constantly carrying an injury

mrgriswold

This may sound odd, but in recent years I seem to always have an injury. I'm mid 30's and fairly fit. 5' 8" and thirteen stone. Played all sports through my youth and 20's. Currently doing lots of walking, golf and martial arts. Every week I add another pull or strain normally its outside of these activities, doing something simple. Are there any tips, foodstufs or potions out there that would aid my nimbelness? Just finding it hard to keep optimistic, most of my friends don't exercise and never have a pain or ache

ted1

Do you warm up and cool down , do you do stretches before and after activities ?

mrgriswold

ted1 wrote: »

Do you warm up and cool down , do you do stretches before and after activities ?

Yeh I do, that's the thing and I very rairly do any damage while doing activities is doing stupid stuff like missing a step or twisting... Not to sound too dramatic but I'm wondering if I have some underlying condition

double GG

By doing something simple do you mean bending over or what do you mean?

What do you do all day? Do you work in an office sitting down for 9 hours a day and then go to your martial arts.

Are they actually muscle strains or ligament sprains? Or are you just sore after training?

What sort of problems do you have? Groin, back, neck?

mrgriswold

double GG wrote: »

By doing something simple do you mean bending over or what do you mean?

What do you do all day? Do you work in an office sitting down for 9 hours a day and then go to your martial arts.

Are they actually muscle strains or ligament sprains? Or are you just sore after training?

What sort of problems do you have? Groin, back, neck?

I'm out and about all day, in and out of van, dealing with people. Currently i'm struggling with tight hamstring, leaving lower back v stiff and feel as if I've torn something in my shoulder all on my right side and I had a acl on my right knee a couple of years back... I think it might be all connected to it.. Although my knee feels fine. Am streaching out legs and lower back at every chance throughout the day. Pelvis thrusts are not something you should do in public:)

calfmuscle

balance/stability/proprioceptiony!

nice_guy80

mobility - knees, ankles, hips. lots of exercises out there to help with these

glute activation - weak glutes cause pulls on legs and back. you have to train your glutes to work.

flexibility - foam rolling and stretching (both static and dynamic)

poor running/walking form

injuries can be caused by one of the above or combination

ecoli

mrgriswold wrote: »

I'm out and about all day, in and out of van, dealing with people. Currently i'm struggling with tight hamstring, leaving lower back v stiff and feel as if I've torn something in my shoulder all on my right side and I had a acl on my right knee a couple of years back... I think it might be all connected to it.. Although my knee feels fine. Am streaching out legs and lower back at every chance throughout the day. Pelvis thrusts are not something you should do in public:)

How often would you spend sitting in the van overall in the day?

Would you ever have trouble sitting up when you wake up?

size5

nice_guy80 wrote: »

mobility - knees, ankles, hips. lots of exercises out there to help with these

glute activation - weak glutes cause pulls on legs and back. you have to train your glutes to work.

flexibility - foam rolling and stretching (both static and dynamic)

poor running/walking form

injuries can be caused by one of the above or combination

To me this post says it all first of all remember you are no longer in your 20's. though you don't state what age you are! Whatever about the martial arts( which probably has warm up mobilisation, cool down etc) if you have a tight hamstring walking may not be helping it.

With the injuries do you let them heel themselves or have you got treatment from a Physio? If they are heeling by themselves you are not getting to the underlying cause & they will keep reoccurring. The problem with injuries (particularly as we get older,) it can cause demotivation, which leads to inactivity, etc

If I was to add anything to nice guys post would be

1. Hot bath once a week- loads of Epsom salts
2. Anywhere near the sea? Do wonders for the body, not talking about swimming, just walking waist deep in the water(or depth you feel comfortable with) or do some squats in the sea
3. Drink plenty of water

nice_guy80

nothing worse for your body than sitting behind a desk all day or at the wheel.

Best recommendation I can give is to get a personal session with a strength and conditioning coach who can screen you with various tests, identify where your mobility and weaknesses are and design a manageable program to improve your movement, and build up the body to reduce injuries.

no magic bullet, you need to get back to the root of problems and then proceed from there with some consistent hard work in the gym or at home.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

********** Warning Broscience alert *********

I used to constantly tweak and strain muscles (especially intercostals) then I started having regular sports massages, nothing since I started. The same could be achieved foam rolling but I find it hard to be that hard on myself.

nice_guy80

Giovanni Sparse Possum wrote: »

********** Warning Broscience alert *********

I used to constantly tweak and strain muscles (especially intercostals) then I started having regular sports massages, nothing since I started. The same could be achieved foam rolling but I find it hard to be that hard on myself.

do you even lift?

seamus

I could be way off the mark here, but you're saying that you're around 82kgs, 173cms and primarily do cardio and flexibility exercise. So unless you're naturally or intentionally muscular with a low body fat %, then you're probably carrying a little more weight than you need to. Losing that excess will help with aches and pains and strains. You can be fit as a fiddle, but still 10kg overweight.

As you say that you tend to injure yourself when you're not exercising, it's worth looking at that. Simple things - are you wearing shoes that fit properly or are you constantly tripping on them? Are you getting enough sleep or are you absolutely shattered at the end of every day? I find myself injuring myself a lot more when I'm tired.

Other things as mentioned above in trying to improve your overall stability and flexibility may help. Yoga?

xgtdec

Giovanni Sparse Possum wrote: »

********** Warning Broscience alert *********

I used to constantly tweak and strain muscles (especially intercostals) then I started having regular sports massages, nothing since I started. The same could be achieved foam rolling but I find it hard to be that hard on myself.

+1 for this, id get a sports massage every three weeks...if i miss an appointment id notice it physically within a week.

mrgriswold

ecoli wrote: »

How often would you spend sitting in the van overall in the day?

Would you ever have trouble sitting up when you wake up?

Prob 2 hours over all driving, as for getting up its like the evolution of man....

mrgriswold

seamus wrote: »

I could be way off the mark here, but you're saying that you're around 82kgs, 173cms and primarily do cardio and flexibility exercise. So unless you're naturally or intentionally muscular with a low body fat %, then you're probably carrying a little more weight than you need to. Losing that excess will help with aches and pains and strains. You can be fit as a fiddle, but still 10kg overweight.

As you say that you tend to injure yourself when you're not exercising, it's worth looking at that. Simple things - are you wearing shoes that fit properly or are you constantly tripping on them? Are you getting enough sleep or are you absolutely shattered at the end of every day? I find myself injuring myself a lot more when I'm tired.

Other things as mentioned above in trying to improve your overall stability and flexibility may help. Yoga?

Thanks, yeh looking to get down to 12.5, as for the sleep thing a 19 month toddler at home.. Serious lack of sleep.

ecoli

mrgriswold wrote: »

Prob 2 hours over all driving, as for getting up its like the evolution of man....

My reference is more to the actual action of sitting upright. Many people tend to overlook a very important muscle when trying to determine lower back pain which impacts on the QLs, Glutes and hamstrings.

The lads advice is of getting a sports massage is not a bad idea and if you do go down that route my advice would be a) go to someone with a good reputation and b) ask them to take a look at your psoas*.

not giving medical advice actually advising to seek professional treatment to rule out possible differential diagnosis

kevpants

Very few of us have a perfectly functioning pelvis/hip/lower back area. It's a constant battle because you've probably accumulated injuries over years, sit too much, have bad posture.

You'd find a physio, osteopath etc would find plenty wrong with you.

For me an osteopath made the biggest difference. I suffered from lordosis (belly out, overly arched lower back) and no amount of mobility, stretching or glute activation helped that. Needed the Osteo.

Other issues may just be about strengthening certain areas etc. Unfortunately pain gets referred from certain areas etc so the internet can't really help you. Looking at how you stand, range of motion, what muscles are tight and what ones are weak and any tender spots would tell more than where you actually think the pain is coming from.

Foam rolling and massage is the equivalent of nurofen plus. It solves little but makes you feel better. But I recommend it because you'll probably never get to 100% sorted so do what it takes to feel better.

ecoli

kevpants wrote: »

Very few of us have a perfectly functioning pelvis/hip/lower back area. It's a constant battle because you've probably accumulated injuries over years, sit too much, have bad posture.

You'd find a physio, osteopath etc would find plenty wrong with you.

For me an osteopath made the biggest difference. I suffered from lordosis (belly out, overly arched lower back) and no amount of mobility, stretching or glute activation helped that. Needed the Osteo.

Other issues may just be about strengthening certain areas etc. Unfortunately pain gets referred from certain areas etc so the internet can't really help you. Looking at how you stand, range of motion, what muscles are tight and what ones are weak and any tender spots would tell more than where you actually think the pain is coming from.

Foam rolling and massage is the equivalent of nurofen plus. It solves little but makes you feel better. But I recommend it because you'll probably never get to 100% sorted so do what it takes to feel better.

If it is a muscle injury I would argue that I have treated many people with chronic lower back pain. Main issue is finding the root cause once you find this there is no reason why majority of people can't make full recovery (again depending on the type of injury)

Each patient is different so there is no black and white solution/damnation

kevpants

ecoli wrote: »

If it is a muscle injury I would argue that I have treated many people with chronic lower back pain. Main issue is finding the root cause once you find this there is no reason why majority of people can't make full recovery (again depending on the type of injury)

Each patient is different so there is no black and white solution/damnation

Totally agree with you, I was just making the point it's hard to get rid of chronic injuries and there's probably plenty of factors involved. As you get older I think the types of injuries you tend to get seem to hang over you and it's a bit of a battle to keep them at bay. Regardless of succesful previous treatment.

I am biased as a powerlifter with a back issues that I can feel wacthing me even though technically I'm "better". I see it in plenty of my peers too.

discus

I'm constantly carrying them too OP. If you think back to your younger days, did you get many injuries that you'd ignore or walk-off? In my case I used to get sprained ankles and continue playing a match, or fracture my elbow but keep playing basketball 'cause it was easter break. You could have hampered yourself in this way, and you might need to accept that at your age, it's not gonna get better.

I'm constantly spraining my ankles, especially my left. I can't run unless I'm in a pair of tightly laced boots Still run on it though, have an ego to maintain.