Medical Volunteer at Disney/Monday's Workout

Here was the workout for today.
Box Squats:
135,185,225,265 x 1 x 2; 275 x 9 x 2
Leg Press: 5.5, 7.5, 9.5 x 1 x 10
Leg Curls: Stack x 1 x 10
Abductors: Stack x 3 x 15

Jason C. Brown Circuit:
(10 2' Box Jumps/Steps, 10 Snatches L, 10 Snatches R, 10 Swings) x 10 (on the 2:00)
I did this with a 24kg bell
* Started having about 40s rest, the last set took exactly 2:00 minutes. More Box Jumps at the start, did some steps at the end.

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Since I volunteered at the Medical Tent as Disney this weekend (to benefit the the Leukemia Society), I did not work out Saturday or Sunday but I did get enough "physical activity" account for it. Here was my weekend:

Friday:
4:00: 1 hour of HoC/DDR
5:30: Job Interview
7:00: Done with Job Interview
8:00: Dinner w/Jennifer (Pane Rustica)
10:00: Sleep

Saturday:
1:00 AM: Wake up to alarm (yes, that is not a typo)
1:45 AM: Left for Disney/Wide World of Sport(78 miles)
2:55 AM: Arrive at WWoS
4:00 AM: Set up Massage Area and practice/warm up. Watch cool 80's band for about 1.5 hours. Eat and coffee.
5:30 AM: Practice massage techniques and commiserate for about 2 hours
7:30 AM: Massages start
11:15 AM: Massages end
12:30 PM: Eat Lunch
1:15 PM: Do computer work for about 1 hour at Kinko's in Lakeland
2:30-4:15 PM: Watch sports at Winghouse
4:30-5:30 PM: So tired I cannot fall asleep
5:30-6:00 PM: Nap
7:00-8:00 PM: Eat a great steak dinner made by Jeff Kramer
8:00-1:00 AM: Play Wii/DDR/BS

Sunday:
4:15 AM: Wake up
5:00 AM: Leave Kramer's in Lakeland
5:45 AM: Arrive At Disney
6:05 AM: Get on Bus to Medical Area
7:15 AM: Get lost on bus and finally arrive
8:45 AM to 2:30 PM: Massage almost non-stop, almost like RKC weekend
3:15 PM: Lunch (Subway)
5:15 PM: Arrive in Tampa
6:00 PM to 1:15 AM: Sleep

Monday: 1:30 AM to 6:55 AM: More Sleep
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Massage experience:

I had a chance to volunteer at the Disney Marathons (1/2 and full) at the Medical Area this weekend. It was a long weekend, but one that I learned a lot from.

Saturday (1/2 marathon):
We had to get into the park by 3:00 AM (I had to leave my house by 1:45 AM to get there on time.
The race started at around 5:00 AM, and the first massages started at 7:30.
Did about 4 hours of massage, averaging about 15 min per massage.

Lessons learned:
1) Almost everyone's Iliotibial Band (IT Band) is tight, tight, tight. You would think that after running thirteen miles (many at sub 8:00 mile pace) that the calves and quads would be tight - but many were like jello. The IT Band was tight on just about everyone.
2) The quality of the massage really depends on getting the person to relax. If the person is not mentally relaxed, you can't get them to physically relax. You do this by relating to them and communicating during the massage.
3) People generally like to be stretched. Different stretches to be used are:
* Heel to butt
* Hamstrings
* Gluteus medius
* Adductors
* Hip flexors
* Calves (big one)
* I threw in some PNF/C-A and C-R stretches as well.
4) Have confidence in what you are doing/relax
5) The tips (which were donated) depended on how you related to the client, not the quality of the massage.


Sunday (Full Marathon):
1) Listen to the client
2) Listen to what YOU feel
3) Have a plan, but be prepared to change the plan

General:
The runners will generally have softer muscles (slow twitch). If you have very tight muscles you are not going to be a good runner because you will always have tension in the muscles which makes each contraction less efficient. Also, if they build up lactic acid, they are toast.

Not all of the finishers were what I would call physically fit.

Massage is hard on the body. I did not need to work out after that weekend. Anyone who does massage needs to do the following:
* Eat good food
* Hydrate
* Stay away from people with bad energy (which is good to do anyway)
* Learn proper body mechanics (you cannot muscle your way through a massage). This include good posture, lunges, and positioning of the hands and fingers.
* Work out (the massage therapist that were in reasonable shape fared better than those that were not)

All in all a fun weekend. We got 10 clinical hours. and lots of free stuff/SWAG (food, shirts, sandals, towels, jackets, etc.)