FINALLY!!!

Twisted my first unused shoe today. A SCF #00 ultralite. These things have been stuck at 90 degrees for months. So after months of cranking on these and not feeling them budge. I felt it move, measured and it was out to 105. After some more effort I got it out to about 145 and then after a rest finished it to 180. Tried another shoe later but couldn't move it past 90. Oh well, this is still a big step forward.
Finished with some :15/:15 snatches at 5 reps/set and 10 sets.

yisturdy

Horseshoe Iso's, bent press, singles with 45# bar x 2, triples with 16kg kb, x 2, singles 24kg kb x 2. Pistols- singles x 3 20# kb.
Did a little walking with 24kg bell overhead.

Some stretching

Worked on the kneeling hip flexor stretch and frog stretch. I discovered even in my lack of abduction that the restriction is not in the adductors but in the TFL area and hip socket. Rolled those out on the foam roller. Not sure what that means but I'll continue to stretch, do some R-phase and hit TP's. Also did neck exercises and some leverage block "plate" curls. Getting more endurance in the neck (up to 15 reps) but not really seeing any size increase at this point.

What I've been up to

I've been pretty lazy the past couple weeks. Missing a few training sessions. I've started focusing more on my horseshoe bending the past couple weeks. I'm presenting a talk on shoulder health at a chiro seminar next month and would like to be able to show off by bending a shoe into a "S" . Getting to 90 degrees is no problem and getting from 120 to 180 has been done. Mostly working Iso's on a 90 degree shoe at this point. As per Adam's advice I'm also doing some 1 handed overhead work and 1 sided work. Trying to get 2 sessions of an abbreviated VO2 snatch practice per week also. Last week did 10 sets of 6 rep/set and I was hurting. Big difference from 5 per set to 6. So since I thought that much huffing and puffing would be counter productive I have scaled it back to 5 again. 12 sets today. 24kg windmill 3/3 x 2 , 1 handed farmer walk, 24kg x 2 , not sure about the distance, maybe 50 yds each rep.
I've also been slacking with my corrective stuff. Today did a little r-phase, leg lowering, toe touch.

Half the man I need to be

I recently got the results of a follow up hormone test. Morning cortisol rose from 9 to 21 which puts me in the normal zone. This is great news. Noon and afternoon levels still sit at 1 but I am confident they will come up to normal as time goes on.
Because of the depleted adrenal pathway it is stealing raw materials from my androgen pathway. The result is low andro (a precursor hormone which was on the market as a supplement during the Mark McGuire home run race of the late '90's)and my testosterone levels were less than half what they need to be. It's no wonder I get tired after 5 reps and had no stamina for SSST or other snatching endeavors. I'm excited to see the kind of progress I can make in my training when I get my testosterone levels up where they belong. It should definitely make it easy to add muscle and will increase endurance and speed recovery which will allow me to train harder. Estradiol, the strongest estrogen was also higher than normal. I guess I'm slowly turning into a woman, LOL. All jokes aside though, this testing could be beneficial for anyone wanting to maximize health and training. And low testosterone doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being manly. I consider myself a real man, I don't talk with a lisp, I don't watch Oprah and cry, I can grow a beard, I can kill my own food, I enjoy a big medium-rare steak, no problem with my plumbing either (references on request, haha). So if you don't have the energy you need or don't recover as fast as you should, some testing might be a good idea.
The program is to continue with a few modifications, still taking Rhemannia as an overall tonic, Echinacea to support immune system, switching from Astragalus to Ashwaganda which is an adaptogen, helps my body deal with stresses, not just emotional. Adding Tribulus which is a modifying herb that should help DHEA and testosterone production. All are Mediherb products and most are liquid to help with absorption. Will still continue with Symplex M for rebuilding and healing the glandular system, adding Hypothalamus PMG to help synch up the HPA and doing some digestive support. Also the liquid Cal-Mag-Zinc to build my reserves of minerals and increase my adaptive range and also help sedate the system so it can heal. I'm still using the IR sauna to help detox and may do a few other things to detox my body and especially liver as this is where the excess estrogens are conjugated for elimination. I'm making a renewed effort to get in bed by 10:30 and to eat more frequently to help control blood sugar levels.