Alright then.
That got your attention I bet.
Let me back up and set the story a little bit.
A few months ago, J.L. called me up to tell me about the new stuff he was doing that was a game changer. We talk pretty regularly on the phone, like teenage girls even, and it always ends up with one of us benefiting in some way.
Unlike if you drink with him.
That’s another post though.
Anyway, J was telling me about this new voodoo he learned that fixed injuries, helped prevent injury, made you handsomer and much more.
Well, I think just about everyone is full of shit and most stuff sucks.
So does he.
So does Spud.
So, (that’s a lot of “so’s”) knowing that J.L. is a skeptic, I was pretty intrigued about what he learned.
He offered for me to attend a seminar at his place, but I couldn’t swing it as we were in the middle of a huge software change. Spud did though.
Then he was all over it. Greatest thing ever.
Now I was really interested.
I am talking about Be Activated and RPR (Reflexive Performance Reset).
I don’t know enough about it to give you a full description of what it is and how it works, but this is from their site:
“You are under constant stress, which is interpreted as survival mode by your body. When in survival mode your body utilizes harmful compensation patterns which can lead to injury. RPR™ resets the body out of survival mode and into performance mode.”
I do know a bit about injury, performance, and how your body compensates so I am fully interested in what this is all about. Plus, I am all banged up and if this is something I can add to my routine, and my clients’ routines I am in.
I don’t place a lot of value in what many people say, but as far as J.L. and the Spudster go, I do.
They’ve never steered me wrong.
Again, I do not know the science behind why this works but I saw immediate results.
Now, let me tell you how I Got the SH*T kicked out of me because of J.L. Holdsworth
My friends Jeff Bramhall and Lodrina Cherne (who happens to be one of my sponsored lifters and is pretty awesome) went out to Columbus last week to take the RPR course.
Obviously they wanted to share their new found knowledge and I was the unlucky recipient of this.
In case you aren’t familiar with my list of maladies, here is a short one:
- Crushed and mangled Achilles Tendon
- Torn kneecap
- A hip barely works
- Torn labrum in shoulder
- Inability to walk without a limp
- Funky business in the C spine
- Chronic joint pain
I am basically a POS car ready for the junkyard with 400,000 miles on it.
I’ve been doing just about everything I can to get healthier and improve movement.
I am a big believer in having an open mind when it comes to new treatments because if you think it isn’t going to work, then you are right.
Jeff and Lo met me at the gym last night and got the table set up for what in sales they call “the hook”.
Jeff performed the RPR assessment and Performance Reset.
Before beginning he apologized a few times for what was about to happen.
Now let me say, I am far from a pussy. However, I was not prepared for what was about to happen to me.
Jeff did an initial eval and began with the Psoas patterning (is that the right term?).
He basically had me lie on my back on the treatment table and began jamming his knuckles into my ribs and chest as hard as he could while telling me to relax and belly breathe.
Sure Jeff.
This hurt.
A lot.
But wait. There’s more.
Next came the sternum rub.
Have you ever taken a CPR class?
You know how they tell you to push your knuckles into someone’s sternum and violently rub back and forth fast to determine unresponsiveness and possibly revive them?
But.
They don’t actually do it to a conscious person…..
Yup.
That’s what he did.
Thought I was going to puke.
He just said to stay calm and belly breathe.
I literally thought he was going to collapse my ribcage and wanted to die.
Anyway, I sucked it up and he did a few more assessments and more violent knuckle damage to my entire ribcage and upper body front and back.
Glute torture
When I tell you this sucked, you can’t understand.
- This sucked.
- It hurt.
- A lot.
And it seemed like it was never going to end.
After each area, Jeff did a reassessment and he and Lo giggled, obviously either pleased with the results or amused that I was dumb enough to allow someone to do this to me.
Left side, before treatment.
Right side about 30 seconds of torture later.
I'm like VanDamme.
The funny thing is that about half way through I felt taller, had less pain in my hip, was walking better and had less pain everywhere overall.
Jeff continued to beat the sh*t out of me for about 15 more minutes, each time, pleased with what had occurred.
I am still not sure if he was psyched to beat the crap out of me or was excited that it actually worked.
When it was done I walked around and they commented that I was no longer limping and seemed taller.
Funny, I wasn’t limping. I also felt taller.
Jeff explained that he freed up space in my ribcage (Don’t quote me on that) and that reset my nervous system and breathing patterns.
Now, I am aware of proper breathing and its importance, and I do try to belly breathe most of the time but it is something I need to focus on. Now, I was easily belly breathing and felt much more relaxed and pain free.
Was this because Jeff was no longer beating the ass off of me, or because it worked.
Maybe a little from column A and a little column B?
When I went home I still was belly breathing, which I noticed sort of inadvertently and was still almost pain free.
This morning when I got out of bed, which is usually a production consisting of a few painful groans, a side roll, more groans and a leg kick to use momentum as I roll off the bed to an upright position, I simply got out of bed.
No pain.
HHMM.
My getting out of bed routine is a source of amusement for my son who wakes me up (A game parenting) and I think he may have been disappointed this morning.
I got in the shower, believe it or not and began scrubbing myself to get the stink of sleep off me. I reached up to wash under my arms, yeah I know, TMI, but wait: I lifted my arm over my head with zero restrictions or discomfort.
I forgot that this is how your body is supposed to work. There was no impingement in my shoulder, no feeling like my lat was going to rip off.
HHMM.
I then proceeded to walk down my stairs.
That may not seem like much to you, but I don’t walk down stairs.
I gimp down stairs.
I can go on about this but I think you get the idea.
So far, I am into my day about 9 hours at the time of this writing and all is well.
I still have some hip pain, but nowhere near the normal level.
I do however feel like I did 15 bareknuckle rounds with JL. If you’ve seen JL, you can guess what this may feel like.
Aside from the ribcage pain, from all the abuse Jeff gave me, which will go away in a day or so, I feel amazing.
I am not a big fan of that word but there isn’t another adjective to describe it.
Jeff and Lo gave me a paper with all of the daily stuff to do on my own to keep this going and I’ll put it to use.
Just a little neck abuse.
So to wrap up:
As I said, I don’t fully understand the science of what this is and how it works, but so far, it seems to work.
I never fully endorse something after being exposed to it one time, so I will reserve a full endorsement.
I will say that I do believe there is a ton of value in this treatment and can see the benefits of it for coaches, athletes, doctors and therapists.
It does indeed appear to be a game changer as JL said.
I am going to learn more about this and continue to have Jeff abuse me while doing the daily Wake Up drills.
Even if there is nothing wrong with you, this could be a game changer for your lifting, sports performance, injury prevention and more. You will at the LEAST breathe better.
Proper breathing can improve so many things!
Are you interested in learning more?
Post back here and we will look into getting the RPR people to TPS for a seminar.
That’s all I have for you this week.
Next week I’ll follow up with my progress and tell you how I cut my triglycerides by over 30% in 30 days to piss off my doctor.
Ask me a question-Be sure and Type to Murph in the header
Find me on Google-search for Total Performance Sports Malden, Mass. The Best Gym in Boston, Facebook too.
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Vincere vel mori
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