Posted by Sean on February 13, 2011
That’s the funny thing about a back injury – more specifically irritated core stabilizers. Anything and every movement uses your core / back, so I had to stick to stationary bike pedaling and just generalized foam roller work.
I’m right on the line of full recovery, so I’m trying to be smart about it.
But it’s driving me batty. LOL
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Posted by Sean on February 12, 2011
preach it.
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Posted by Sean on February 12, 2011
Yep. It’s official. I’m a convert. The Verizon iPhone release has been a long time coming, and I for one have been waiting.
As a smartphone aficionado I’ve ran the gamut. 
Years ago I owned the now ancient-like Palm Treo 700w.
(I was also a previous Palm PDA owner. Do you remember the Tungsten T5’s??) Whew.. that was a monster of a device. HUGE antenna, small screen and man was it heavy. The keyboard was the blackberry equivalent, and the screen options were the predictive future in interactive touch screen. I still remember the cool lil stylus.
Whew.. memories.
Theeeen it was onto the touted Blackberry. I think I wizzed through 3 of those 
damn devices. The Curve, the Bold and the Storm2. All nice in their own right at the time I had them. Each built upon the lacking’s of the other. The Curve was small, compact, lighter in weight, but it was all about texting (but then again so was I). The Bold added better internet browsing and MMS features as well as a lil bigger screen. Then a jump to the Storm2 set me free! I was in touch-screen land. Foreign soil that was not comfortable at first, but is all that I know now.
At that time I was knee-deep in smartphone integration land. It was attached to my hip and I wanted better/faster/stronger functionality. I hated the lagging, the frozen screens and well the inability to perform properly while on the job. Enter Android. Blackberry vs. Android is like comparing standing still to driving in a car. Wow. Blackberry and all it’s world needs some serious education.
Android will let you do pretty much anything you want with your phone that you can think of. I had the Droid X. BIG screen, major camera muscles and all things social media interwoven together – almost seamlessly. The only disadvantage to the device and all things Android was the ‘clunkiness’ of the system (IMHO). It lagged in certain applications, and it seems the more I used and abused it, the slower it got? Hmm.
It definitely was working better for all the things I hated about Blackberry, but that darn iPhone kept calling my name. All my professional friends and colleagues couldn’t stop talking about it’s functionality, how smooth it transitions, the speed of the phone, the medical apps, etc, etc, adnosium.
So I stuck with Android.. until that new year’s gift announcement from Verizon.
Needless to say, I’m a bandwagon jumper. The purchase / upgrade and change happened this week:
On a side note, someone at Apple needs to educate the rest of the world on how to package things properly. They do such a good job.
Thus far I have been stoked. The compact phone is slick. I’m still getting used to all things Apple, but it’s been an easy transition. Of course there are pros and cons to all devices and all phones. Some things you would rather do without and things you can’t live without. Here are my thoughts:
Palm Treo:
Hah.. just kidding.
Blackberry: (keep in mind I never touched/used the Torch)
Android:
iPhone:
The transition from Android to iPhone was ea
sy-peasy folks, just get used to using iTunes and you are golden. I love the syncing for all my PC integrated materials.
Did I mention I like the phone??
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Posted by Sean on February 12, 2011
Hmm.. I dunno about this one. The skeptic in me is laughing hysterically, but my professional skills are piqued.
There are intriguing applications to this ‘gimmick’, but I would agree with the commentary from Dr. Kraemer. There are many, many other ways of eliciting the same results without the use of this one singular machine.
Reverberation and perturbation techniques for ‘pre-hab’, joint mobility, body stabilization and performance selectivity have been around for decades. I just wonder if this ‘machine’ is just being promoted as a retail promo instead of good science.
As the fine doctor said, the research is slowly catching up.
Gimmick or Not, Vibrating Platforms Have Joined the Gym
The idea seems sort of silly, just another exercise gimmick. Stand for a few minutes on a platform that vibrates. Get off and try to do some weight lifting — squats, for example. Or try a short sprint. Or see how high you can jump. You are somehow supposed to be able to lift heavier weights, sprint faster, jump higher.
But maybe it’s not so silly, exercise physiologists say. Although they don’t really know why vibrations should work, researchers report that they actually seem to slightly improve performance in the few minutes after a person gets off the machine.
The problem, though, is that there is little consensus on how fast the vibrations should be or in what direction platforms are supposed to vibrate. Some studies have failed to show any effects from vibrations. And then there is the question of what exactly vibrations are doing to muscles and nerves.
“It certainly is intriguing, and a large portion of the evidence would support that something is happening,” said Lee E. Brown, director of the Center for Sports Performance at California State University, Fullerton. But he added, “We are still trying to figure out exactly what the mechanism is.”
Meanwhile, several companies make the vibrating platforms, and they are being used at gyms and by some athletes.
One company, Power Plate, proclaims that stars like Serena Williams and Justin Morneau, of the Minnesota Twins, train with its device. A testimonial for another company, Wave, says the United States ski and snowboard teams used its vibrating plates in training for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
But researchers are wary.
“There is something to it,” said William J. Kraemer, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut and the editor in chief of The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, calling it “another tool” for athletic conditioning. But he added that other conditioning methods might yield the same or better results.
“If you think of conditioning as a toolbox, there are lots of tools,” he said. “But when companies are selling something, they want to pretend that one tool does everything.”
Experts who have tried the platforms describe them in different ways. The sensation is nothing like using a jackhammer, said Hugh Lamont, a sports biomechanist at Eastern Tennessee State University. Most vibration plates move no more than 50 times a second and feel like the vibrations in a seat over the wheel hub on a bus, Dr. Lamont said.
Others say the vibrations remind them of downhill skiing — they get the same sort of the rattling in their legs and feet. For Jeffrey M. McBride, an associate professor of biomechanics who is director of the neuromuscular laboratory at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., the word that comes to mind is “weird.”
“You can feel your muscles contract,” he said. “It sort of fatigues you.”
But if there is an effect, the researchers said, it seems to be short-lived. People seem to be slightly faster sprinters immediately after standing on a platform. They also seem to be able to jump a bit higher. Vibrations also seem to help people warm up before more strenuous exercise.
“The effect wears off very quickly,” Dr. Brown said. “We are not talking about using this to play a 90-minute soccer match. One sprint and the effect would be gone. You’d play for one minute and still have 89 minutes to go.”
But it could make a difference, he said, if an athlete is about to try a penalty kick in soccer or swing a bat in baseball.
And Michael G. Bemben, chairman of exercise science at the University of Oklahoma, said that “one thought was if you were, say, a high jumper on your third trial in the Olympics and you are at 7 feet 2 inches and need to get to 7 feet 3, this might give you the power for that jump.”
Investigators say they can only guess why vibrations might improve performance. Their leading hypothesis is that it somehow mimics the effect of following a difficult task with an easier one — a simple technique that has been in use for years.
“If you pick up something heavy and then pick up something considerably lighter,” Dr. Lamont explained, “you might be able to throw the lighter weight farther.”
Or if you want to jump, he continued, you might first put a huge weight on a training rack, do a quarter squat, partway down, and then, for three to five seconds, try to push up and lift the weight. You would be doing an isometric contraction of your leg muscles. After that, you might jump higher.
But does it matter? Why not just warm up in the normal way, or do isometric contractions before jumping, or pick up a heavy weight before trying to throw a lighter one?
Or why not combine everything and do warm-ups on a vibrating platform, or try isometric contractions between periods of vibration?
Researchers have thought of that, and say they are investigating. Meanwhile, they say, people should be appropriately skeptical about the effects of standing on a vibrating platform.
“We don’t know a lot about prescribing it,” Dr. Kraemer said. “There’s the rub.”
And yet it is being used many times without an understanding of how to do it best or what the long-term training effects will be.
“Research,” Dr. Kraemer said, “is trying to catch up.”
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Posted by Sean on February 11, 2011
So I was reading this article this morning on the ‘unjust’ policies some companies are implementing in regards to people who smoke. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/us/11smoking.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
Instead of just having a no-smoking policy, there are some companies who will not (and do not) hire you at all if you are a smoker.
I remember reading about this a while back, also hearing about through word of mouth, more specifically from ‘The Cleveland Clinic’.
No, I can’t recall where/when, I just know I heard that the ‘clinic’ was not hiring you if you were a smoker.
So, any-hoo.
I start reading this post this AM… and looky-looky here at the sly advertising placement off to the right hand side (picture below)
Do you think this was done on purpose? Accident? Or the diabolical workings of Google Adwords?
Either way.. I found it quite hilarious.
Oh, and don’t even get me started on the whole ‘not hiring smokers’ thing. I think we all know by now how I feel about smoking. Period.
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Posted by Sean on February 11, 2011
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Posted by Sean on February 10, 2011
And the minute you figure it out – is the minute you start making that climb to your intended goal instead of (wanting)watching it from afar.
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Posted by Sean on February 10, 2011
So. This just happen. iCantBelieveIt. (Taken with picplz.)
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Posted by Sean on February 10, 2011
OK. OK. This is for all my fellow snow-goer’s out there.
This is absolutely hilarious, and you can only relate if you’ve had to shovel any snow recently.
Enjoy.
________________________________________
DIARY OF A SNOW SHOVELER
December 8 – 6:00 PM
It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our cocktails and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a Grandma Moses Print. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!
December 9
We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. What a fantastic sight! Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I’ve ever had! Shovelled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplough came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so I got to shovel again. What a perfect life!
December 12
The sun has melted all our lovely snow…. Such a disappointment! My neighbour tells me not to worry- we’ll definitely have a white Christmas. No snow on Christmas would be awful! Bob says we’ll have so much snow by the end of winter, that I’ll never want to see snow again. I don’t think that’s possible. Bob is such a nice man, I’m glad he’s our neighbor.
December 14
Snow, lovely snow! 8 inches last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shovelling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplough came back this afternoon and buried everything again.. I didn’t realize I would have to do quite this much shovelling, but I’ll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn’t huff and puff so.
December 15
20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4×4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife’s car and 2 extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that’s silly. We aren’t in Alaska , after all.
December 16
Ice storm this morning. Fell on my ass on the ice in the driveway putting down salt. Hurt like hell. The wife laughed for an hour, which I think was very cruel.
December 17
Still way below freezing. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm.. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should’ve bought a wood stove, but won’t admit it to her. I hate it when she’s right. I can’t believe I’m freezing to death in my own living room.
December 20
Electricity’s back on, but had another 14 inches of the damn stuff last night. More shoveling! Took all day. The damn snowplough came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they’re too busy playing hockey. I think they’re lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they’re out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they’re lying. Bob says I have to shovel or the city will have it done and bill me. I think he’s lying.
December 22
Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of the white shit fell today, and it’s so cold, it probably won’t melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to piss. By the time I got undressed, pissed and dressed again, I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plough on his truck for the rest of the winter, but he says he’s too busy. I think the asshole is lying.
December 23
Only 2 inches of snow today. And it warmed up to 0. The wife wanted me to decorate the front of the house this morning. What is she, nuts?!! Why didn’t she tell me to do that a month ago? She says she did but I think she’s lying.
December 24
6 inches – Snow packed so hard by snow plough, I broke the shovel. Thought I was having a heart attack. If I ever catch the son of a bitch who drives that snow plough, I’ll drag him through the snow by his balls and beat him to death with my broken shovel. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street at a 100 miles an hour and throws snow all over where I’ve just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was too busy watching for the damn snowplough.
December 25
Merry Christmas! 20 more inches of the damn slop tonight – Snowed in. The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil.. I hate the snow! Then the snow plough driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she’s a fricking idiot. If I have to watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” one more time, I’m going to stuff her into the microwave.
December 26
Still snowed in. Why the hell did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She’s really getting on my nerves.
December 27
Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze; plumber came after 14 hours of waiting for him, he only charged me $1,400 to replace all my pipes.
December 28
Warmed up to above -20. Still snowed in. The BITCH is driving me crazy!!!
December 29
10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That’s the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?
December 30
Roof caved in. I beat up the snow plough driver, and now he is suing me for a million dollars, not only the beating I gave him, but also for trying to shove the broken snow shovel up his ass. The wife went home to her mother. Nine more inches predicted.
December 31
I set fire to what’s left of the house. No more shoveling.
January 8
Feel so good. I just love those little white pills they keep giving me. Why am I tied to the bed?
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Posted by Sean on February 10, 2011
So I made it to the gym and did just what I said I would , nothing more.
It was SO hard to not go balls to the walls.
I stretched, did some foam roller work and then rode 7miles on the stationary bike at a moderate pace.
I really wanted to go all out, but I know my back needs to recover.
It’s getting better each day. I’ll be back on track by the weekend or the first of next week.
I guess 1 week out is better than 1 month out. I’m doing my best to listen to my body.
But, damn is it hard.
Stay strong everyone.
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