Dooley Noted: The Blogs

Dooley Noted: 8/1/14 None of you will be surprised that I traveled to Vegas with an 18 kilo kettlebell. As I lifted it off the baggage carousel, a group of three women commented that it looked heavy. I smiled and replied, “Nah. It’s about 40 pounds.” One whispered audibly to the other, “That’s CRAZY, traveling with that.” This reaction is not foreign. I get the same look at least 10 times from passersby as I … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/31/2014 A few nights ago, I came home after not seeing my boyfriend for a few days. I had been teaching, treating, and learning every moment I was awake. While asleep, I dreamed in brainstorming mode. I was tired upon returning home after a 15-hour workday. And when I opened the door, he had prepared a very nutritious meal for us. This inspired me so much, because I had spent my day feeding … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/30/2014 I had the honor and privilege of watching StrongFirst candidates perform their snatch tests last weekend. For a female over 123 pounds, the snatch test requires the candidate snatch a 16 kilo kettlebell 100 times in five minutes. You can chalk only once. Every rep must meet strict standards, or it’s a no-count rep. These guidelines are non-negotiable. A candidate on my team expressed that she had asthma. Having worked a bevy … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/29/14 The first woman to ever make me feel strong was my mother. She grew up on a farm. She worked in a factory. Her body was pretty jacked. She didn’t eat much. She was always moving. She put up with no one’s bull. She showed me that people will think what they want. She told me to mind my own business. She told me to think for myself. When a boy canceled … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/28/2014 Your life can change in two years. I’m living proof. I was a fairly standard chiropractor, doing muscle releases and manual adjustments. It was fun and effective. Then, the kettlebell entered my world. A cannonball with a handle turned my world upside down. Workouts were no longer workouts. They were events in skills training Chest and leg days were over. Bicep curls were only done in the bottom of a squat to … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/27/14 This week, a very interesting conversational thread started on a group to which I proudly belong. The discussion was focused around a cynic of a type of technique I utilize in my rehab practice. What I found fascinating was the only first-hand experience with both parties of cynicism and support for the technique. The gentleman with this experience noticed that when he started a discussion with the cynic, the cynic refused to … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/25/2014 After an illness earlier in the week, I was not myself. Feeling better yesterday, I did a little too much too fast. I used the strongest part of me to get me through my day. Evidently, my strongest part is my neck. How do I know? It was the first to get injured. Dysfunction appears long before a repetitive microtrauma shows its face. Mine showed up during pressing. Evidently, I had been … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/23/14 Yesterday morning, I awoke at 5 AM, unable to lift my head. I had a fever. First, I had the response trained into me: Make that fever drop. I got up and walked to the veritable apothecary displayed in my kitchen cabinets. Then I stopped. My limbic system reminded me that a fever is there for a reason. I got back in bed and let that fever break itself. It was a … Read more

Dooley Noted: 7/22/2014 Breathing is a highly debated topic. We sometimes need sharp building of intraabdominal pressure to lift heavy things, like kids, couches, grocery bags, and weights. While we strive for all nasal, silent breathing, sometimes we can improve tissue extensibility through power breathing. We can also use it as an assessment to find flaws in quiet breathing that may have been hiding. Power breathing involves the building of increased intraabdominal pressure through a … Read more