Listen To Your Body!

"At least you can hear better, now that your traps aren't covering your ears." - Amy H RMT

Listen to your body. If you are in pain, it's your body telling you that something is wrong, and to lay off whatever activity you are doing that is causing the pain. So many times I have ignored the pain and have tried to "work through it". I can tell you that from experience, this is a terrible mentality to have. Often times our ego is too big to accept that we are not invincible, or have limitations. The ego is our worst enemy, and recognizing when it is flaring up, and controlling it, is a skill that develops over time.

I woke up last week with a "kink" in my neck. I have been training fairly hard and consistently over the past few months with no issues, so naturally I was a bit concerned. When most people think they have an issue with their neck, it is often actually caused by muscle tightness in the upper back. In my case, my upper back was extremely tight, likely due to poor stretching and overtraining. I immediately stopped my training (other than some long walks), and booked an appointment with my massage therapist at Urban Retreat, located on Spring Garden Road. I have been seeing this massage therapist for a few years now, and she knows my body well.

My massage was not the most pleasurable experience. It was actually quite painful at times. Of the hour long massage, a good 20 minutes was devoted to breaking up the tight tissues of my upper back. This basically consists of extreme pressure being placed on top of the tissue, and grinding back and forth until it breaks up. I have had a few of these massages in the past, but this one was especially painful. My therapist scolded me, and said that I should be stretching way more and using my foam roller after each training session. I am really good about stretching, and rolling out my muscles, but I tend to focus more on my lower body, as I have had hip/knee issues in the past. I was a fool for not giving my upper body more attention.

So what I have learned from this experience? Be more diligent when it comes to post training recovery. Stretch thoroughly, and utilize the foam roller to keep my muscles loose and at regular length. I've been training for quite some time now, but I'm still learning about my body. It's part of the experience.

Injury when training is almost unavoidable, but it's how you deal with the injury that keeps you in the game.

Train hard, but train smart. Listen to your body.