Junkie

Awesomeness doesn't come easy or painless. So here's a video of my first attempt at a flat ground front flip 180. A lukewarm approach and half-assed jump left me at about a 90 instead of a 180. And with a wrenched ankle.

 

So there you have it. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "He's going to land it next time."

No? You were asking yourself, "Why?" or, "When will he learn?"

That's the problem. There must be is a screw loose somewhere.

The rap sheet (small font indicates that you're not expected to actually read this exercise of listing all my injuries):

At about the age of 16 I severely wrenched my right ankle over a curb after coming down from a leap at Jamie Costics basketball hoop. 

That same year during my second weight training session EVER, I dropped a 45 lb plate and broke my right big toe. 

A year later I simultaneously tore both of my hip adductors while aggressively stretching before a varsity basketball game.


In college I broke my wrist during a most glorious moment of punching a steel beam during an intramural basketball game. 

I remember weeks of sleeplessness after suffering a thoracic disc herniation while doing dumbbell rows. 

Then there was the time in grad school when I tore the ligament between my left second and third toes while, you guessed it, playing basketball. 

I also dislocated my left thumb playing flag football.

I strained or tore my right ulnar collateral (elbow) ligament while pitching in a Butler County League baseball game. 


As a working adult I've broken my left thumb and right pinky while playing basketball. 

I woke up one morning with half of my right leg numb and weak from a severe disc herniation that occurred the previous night when I was hit and fell onto my left hip while playing basketball. 

I strained my back doing the leg press and woke up the next day with pain and weakness down my left leg. 

Those back and leg pains pale in comparison to the two weeks of lumbar misery I experienced after not deadlifting for > 6 years and trying to dead lift 405 lbs on New Years day, 2010. 

My right ankle twisted severely when coming down on a basketball that someone inadvertently rolled onto the court. 

My left ankle twisted severely when coming down off a bike jump and landing on a stick. 

I separated my right AC (shoulder) joint while crashing after clipping the back tire of my bike on a guardrail. 

I slipped on my bike pedals when jumping off the huge rock wall in front of Grantham Church, splitting a 3 inch gash into my left shin. 

I bashed my right foot straight into the ground and then suffered ankle and knee pain for about 5 months after missing my first attempt at a wall flip. 

And now the right ankle sprain documented above. 


So what lessons may be learned by my 18+ orthopedic injuries? I think "QUIT PLAYING BASKETBALL" is a pretty fair conclusion. But I think the real message is that we're all a bit goofy in the head over something.

I don't drink much at all. Never smoked a thing in my entire life, really. Don't over or under spend or eat too terribly healthy or unhealthy. But yeah, I need me those adrenaline hits. Thankfully I've never had to have a surgery or even miss a day of work due to my habit, which makes me a functional junkie. I try not to do anything too stupid.

It helps to be a PT, for restoring functional awesomeness.

See that boys? The cost of following, or training with, or hanging out with an adrenaline junkie? Just so you know.

Then again, there's a cost to everything. And flat ground front flip 180's are simply. so. cool!

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