Insight from a Kenneth Jay Workshop

Saturday was spent with Master RKC instructor Kenneth Jay and about 15 comrades in iron.  The title "Presses, Pistols and Pullups" became a bit of a back-story in favor of a discussion of movement therapy and nervous system behavior.  The techniques applied toward PP&P were deconstructed with the idea of training the brain to accept these movements as "safe" instead of "threatening".  Little hitches in my normal motion are actually unfamiliar movements where the brain briefly blinks or hesitates, and those hitches must be re-learned until they can be completed without stuttering.  It's time for me to scale back to a lighter weight and do my reps slower, fewer, different, "right".  I have read this on two or three other trainer's blogs in the last few months, Rif, Jordan, and others.  Now it's my time.

I've been fighting an inflamed radial nerve for about two weeks now.  It just happened, almost overnight.  My armpit and tricep ache all day, and I occasionally lose some sensation in my hand.  I've seen two different trainer-therapists, and the exercises and drills prescribed have given some relief.  There was no attempt to explain how this happened, and rightfully so.  Something KJ said yesterday, at least 3 or 4 times, finally clicked with me this morning in hindsight.  Asked about putting on muscle mass, he answered, "sure, there are guys who put on huge muscle and got really strong, but they're walking around in pain".  It's about muscles getting thicker, either by inflammation from a workout or growth over time, and pinching the nerve bundles that run through them.

That statement of KJ's didn't click with me until this morning.  Check my last couple posts.  I started a program about a month ago that's designed to put on muscle mass.  Lots of two-handed overhead lifts and lifts from hang to shoulder, heavy lifts, with really short rests.  I've definitely put on bulk, such as it is on my puny frame.  I have to wonder if I caused my own neuritis?  I've scheduled a few days of rest and a return to more movement-drill training to perfect my form. Some of the bulk should go away because of the change.  It'll be very interesting to see if this nerve condition tracks my size.