inflammation – Defiance Training Corp

Streeeeetch

September 19, 2023 by defiancetrainingcorp, posted in stretching

When is the last time you stretched? Like for real stretches, not the ones you do when you first get out of bed huffing and puffing for the day ahead. When have you actually sat down and made time to stretch?

Stretching, in my opinion, is the most overlooked, forgotten, highly beneficial activity for your overall health. It isn’t just for your muscular health. It helps EVERTHING! It can be done in short sessions when you just have a second or need a shake out, or it can be done in long form. It helps gets you going, and it helps to settle you down. It really can be a tool for all aspects of your life, mentally, physically, and emotionally. We are living in an age of uncertainty. Health crisis both physical and mental are at an alarming high. We have this generic idea of what a workout should be, where we go to a big box gym and slog away on the treadmill for the allotted time necessary to meet the guidelines social media and the government says. We push and pull on all the little machines in the line and then walk out the door calling the workout done. Ok, good job on hitting the gym, but how do you feel? Sometimes those endorphins are kicking at this point depending on how hard you pushed, but sometimes folks just walk out with the idea that something has been checked off the to do list. Which that idea needs to be a whole other blog. Yes, workouts are needed. Cardio and strength training are both very important but so is stretching. Stretching helps lengthen and relieve the pressure that has been pounded into the body in all areas, muscles, joints and organs. Taking the time to breathe with your movements hits a whole different way. That gives relief to the mind and soul….especially when the alerts are turned off of your phone for the duration. I’m not saying to give up your typical workout. I’m saying balance, add some stretching. Mix it up if time is an issue. Do a long stretch in place of one of those box gym days. Or put it in your daily routine, maybe part of your bedtime ritual. Turn the tv off and stretch for 10 minutes before you brush your teeth and go to bed. Maybe netflix and stretch instead of chill. I use it to wind down at night by stretching in a dark room with a dim red lamp, but you do you. Find the balance you need to make stretching a regular part of your life and I guarantee you will feel better everywhere.

No Days Off?????

October 9, 2018October 9, 2018 by defiancetrainingcorp, posted in Uncategorized

I like to play. That statement may be an obvious one to those who know me, I love it. I love a good workout in the gym or park, running or riding trails, a good kickboxing session, you know….the fun stuff. I love adventure so I thoroughly enjoy a good hike or some time spent on the disc golf course, but I admit that those don’t appeal to me nearly as much as the faster things I listed first. Honestly, I could do those things every day….if my body let me. I used to or pretty close to it, especially when I was competing in high school and college sports. I decided that I wouldn’t be outworked, so I trained all the time. And I trained hard. I worked through injuries or came back from them sooner than expected when a surgery or a cast was involved. I’m older and I like to think wiser now, but man it’s hard for me to ease up. Some of that is simply because I like to play and, let’s be honest, some is that old mental “work harder” thing. I don’t know why so I can’t explain it, but I love it. I love to hate it even. I’ve learned, though, that that isn’t the best way to train. That “no days off” thing is stupid! It’s funny because I’ve preached the importance of rest and even forced it on athletes I coached, but did not abide by that with my own body….until I had to.

Inflammation! Chronic inflammation to be specific. I’ve learned some stuff on that topic. Inflammation is meant to be a good thing. It’s physiologically meant to protect and defend us but it can wreak all kinds of havoc on us too. I’ve felt it in my own body although I know I ignored it most of my life, not realizing what was actually happening. But as I have worked hard to overcome a brain injury and live a normal life, I’ve become very aware of its detriments. With this whole brain injury thing still playing an ugly role in my life, it just seems like a constant battle to try like hell to get things straight in my body. It effects everything! Well, seeing as how the brain controls everything, a brain injury will negatively impact lots of stuff. In trying so hard to find answers, I realized just how damaging chronic inflammation can be. I know what it does to my body and I’ve seen what it can do to others, many of whom are people I love dearly. Which makes it very hard to watch. Ya see, chronic inflammation can be the cause of disease…..heart disease, diabetes, some cancers. It can be a major player in anxiety, depression and even some anger disorders. It can cause diseases that kill you pure and simple. It starts as a means of defense and protection to heal the body from trauma and unwanted invaders, but can turn chronic, which can turn deadly. That’s the extreme end of it, I know. It can just make you feel like shit and keep you from being able to do the things you want to do or be the person you want to be. So what’s my point about this “no days off” rant? No days off means no time to let the natural inflammatory response from hard training subside. It means your muscles never have time to heal, which is growth. Inflammation is brought on by stress. Exercise, as good as it is for you, is a stressor. You can’t become better, faster, stronger if you never give yourself time to heal and grow. And if you have lots of other stress in your life, maybe a nagging injury, or you’re one of the many athletes out there facing underlying health issues, you are bringing that much more inflammation to the game and expecting your body to just sweep it out the door like yesterday’s dust pile. I have news for you, it won’t sweep out the door….regardless of how tough you are. Inflammation is the beast that will drop even the strongest. Listen to your body. Do what it asks you to do. Rest when you need to…when you feel horribly fatigued, you can’t shake that little nagging illness, you can’t sleep well at night or you have parts that just don’t seem to ever feel good. Yes, there are days that you push through. That’s normal. But, when you really listen, your intuition will tell you when you need to ease up, rest and even eat a bit more. Don’t get all freaked over that part now. Another hard thing I’ve learned is that chronic inflammation will cause your body to hang on to fat as a form of defense regardless of how much you are NOT eating compared to how much you ARE burning. It’s not always as simple as calories in vs calories out…..but that’s another post. So for now, play, move, groove, enjoy the endorphins that flow from a good dose of moving but rest when it’s called for, my friends. You’ll move that much better afterwards.

The Journey Begins

July 24, 2018November 5, 2018 by defiancetrainingcorp, posted in Uncategorized

“Your scars are someone else’s signs of hope.” This quote posted on Instagram spoke to me. Many have asked me – told me – rather that I needed to write about my experience with Tbi. I didn’t because I didn’t want to whine on paper basically. And, I prefer to talk about where I’m going instead of where I’m coming from. Although I’ve said all along if my experience could help someone else, I would help. I’ve finally reached a point where I feel okay putting some stuff out there, and I firmly believe that good will come from it….that beauty will rise from ashes. I do hope that my experience will make things better for someone. Really, I don’t want to help just one someone else. I hope to somehow be a part of change in the bigger picture, for everyone who finds themselves swept into what I can only call a pit of pure struggle. I don’t believe that a brain injury has to be a life sentence or that CTE has to be the end result. I believe that we’re only scratching the surface and that our bodies and brains are too amazing not to be able to overcome.

Defiance Training Corp was ultimately given that name because of those beliefs. It was built out of those beliefs. I “started” it a few years back while in the throes of Tbi. I was struggling with absolutely everything and, quite frankly, fighting for my life. I wasn’t working, nor should I have been. But I needed to make money – wanted to make money, feel productive, feel useful….like I had a purpose. Healing should have been primary focus, but it wasn’t. Unfortunately it couldn’t be for many reasons. Many other battles had to be fought as well. Starting a business was what I thought was the answer to one of those battles. “I can train folks,” I thought. “I know this stuff!” And I did. That was one area that I still felt like me. However, communication was a problem….along with MANY other things. So reality is I started Defiance in formality. I named it, filed with the state and even had a logo and business cards done up. I seriously thought I could do it, but that is where it sat for a few years.

As frustrating as the sitting period was, I’m glad it sat. I’ve learned so much, grown so much, healed and evolved. So Defiance Training Corp and what I want to do with it has too. My eyes have been opened and I’ve gone from wanting to simply train folks in sports performance and get people into shape, to using movement as a way to help others heal. Movement was crucial in my journey. It’s not completely responsible for how far I’ve come, but it played a huge role. I thoroughly believe it was necessary. My understanding of that has expanded greatly as has my understanding of the detriments of chronic inflammation on us as a society. That inflammation must be addressed for healing to occur so I had to take into account not only how I moved, but how I rested, what nutrients I was getting and how my body responded to them. I now know that those are major players in pretty much any injury or illness and if given the right environment, our bodies can overcome and we can defy odds.

Defiance was started to give me a purpose, and it did. I fought hard to get here. That purpose now feels a bit bigger. There’s much more to accomplish. Defiance was named that because a hard head was thinking, “Yeah, I’ll defy the odds.” I hadn’t at that point, but now I have. And I’m not finished with that part. I’m not where I want to be yet. I’m still climbing up and will continue to do so. I have no doubt that I’ll get to where I want to go. Even writing about it is a show of improvement. I’ve been embarrassed and afraid to let others know for fear that they would not only judge my ability to train them but also my sanity. Well, here ya go. I’m putting it out there, letting you know that I had a brain injury. It straight kicked my ass, but I’m up, I’m standing and I’m swinging back. If I can, you can too.

You don’t lose if you get knocked down; you lose if you stay down. — Muhammad Ali