The beat up body, training and how you deal with it thread

Get a niggle that lasts more than a week and go and get it fixed. That and tiger balm!

 

Without my friend who does deep muscle massage my back would keep me out of training a lot. It's a back/hip problem that I need to get a massage for every 2 months other wise it flares up. I take tonnes of fish oil which seems to keep the aches at bay.
Also got my dodgy toe I broke that I have to tape up every now and again as it gets really sore and is still bent. Then there are all the nasty bruises and bad neck from grappling and the usual slight black eyes from boxing.

I keep anti inflammatories in stock, plus loads of thai oil and chinese tendon oil. Plus I find Radox bath salts help the aches.

That and trying to sleep as much as I can when resting and taking Nocte by SIS at night to help better sleep when I have a few day's training on the run.

Why do we do it again?

 

You should get that fixed. Once it's done you tend to need a check-up once a year or so. As Frodo has just found out.

 

It's more or less managable at the moment, but yeah sorting it once and for all would be fun. Had a session with an osteopath earlier this year and I really should keep up my exercises.


Oh yeah forgot my trusty foam roller, great for helping stop the aches and pains before they get too bad!!!

 

I got it from here
http://www.chinesehealtharts.co.uk/shop.asp?style=lotion

I actually use it on my achilles, I used to get tendonitis badly when running and it often hurts, seems to help me. It's the one at the bottom of page one.

 

"The only things that keep me going are anti-inflammatories, elastic bandages and Deep Heat"
...the only things that keep ME going are Sauza silver tequila and Newcastle Brown Ale,hehe...something always seems to hurt , but I am getting a little old....i figure I'd rather suffer through aches,pains,and the occasional injury than turn into a complete bag of jello ...I'm bad enough as it is...

 

I'll fling a recommendation for Cissus into this thread. It has helped me out with niggling tendon issues in the past.

 

I have suffered a few really nagging back injuries and a severe break in my right foot with a high ankle sprain from training. Those are the only injuries that continue to crop up and give me a hard time.... After exhausting myself in the E.R. and dealing with chiropractors, pills, wraps and bed rest I have found personally that acupuncture works miracles and keeps my injuries at bay. I go once every few months and the expense is way less then any modern western practices you will find around town. I highly recommend this to anyone seeking a long term career in the arts. But yeah, keep the tiger balm handy too...

 

My body is held together mostly by double sided sticky tape. When I train I wear a semi-rigid ankle brace to avoid re-spraining one ankle. I now wear light training shoes to avoid dislocating my little toe again.

As the years wear on you have to learn to manage injuries and not go at them like a bull at a gate. Otherwise you'll just end up reaching a point where you may not be able to train at all.

I have a number of minor joint injuries which I manage very well thank you by weight training. The muscles stay strong and support the joints, but you have to do this right otherwise you can do more harm than good.

Mike

 

Thats interesting Mike,can I ask what you mean by "but you have to do this right otherwise you can do more harm than good." please?,I mean what would doing it right be? I would like to protect my joints and have thought of weight training but I have real bad pain in both shoulders,any tips on how to approach training with the weights without causing urther damage?.

Thanks bro.

 

Hi fire cobra

I was specifically thinking of situations where you have a significant joint injury which requires physiotherapy. So you start with the exercises the physio gives you. Typically (certainly in the case of a sprain) these will include a combination of neuromuscular control exercises designed to improve your control over the damaged joint, and strengthening exercises. The strengthening exercises usually start out being (relatively) static.

You want to strengthen the muscles surrounding the joint in order to hold the different components of the joint in their correct position. However, most such exercises involve moving the muscles and hence moving the joint. Doing so against a load (ie. a weight) may cause even more inappropriate movement in the joint than you're already experiencing and so worsen your joint problem. Hence the static exercises often prescribed by physios. You're working the muscles isometrically (ie. tensing with no change in length of the muscle, and so no movement at the joint).

This regime will only take you so far though. Of course, you can ramp up the weight. But at some point you'll need to move to exercises that involve moving the muscle (and the joint). So you start with a light weight and slow-ish controlled movements. Ramp up the reps before you ramp up the weight. Do this incrementally over months - not weeks or days!

Eventually you find that you've progressed on to fairly standard weight-lifting. Or to be more precise the type of weight training known as anatomical adaptation - a moderate number of reps moving light to moderately heavy weights. I use what I think is fairly uncommon regime: I do 5 sets of 10 reps for each exercise - starting with a fairly light weight which warms me up for the harder work to come, the last set being a relatively heavy weight. If I have a problem with a particular muscle group or joint that day, the early sets will warn me of that before I start on the heavier weights. Many will argue that its not a terribly efficient regime, but it is a safe one. Its vanishingly rare for me to prang myself in the gym.

And of course, the keyword is 'incremental'. Both in number of reps and increase in weights. I never just jump up to a new weight, but instead phase it in gradually. Its a process that takes years. Its been very successful for me. I've gone from having a fairly bad knee problem, a bad back and a variety of minor joint issues to a much, much better state. Nowadays I'm doing fairly gruelling (by my standards) cross country cycle to work a couple of days a week. 10-15 years ago my knee would have just gone POP! if I'd tried that.

I've looked a little into different weight training regimes. I think using a periodisatiion approach can be very beneficial. But the phases of the cycle that demand rapid movements and/or very heavy weights carry an increased risk of injury, or at least aggravation of a pre-existing injury. I gave myself tennis elbow in exactly this way. Of course, you may be able mix it up - you could, if need be, do anatomical adaptation for your arms and maximum strength for your legs. The results probably wouldn't be as optimal as doing the whole periodization thing properly, but you would see results.

This whole process (from physio to bog standard weight training and onwards) takes years. But you can jump in part way through the process - eg. if you don't have a pre-existing injury you don't need to start with the physio, just light weigt training instead.

Mike

 

Choke is a brilliant film!!!

 

If you need regular pharmaceutical drugs and icepacks then I think you need to reassess your training regime. Something is either aggravating or causing a problem. In the long term this won't be sustainable.

Mike

 

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet:

The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment for Pain Relief Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your Self-Treatment Guide for Pain Relief: Amazon.co.uk: Clair Davies, Amber Davies: Books


Very good book for a wide range of injuries, generally quick and easy. Highly recommend it. Plus, once you get the hang of it, you can do it to others too, they will love you for it!