This week I dislocated my whole body! Well it felt like it. Actually I put my back out bending over to pick a pencil off the floor. Nothing serious but crikey it really hurt. I struggled to put my socks on for two days and getting in and out of a car was a serious manoeuvre with a lot of swearing.
Anyhow, this is what I learned!
Make a plan and don’t wallow in it! I had planned a club ride on Sunday and was really looking forward to it. So not being able to get out was a real bummer. Often this would have had me feeling miserable and on the sofa with a lot of chocolate and several box sets of some mindless TV.
This time I made a plan for how I would spend the day. With a little bit of catching up on household admin and a little bit of fun in the form of retail therapy, cooking and a little bit of that box set (rather than a whole day). The household admin was therapeutic, helped to keep me moving and gave me the chance to sort out all my kit for my next bike ride. And at the end of the day I felt better.
Don’t be intimidated! Pulled backs can hurt a lot but sometimes aren’t as serious as they feel.
Keep moving so you don’t stiffen up. Just moving about the house and having a walk really helped me.
See an expert and get some advice: go for a massage, see a sports therapist, osteopath or chiropractor. As well as helping to loosen up my back, this just helped to reassure me it was nothing serious, and gave me the confidence to keep doing some light training.
Start with 25%: If you think you can do some training (or at least if your head says you can) then start with just a quarter of the workout with a lower intensity. If it doesn’t hurt then keep going and monitor how it feels afterwards. I was totally surprised that even though I couldn’t put my socks on I could still swim and even run without it hurting and it actually made it feel better.
Rehab: Within 72 hours of having an injury your brain will develop new neural pathways and movement patters so it’s essential to do some rehab and reestablish movement patterns pretty quickly.
With help from Coalition Performance I was in the gym for my regular S&C session a few days later. Things we focussed on were activation of muscles that switched off to protect my back, mobilisation and stretching of areas that are tight due to being bent over and walking like an old person. Things to target are:
- Glute activation
- Hip flexor stretching
- Core activation
- Chest and neck stretching
- Continued with my knee rehab exercises
By the weekend I was back on it – with only 2 training days missed and no chocolates!
If you’re injured why not get in touch for a chat and a review of your current injury management strategies.