boxingrrl

Alright... ACE Certified Personal Trainer, here. (Not a Doctor, or Physical Therapist-- just a personal trainer-- recently retired to become full-time skydiver.)AggieDave and some of the others had some great suggestions. Diet is key. 80% of your success is determined by what you put in your body, not what you do in the gym. Here is some very general information. Without seeing you in person and doing a thorough evaluation, I can't say that some or any of this will work for you. In terms of exercise order-- alway work your larger muscle groups before the smaller ones. Chest and back before bi's and tri's. Do compound leg movements (leg presses and squats) before isolation exercises (leg extensions, hamstring curls, and calf raises). Using dumbbells is a great idea as long as you're sure of your form. This is when it's handy to have a trainer (or someone) to demonstrate exercises and then give you feedback. Since you're imbalanced, use the same weight on both sides until the weaker side has caught up a bit. You can also do 1-legged extensions, curls, and calf raises to be sure each leg is carrying it's own weight. For cardio, you should try to mix it up, as much as you can without aggravating your back, knees and ankles. Ellipticals can be great, but it's important that you bear your own weight and don't hunch over the machine. (That's critical on all equipment, actually.) Try the bikes (recumbent might be best for your back). See how you feel. Do be sure that your seat is adjusted so that you have a slight bend in your knee at the bottom of your stroke. Regardless of which equipment you use, try to do some intervals where you crank up the intensity for a minute or two, then back off and repeat for 20-30 minutes. You can alternate between increasing the resistance and increasing your speed or pace. Other days, go for steady-state endurance and work for 45 minutes to an hour. Warm-up and cool-down. Stretch when you're done. I'd also suggest that you investigate yoga and Pilates. The flexibility and core strengthening that they both offer may help with your back and help alleviate some of side-effects of the scoliosis. If your gym doesn't offer free or low-cost classes, you might be able to get video tapes at your local library. And-- if any exercise feels like the wrong thing to do with your body, it probably is. Investigate alternatives. I'm sure that isn't everything, but I hope it helps.

*bump* You may also want to check out the "SGC Party in May" thread at the Bonfire... lots of DZ.commers will be in Xenia for a guaranteed good time!

Skydive Greene County is only 3 miles or so from the town of Xenia, OH. There is a Holiday Inn, a Best Western, and several other independently owned places... plus an EconoLodge on 35 that is a little further away. We have some numbers on our website, under links: www.skydiveohio.com, and I have phone numbers for them at the DZ. Our number is (937)372-0700. You are more than welcome to tent at the DZ. If the weather is uncooperative, more than one tent has ended up in the hangar overnight. It's all good... Let me know if there's anything else I can do! See you soon

I think you should use the new one, Val. You look beautiful in your current avatar, but oh, so serious. The new one is definitely the Val someone would recognize at the DZ. edited cuz I forget words n' stuff

Come on out to Skydive Greene County for our Memorial Day Boogie-- May 28-31. We'll have the CASA and potentially other aircraft. No registration fees. On-site camping (come early if you'd like an electrical hook-up). It's evolved into a beach theme year, so pack your Speedo or bikini, grass skirt and coconut bra. Raft dives, hit, chug and limbo.... RW organizing by our very own Woody and freefly organizing/coaching with our Canadian friends, Paulie and the Gravity Pirates. Visit our website for directions and more about us: www.skydiveohio.com, or call for details-- 937-372-0700. See you soon!

I can't just let this thread die... especially since I'm one of the cool kids and "out-of-towners"... Word is that Paulie and the Gravity Pirates will be at SGC for Memorial Day (and the Fourth of July). They'll be freefly organizing and I'm sure, giving the King's Pond a spanking. So far, we have at least one raft dive (and more if the raft is recovered), Speedos/bikini dives, a hit, chug, and limbo and...?????? I'm not sure if our friends in the 13Grand band will be out, but the neighbor boy is having one heck of a 21st Bday bash, complete with band. If he's got 100 people, the band says they'll play for free. Since we're all about neighborly relations, we might have to help him out. I'll see if he can't get his friends to wear age-tags for Sunny And add Bertusgeert to the list!

Thanks for sharing just the happy half of that skydive. Just thinking about your landing makes me want to call 911.

Jumptown, Orange, Mass. Keith LaRivierre was my first TM. Highly recommend him. My video/stills guy was Derek-- they both inspired me to join the sport. That's my $.02

Certainly, you want to go to the class and pay attention to how the parachute and lines should look. I second the recommendation for video, even if that makes me a slow learner. I really learned to pack by putting the video in and packing and repacking my rig in the living room with the remote handy. I finally got to the point where I didn't have to pause it to keep up. Helped me a lot! Good luck.

Skydive Greene County gives experienced jumpers a free jump for each level one tandem that they bring in, and a prize for the person who brings in the most at the end of the season. One of our college guys jumped almost exclusively on tandem tickets last year. Some people just have the silver-tongued salesman thing down!

I don't think that there is a way to do it that will be totally well-received, but I think it's fair to ask questions to get them thinking. For instance, "have you considered what might happen if you have an entanglement? with your RSL hooked up? Where's your hook-knife? or helmet release?" Starting a dialogue about the risks and solutions might at least get them to re-evaluate their choice, even if they don't put the camera away. If you can get them to think about their safety a little and send them in the right direction, they'll be better off than if you've said nothing. I tried to do a little intervention with a young jumper at my DZ last year. He kept jumping the camera, and rather smugly handed me a DVD of his footage at Christmas. But, if he'd had an accident, or if he has one now even at a mighty 100 jumps, I know that I tried... and sometimes that's all you can do.

There's a lot of good input here. I'd just like to cast my vote against the pro-rated by days idea. It's almost as bad as picking an arbitrary number out of the air and charging that to the renter. If you're renting, it should only matter that the rig is in date, not that it's close to it's repack date in case something should happen. I do like the insurance plan. The key to that, though, is for management to seriously set aside those funds for when they're needed-- especially if you're going to cover AAD service (and/or damage to the rig) in addition to repack costs. I also agree that the insurance should be for the day rather than the jump. That's just my $.02... Good luck on your contract. It would be great if you could let us know what you come up with.

Ok, I'll play... I haven't been posting here for all that long. I really like to use the King of the Hill theme for tandem freefall. (by the Refreshments)

Did I mention that the RW Scrambles will be out of the CASA????

4 Rounds of RW Scrambles-- Saturday, April 17th-- Out of the CASA at Skydive Greene County in Xenia, OH! $25 jumps include video-- No registration fee! Teams will be formed to distribute experience. All levels welcome and encouraged. Sign up for a great time, some learning and/or some teaching! Videographers also needed. Sign up via PM, e-mail: [email protected] Please include your RW jump #'s-- or, call the DZ (937)372-0700.

Hmmm... well that's still something to think about. Thanks for sharing this.

Can you select the pics you want on a disc from your memory stick? (Say, if I have 100 pictures on there, but only 25 are for this tandem). It looks very cool. Might have to add it to the list of things I'd like to buy the next time I get $300.

I used to have a Rottie and couldn't get homeowners/renters insurance with him (in two different states in the US). I guess I could get the insurance but either had to lie about having him and/or not make a claim if something had happened-- which it never did. I do understand the argument from the insurance companies' perspective, but I'm a firm believer in it not being the dog, but the owner. What do police officers do for homeowners insurance when they house their K9 companions (generally shepherds, Rotts, etc.)? I think that it's an unfortunate case of a few bad apples. Too bad insurance companies don't have the $/interest/resources to actually investigate individual dog owners and their dogs to determine eligibility for coverage. These blanket exclusions are the easy way out, IMHO.

Please join us this weekend for early season Otter jumps at Skydive Greene County-- this weekend, March 27 and 28th. In addition, we will be wishing two of our jumpers well as they pursue their careers in the military. The send-off party for Jamie (restationed to Oklahoma)and Adam (representin' with the Golden Knights) begins when the jumping ends on Saturday, or at 4 p.m. in the event of bad weather. So-- see you rain or shine, Saturday-- at SGC

Skydive Greene County, Xenia, OH. Come jump the CASA(s). Organizing/Coaching TBA, sweet landing area, on-site camping, great people, good times...www.skydiveohio.com

A steak and a blow job of course. Isn't that just a once-a-year holiday, like Valentine's Day?

Treeboy's been around longer than us young 'uns. Mike McCurdy is his best guess. (Had to be a few years ago, as we haven't done balloon jumps since I started...) So, what does Treeboy win?

Mike Rench? What do I win if I guess right?

Mike McCurdy? What kind of canopy colors?