Ramblings about pain and other things
From: alex_stpierre9
Subject: Fitness
Date/Time 2008-06-03 20:43:43
Remote IP: 99.246.92.35
Message
Just a warning that this is a very long post. I tried to fit as much as I could think of in it.
My first post here was about training-related pain and through the advice and contacts offered, I got alot of help.
I make a distinction between "pain" and "soreness". Although I know neither are necessarily indicators of a good workout or even progress, I've come to expect and even appreciate a certain ammount of muscular soreness post workout. I remember one poster saying "I must remember that pain is just weakness leaving the body" and I think that's an awesome attitude to have towards "healthy" pain. When "soreness" grows to the point that it becomes debilitating, or when it involves joint/skeletal and other problems, that's when it becomes "pain" for me. When it interferes with frequency or intensity of training, it becomes my enemy.
I'd just like to post my experiences here on "fighting" this enemy.
1) Stretching.
Relax into Stretch is a great book. I think most people talk alot about stretching, but really don't do it enough. Maybe that's just me though. I also think the ammount of stretching required really varies ALOT depending on body type and activity. Even without stretching for a week I can usually put my foot behind my head (sitting down), yet at the same time simply clasping my hands behind my back is slightly difficult. Why? A combination of my build and the activities I do, which are mostly upper-body intesive, and (primary reason)a lack of proper stretching.
So identifying problem areas and working on them is very important. Also if you are anything like me, (thick shoulders, bad posture, often sitting for extended periods, always stressed out) lower back health is super important. To this end.. Listen to Pavel: Stretch your hip flexors! Stretch them. Alot! Every day! Don't be satisfied with the typical 5-10 second "warm-up" stretches for the hips that are often done much to quickly and without being "relaxed into". Take your time. Never push it. In my experience when it comes to hip flexors maximum benefit is always achieved through SLOW, LENGTHY, progressive stretches, though often not even going to the point of discomfort. Pain relief and realistic ROM in the hips always takes priority for me over plastic elongation, and I think this is the way it should be unless you are a kick boxer or a contortionist :). Pushing the hips to far or to fast can actually make it worse, and lead to alot of soreness the next day.
On the subject of lower back health, there is a school of thought that connects emotion, especially stress and repressed anger, with the health of the lower back (try googling John Sarnow for more info). So always breath deeply and try not to get stressed. (so much easier said than done!)
2) Knowing when enough is enough.
Consistency over intensity (not knocking intensity of course - it's the other side of the coin, just don't let it take over).
Often times during a great workout, with all the endorphins pumping, it's hard to "read" your body and detect signs of over use. Don't learn the hard way.
On a warm Saturday with nothing to do, I went 4 hours on the heavy bag at 10 minute intervals. I felt amazing. After 2 hours and four cups of coffee I thought I could take on the world. I fell asleep instantly at 8pm. When I awoke, I couldn't move and was literally bed bound for the next 30 hours, barely managing to hobble to the toilet to relieve myself. Obviously I missed every workout for the next week and a half and felt like pooh. Shortly after I came down with a terrible throat/ear ache .
3) Drugs.
Pain killers are not your friends. I went through a period of abusing perscription pain killers (don't bother ragging on me, I feel bad enough as it is). Partly HOW I was able to do things like the above mentioned 4 hour workout. The fact that they allowed me to train harder, and train "through" the pain made me think that ocasional, judicious use of them would give me the boost I needed.
This is the problem with pain killers (as opposed to say anti-inflamatories or other drugs): all they are doing is blocking the pain signals to your brain, they are in no way diminishing the cause of the pain. They trick you into thinking you should, and CAN keep going when you really you should be sleeping. It's like if you've ever popped your bike tire but discovered you could sort of still ride home on just the rim rather than call someone for a ride. Sure you get home, but the next day your rim is warped and even when you change the tire, it's all rubbing up against the break pad and squeeking like crazy!
Ditto for stimulants: ephedrine, cocaine, caffeine, whatever the heck you may use. It may be fine to have a couple of cups of coffee, but be careful you're not using it as a crutch. As for the other stimulants, better not even to experiment. In Canada we went from the Ephedrine craze (miracle weight loss drug etc..) to it being banned for any kind of use other than in miniscule doses as a nasal decongestant. This is also true of many of the over-the-counter weight loss products (ie. Hydroxycut). Many of them are more or less "legal speed" and only help with weight loss because they make you so hyped-up you HAVE to move. Also energy drinks. 99.9% percent of these are garbage. They contain way to much sugar, tons of calories, tons of caffeine and make you crash like the Hintenburg. As for the new "5-hour energy" product on the market.. I tried it once and felt absolutely no effect. Have not tried it again. This could just be me or maybe it's a crap product, not sure. Long story short, most of these things are crap. Yes, some of them are effective in the short term, but usually for all the wrong reasons and all of them can have serious side effects. The progress you make on them will never compare to the true long term, physical and psychological progress of a dedicated and drug-free strength athlete.
Of course tobacco use is a no-brainer. I rue the day I first lit a cigarette and will be very, very, happy when I can sucessfully call myself a "non-smoker". Recently talking with a friend I mentioned how smoking has devastated my cardio. We play basketball together and he, also being a smoker, seemed unwilling to admit it and came up with a ridiculous range of excuses from "maybe you need better shoes", to "it's the wether", to "well you don't do enought cardio", this last at a time when I was doing more cardio-intensive exercise than ever in my life. And I can say with 100% certainty, after seeing him nearly horking up a lung after a 10 minute game of 1 on 1, that he to has suffered from his smoking.
My short list of "good" drugs (feel free to disagree):
-Occasional use of caffeine, esp. Green Tea (have read great things about green tea) can be very good for you, according to growing ammounts of research. Reaction to caffeine varies hugely from person to person. I think it would be safe to say that anything over 300mg a day is really pushing it (that's like maybe 3-4 cups of coffee I think, not sure on this). Even this is probably excessive. I know some people have upwards of 8 cups a day, but it can't be good for you in the long run!
-Ocasional use of over the counter anti-inflamatory type drugs may be useful when changing exercise routines and experiencing greater than normal soreness. Be aware though that even relatively benign drugs (i.e. Tylenol) are associated with damage to kidneys and liver. Your body still has to process all the crap you put in it.
-n-3 fatty acids (aka omega fatty acids) from fish oils have a wide variety of well researched benefits. Don't really know enough about this but I think they can act as anti-inflamatories (not sure which of the 3-6-9 or in what ratio they should be taken but I believe the 3's are the anti inflamation ones) it's worth looking into. Would appreciate if someone more knowledgeable can add to this :).
-Creatine!
Creatine is a well researched, generally safe, and very effective perfomance enhancing supplement. As with anything, moderation is best and research should be done before hand. I've had much greater success with "ethyl-etser" creatine than with Creatine Monohydrate. Ethyl-ester is bonded to an alcohol molecule to speed absorbtion and greatly decreases the ammount of wasted creatine, therefore achieving more with even lower dosages. Additionally it does not require consumption of large ammounts of sugar to stimulate absorbtion (as does C. Monohydrate) which is obviously a plus. Again this stuff is processed by the liver and kidneys I think. Also proper hydration becomes doubly important when taking creatine, since it can cause increased water retention. Besides, more water is always good. Large doses of creatine should not be taken for extended periods. (ie. cycle it). At least for myself and from my own experience I can't say enough about creatine, and no I have no links to any supplement companies etc.
-Multi-vitamins
As long as you don't overdo it and don't mind the extra $. At best you will fill in some possible nutritional deficiencies in diet. At worst you will have the most expensive urine around! Some believe they are a waste, but from what I've read, unless you are quite diet concious (which I am sure many people on Dragondoor are), you are likely going to be deficient in some areas.
4) Massage
Going to a proffesional is way beyond my budget, but post-workout massages can do miracles. They increase the dispersion of lactic acid, relieve muscle tension and associated pain, and best of all, heavy massage immediately after workours helps to break down additional muscle fibers which will lead to increased gains during the recovery phase.
Self massage on the arms, feet, legs, even shoulders can also be good. I was fortunate enough this week to get one really nice back massage immediately post workout and then one the next day, and I felt great. Topical creams such as A535 or Absorbine can also be great. Scents may help for relaxation. Be sure to test on a small part first. Some people have bad reactions to certain creams, and unless you are a masachist or completely insensitive I would recommend you never ever use Lakota. Maybe it's just me, but that stuff feels like napalm in a bottle.
5) Sex!
This is one that is probably rarely mentioned and I'm almost certain others will have dissenting opinions, which I would love to hear. I'm speaking here in the context of a consensual, adult, and monogamous relationship (last part may just be a bias of mine).
Of course going without it is not going to damage you in any way or seriously impact your training, but (as long as it doesn't cause additional stress or relationship problems) sex is great exercise and a super way of relieving both physical and psychological stressors. It can snap most people out of a depression as quickly as any drug and is just all around good for you.
Although sex immediately prior to training is probably not a good thing (tiredness etc, maybe affects hormone levels? don't know), I completely don't buy the old school belief that long-term abstinence from sex is beneficial to an athlete. I think physiologically this is probably garbage (again maybe someone more knowledgable can fill me in). I think the idea comes from the fact that sex and romantic relationships can be a distraction and sometimes increase stress. From this stand point the theory may have some merit. Also I do understand perhaps a few days of abstinence prior to a serious sporting event, but still I believe the benefits are tremendous.
Exercise, stress relief, increased self-confidence, relaxation, relief of insomnia. Obviously this is really dependant on lifestyle and other factors. (not suggesting going out and hiring an escort is going to benefit your training!) and safety is a must here.
Anyways, better sleep and decreased mental/physical tension are definately going to aid in relieving pain.
6) The ol' rubber mallet and the fist to the gut.
I add this in only for people who like to experiment with different things and/or aren't overly concerned about hurting themselves.
After intense lifting I pound my fore arms and biceps and chest with a rubber mallet, generally the idea was the same as that behind hard massage causing hypertrophy and strength gains. Amazingly I believe it also aided in preventing post workout soreness (sounds counter intuitive but there it is). Also having someone pound my shoulders the day after heavy lifting really helped with pain. The abs also always get a good pounding, usually courtesy of the fist of a helpful friend (it's amazing how easy it is to find someone willing to punch you in the stomach). Of course doing this you maintain tension in the abs. It's the same as the trick old-school boxers used to swear by: having someone drop a medicine ball on them and tensing upon impact. Many modern trainers will probably say this is ridiculous but since I read about it in Joe Fraizers "Box Like The Pros" (not particularly good by the way) I've been doing this for about 4 months. I've noticed I feel body shots much less than I used to. Of course this is off topic from pain relief but I thought I'd throw it in. Btw, probably best not to do this more than 2 days a week and definately not before or after sparring.
That's it! I hope some of this is useful to anyone. Always love hearing commentary, wether agreement, suggestions, or dissenting opinions!
Thanks a lot
Alex
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