So you he says Robbins mentioned neck exercises in the past. What is your opinion of neck Bridges or wrestlers Bridges? I'm 52 still doing them, but wondering if I'm putting myself at risk. Yeah. My opinion is they work you need only look at wrestlers next to see that but my opinion is also you would be much better served with either of the 4-way neck machine if your gym has one or if it.

[00:41:29] Uh neck harness or even you know, putting a wedge a ball into a corner and press into it right static holds into it forwards backwards and side to side. Now one thing very important thing to remember with the neck is don't get carried away with the amount of weight. The amount of weight will come.

[00:41:54] But the truth is the neck and this is what blows my mind. The neck is trained by almost [00:42:00] no one but results comes so fast so results come very very fast, right you guys from the minimum from a minimum of stimulation right with a minimal amount of weight and maybe you know training the neck twice a week.

[00:42:18] So, you know, those would be my thoughts. Don't get carried away with specially with the range of motion. I mean God, you know, some books are telling you to hold the Neck Bridge. I'm talking about the back one with the top of your head on the floor. And then the range of motion is, you know, they want you to roll until your nose is touching the map that sounds dangerous to me.

[00:42:42] That sounds like you could sever your neck. I think that's crazy. I think it's crazy. My first pick would be the for my next second pick would be for my neck harness, but also understand this you can also train the neck in relative safety with bands, [00:43:00] you know choke a medium or a strong band around a.

[00:43:05] And work all four sides face away from the bar put the band across your forehead and right and forward right now, then he also he also has a question because of last week's comment about the I think you didn't say that you didn't like laterals. You said you didn't like shoulder raises. What do they call them my nose upright rows.

[00:43:27] Yeah, I think it to be fair. I did think I said, you know, I'm not a fan of dumbbell side laterals and part of that is because number one you can't use a lot of weight to overload the muscle number to a lot of guys like me tried to use a lot of weight overload the muscle and tore their labrum or screw.

[00:43:47] Otherwise screw up the shoulder and you know number three there are much better movements now. I do not having said that I also said and I stand by this. I do [00:44:00] not like the upright row Apple. I would tell you to invest the time and energy in performing handstand shoulder presses and look the number of people that are going to be able to do that out of the gate or very little however, you know, do what I did.

[00:44:19] Go to Walmart or wherever by quarter inch interlocking foam mats, stack them up. Let's say 10 the first time kick up into a handstand. If you know how to do that. If you don't it takes some skill, but you'll get there and once you can perform five to seven reps, you simply slip one of those mats out.

[00:44:39] Usually once a week in 10 weeks, you're doing full handstand shoulder presses, which is a much more authentic. Then even you know standing barbell presses. So I like that movement a lot. If you are going to perform a press above the head your [00:45:00] shoulders I would do so either inside of a trap bar where you can use a neutral grip or with dumbbells.

[00:45:07] What about the Jammer, press that you talk about you're a big fan of the JAMA press quite a fight how to do a Jammer press with people who don't. The barbell Jimmer press is very simple. You take one end of an empty barbell and you jam it into the corner of the wall on the other end. You load it up with plates 25 35 40, whatever it may be right and you can push with two hands.

[00:45:30] You can do that from a standing position or seated or you can do it unilaterally drag to work on the muscle on the side. That's not as strong as the other. Of the purest form of that movement I think is the one hand variety down on one knee and so it takes all of your body English out of the motion.

[00:45:51] You'll initially have to start at a lower amount of weight. But as you build it up, you'll see it is a tremendous movement for the [00:46:00] reason that the same reason that the rest of these movements are in recommending the wrist the elbow and the shoulder are all in line. The elbow is not splayed out like this 90 degrees which puts the shoulder clavicle.

[00:46:15] And you made a great point one time. You you said, you know, if you're if you're going to push lift something heavy put a box on a shelf. You don't get under it and push straight up over your head and then you push it Forward away from you. Like if you hold the way if you hold the baby up in the air, it's out here and that's the way the shoulders work.

[00:46:35] Right if you're he even you know for that matter if you're. If you're handing some someone that's up on a ladder something you'll bucket or what not. Yeah, you know, press it over your head. You know, your elbows are out in front of your body in line with your wrists and shoulders. So, you know, what does that tell you the bodies?

[00:46:51] Assuming its strongest and safest position? Very good Kirkland more Letty asks a question about sissy squats. He says [00:47:00] what's your opinion of the sissy squat with supports from bands at the. I suppose it would actually be considered a reverse banded sissy squat. Yeah, this is Squad is not a bad exercise extremely difficult to overload which is why I suspect he might be using the band's look.

[00:47:21] It's a neck. It's a high rep exercise in my opinion. There are some sissy squat platforms now. That Jim's that I've seen in Jim's mind included where it's very simple it just sank. Yeah your ankles going it right and the back of your head hits the pads hit the back of your calves, right? And so you want to perform that with bands great or a weight vest or even holding a dumbbell or you know, just as a bodyweight only exercise but you're going to have to work into a higher rep range 15-20 reps is what I'd recommend over three to five sets.

[00:47:55] Remember when Frank Zane came out with that thing that you wore and you put plates on it. You wear it on your [00:48:00] chest so you can see ya for sissy squats. Yeah. Yeah, and so Vince gironda was obviously a big fan and it's hard to argue with the results that he got. So how was again? But once again, these are not power movements.

[00:48:13] He's the bodybuilding movements. This comes full circle to what I was saying before about John Meadows guys, super strong super muscular, but he's not giving himself rhabdo. He trains hard but it's because bodybuilders tend to focus on. Stimulating muscle growth as opposed to stimulating muscle strength, and I think that it's when we go after the muscle strength and the muscle endurance like CrossFit, that's where we get in trouble.

[00:48:41] Yes. I agree a hundred percent. I was about to say, you know, is it a strength movement? No, it is a still a valid bodybuilding movement. Yes. I think if more sissy squats were done in Jim's today. You probably see much better development of the vastus medialis the [00:49:00] teardrop muscle above the knee. I want to take one last commercial break and I think I have a remedy that'll keep anybody from Ever Getting rhabdo again.

[00:49:08] Great. I got one more point to so where do you want it? You want to make it now before we want to hold it to the brake hold it hold it to the break. Okay, it will hold its okay sit tight. We'll be right back with more.

[00:49:21] I have some constructive criticism here. Okay, I didn't show up.  Huh? That's odd. Well Anthony Albert says Karl love you, dude, but you got to stop screaming and slow down when you speak. I think part of the screaming thing is I. I'm trying to find the level for both the Facebook live and the audio podcast.

[00:49:46] They're not that the settings are not the same and I keep I get close to my mic I get further away from my Mike and I think it really breaks up out there. I don't know why his comment won't show up. I'm sorry. I'm Joe. There it is. Thank you. I [00:50:00] didn't talk fast until I started producing my own shows when I had my own producer.

[00:50:04] I didn't talk fast because now I'm looking at. My next break and how I have to fit in and I feel rushed. I really do. I feel rushed like to get this point out before I have to take the break but I'll take that under advisement. It's good criticism. Okay, you had a point you still want to make yeah, and this is really interesting because I've had the opportunity now to talk to a lot of different doctors about what rhabdo is but this seems to be no consensus on where it begins.

[00:50:35] We're friends. So so let's think about this for a second on the lab values that I was given. Anyway, normal creatine. Kinase levels are from 0 to 310 does Randall start at 311 500 750 thousand because you can't tell me [00:51:00] that people aren't going into the gym and elevating their CK. Above 300, you know, I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect people are walking around with elevated CK levels.

[00:51:15] Perhaps not enough to cause damage. But we're certainly, you know, any of the warning signs, but it would be very interesting to me if they did a study on recreational weight lifters who let's say they train three Harden heavy three days a week to monitor CK levels over 4 to 8 to 12 weeks to see exactly how high they get and at what point it becomes an issue.

[00:51:46] So until there is some sort of Home diagnostic test for CK levels. The best I think that you'll be able to do is to see a doctor, you know, either in my case. [00:52:00] Probably weekly because of my history with it or at the very least bi-weekly because had I done that in this instance this last one. I may have avoided it.

[00:52:14] Now interestingly enough. I did have blood work run about two weeks before it happened. The only anomaly on it that would have spoken to it was I had higher than normal AST and ALT levels which which are our I mean, they weren't crazy high, but they are there as you know, they're usually elevated and athletes who strength train had.

[00:52:39] I have CK levels down. We might have spotted something earlier. So the eye but I still think CK isn't the answer personally. I got to look at my mic. So I still think that CK isn't the answer. I really don't I don't think I think looking at creatine creatine creates a nine. However, you want to pronounce it [00:53:00] as misguided as you pointed out you were there and you had rhabdo, but your creatinine levels were not elevated not dramatically elevated nothing worries.

[00:53:10] Right, so I think there's got to be more to this, you know glomerular filtration rates play a big role how fast the kidneys actually processed stuff. I really think hydration and sodium bicarbonate a big big deals if you want to avoid getting rhabdo, and if you train twice a day, then you need to drink more than a gallon of water Maybe.

[00:53:33] Yeah. Oh, yeah, I mean, you know there were many days where I hit the gym hard and heavy came home ate dinner. And that was off to Jiu-Jitsu for Apple. I mean, you know again the the rescue for rhabdo is fluids. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely hydration is extremely important what I don't want people to think though is you [00:54:00] know, if my urine is.

[00:54:02] The color of Coca-Cola.  I'm just going to have to drink enough water. And then I'm out of the woods. No, that's true. Right color Coca-Cola this probably blood in it. That's something else going on now, right. So listen, err on the side of caution. That's all I can tell you err on the side of caution because in the event that you let it go too far, you're going to get into an area where.

[00:54:27] You lose Consciousness and there may or may not be somebody there to say get them to the hospital. Okay, so, you know forewarned is for more for arm forearm. So, excuse me.  Here's a way not to get wrapped up.  Don't show up at the gym and decide what you going to do once you get there. Yeah, right your sets and Reps out before you go to the gym based on your previous.

[00:54:56] Days train previous time you train that particular body part if you're doing a [00:55:00] split and stick to it, if the if that set calls for 12 reps, but you feel like you got 15 in you do 12. Anyway, right use your training Journal also as a prescription tablet, this is what I'm going to do today. The only changes if I don't feel strong enough to do this, I'm going to back down.

[00:55:22] But if I feel stronger, I'm not going to go up. That's it you do that. You'll never be in this category at all. Yeah, it's those of us who go in there and we feel great and we're gonna crush it and then the next day we go in and we do it again that those we're not doing anything by prescription.

[00:55:39] We're going with flying by the seat of our pants. Yeah, that's a very good point, you know intensity is important and weight training but too much intensity gets you into the Red Zone and you wind up with rhabdo. And on the flip side you do that too often. You're going to be in trouble so too much and too [00:56:00] often in my case.

[00:56:01] I think I put both of those together which explains why I wound up where I did and if you're a crossfitter, excuse me if your CrossFit. Nothing wrong with Crossfit but understand that the goal of CrossFit is to get you to push your body to its limits. And if you drive your car to its limits, you're going to eat have an accident or you going to blow your engine.

[00:56:26] So if you drive you driving your body to its limits all the time expect to get robbed or injuries. That's his long as you're cool with long as say Hey, you know. I'm going to go to CrossFit today and I'm going to come home with an injury. But that means I did good and if you're cool with that, then that's good rock on that's a really good analogy, you know, if you're going to drive your car into the Red Zone what happens engine life is going to be compromised.

[00:56:53] You're going to run through all of your oil right? Another fluids your tires are [00:57:00] there's going to be issues with your tie break everything. Write everything on that car is going to suffer and so it becomes a question of how long can you do that? You do it with any regularity and unfortunately, you know, you can wind up where I did.

[00:57:19] Yeah, don't make their endgame be injury. Don't make injury be your goal. Think about your training is your training designed so that injury. Is the goal and if it is you got to change it, that's it. That's it. And hopefully you won't have this anymore either. Yeah. Well, I mean there are big changes coming from me.

[00:57:40] I'm going down to two and only two days a week and I may go cut back to three weeks and then take the fourth week off. You know, this this can't continue to keep happening because number one it's dangerous number two when I get back into the gym if it's anything like last time, it's going to put me back eight weeks of work.

[00:58:00] [00:58:00] You know, you know when you're here excreting dead muscle tissue, you know, that doesn't speak the new PR's when you go back out of reminds me of I got a speeding ticket the other day. I was in a hurry to get some place that I was running late for. Yep. I ended up being really really late because he took his sweet time writing me the ticket.

[00:58:21] What are you doing how fast? Yeah, I was doing 60 in a. Yeah, and so but the point is a lot of times when you put pressure on yourself to achieve more faster. The setback isn't worth it because you end up being starting. You know, it's one of those two steps forward one step backward type things.

[00:58:42] Yeah, don't do it. That's it. That's it. Thanks, Rob. Stay healthy, brother. Thank you. You too. Thanks everyone and Anthony Albert. I'm putting a note on my screen that says talk slower. Thank you. Thank you. I will see you by the later. Thanks for watching and [00:59:00] listening.