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Schooled by Pain

Greg Spindler, LMT, CSET

As athletes, we bring pain upon ourselves. And purposely so. To get better, one must challenge the body to higher limits with speed, distance and tempo that create unpleasant senses which arise from damaged, or potentially damaged, tissue. Tapping into this “redline” and beyond, our body responds with soreness, fatigue and even emotional breakdown. Doing this too often, too hard leads to injury with pain. Lack of recovery techniques leaves us sidelined, watching others participate and have fun.

So managing this pain is key to becoming a successful athlete. Athletes need to know their body type for their sport of activity. They need to know how to recover as soon as possible and prevent injuries or illnesses to keep the training/racing cycle going.

Training cycles/periodizations/schedules can’t be the same for all. A small-boned (structural frame) person can’t do the same sport as a large-framed person on the same training load. And visa versa. Even having two different training styles, the same result of timed performance can be achieved for different individuals. Experience plays a part in developing awareness of limitations. Strangely enough, going through the process of getting an injury can help develop the skills to avoid many more. But here are some ideas that just might help keep you going:

·Hydration- water intake flushes and restore tissues to suppleness. We can go on

and on about H2O.

·Nutrition- proper nutrition allows for rehab at the cellular level and fuels for the

next workout. Consume the proper balance for you within 30 minutes of

finishing a workout.

·Stretching- done on a regular basis can help with performance and keep tissues

at proper length. This can be part of warmup and cooldown as well as extra

sessions of focus.

·Icing-the magic of just 10-15 minutes after intense workouts creates an

opportunity to get inflammation out as soon as possible. Ice baths, buckets filled

with water and ice, ice packs, and frozen veggie bags all work well.

·Structural bodywork- Identifying patterns and releasing them to minimize

compensation and reduce chances of injury. This creates efficiency with gait and

range of motion throughout the body.

·Sleep- As easy as it sounds, most people don’t get the rest needed 7-8 hours per

day. It takes 2 hours to get to that deep sleep state.

·Cross training and core exercises- working the same muscles over and over in

the same plane of direction will lead to problems. Mix it up. Adding core

exercises to stabilize the body allows for greater ease of activity.

All of these can help PAIN stay away.

You might ask, “When is pain good and when is pain bad?”

As a general rule of thumb, pain that goes away after warmup is not serious but possibly needs some professional guidance. It can be caught and treated early before a more serious condition arises. Pain that gets worse as a workout continues is an injury (usually acute) and you need to consult a professional immediately. Just simply taking days off usually won’t help this condition.

Please don’t confuse this with the type of pain that is brought about by tough workouts or races due to lactic acid build-up (the guy inside us who tells us to slow down). To deal with this guy (or physiological change), mental toughness, or should I say a strategy against him, is in need. I will talk about this in a future article. Until next time, Train Hard, Train Safe and Train Smart.