For as active as I am, I’ve been pretty fortunate to remain injury free. About six weeks ago I began experiencing pain in my right quadricep. I had a massage to work it out and continued as I had been, but the pain returned. This time it spread to my right glute and hamstring. At my next massage therapy session we delved a little bit deeper in an attempt to discover the root of the problem. We talked about my recent exercise patterns. Had anything changed? Thankfully I am anal retentive about tracking my workouts. This allowed me to easily determine that not only had I increased the weight during leg workouts, I had also increased the volume (by adding two days of a short body weight routine). The result...my right quadricep became significantly stronger than my left and my quadriceps (in general) became significantly stronger than my hamstrings. Once we identified the source of the problem we were able to come up with a strategy for correcting it.
I’m working on strengthening my posterior chain. I’m working on regaining balance with single leg exercises. I’m working on body awareness, not only in regard to pain, but also when it comes to breathing...this has proven to be the most challenging part of the rebuilding process.
I’m pretty good friends with this guy at the gym. There are times when I catch him lifting with shitty form and I’ll call him out on it. The problem is that he is frustrated that his fifty-something year old self cannot lift the same weight as his forty-something year old self. He’ll frequently tell me what he used to be able to do. Two weeks ago he hurt his shoulder doing lateral raises with a weight he had no business lifting. It set him back a week. When he returned I told him to stop lifting with his dick (or his ego) and to be thankful for what he can do. On Friday, a similar scenario presented itself. One of the morning regulars, a guy in his mid-fifties asked me for a spot on the bench press. He was attempting a one rep max. When he completed it he told me that he has a bum shoulder and was advised to stop benching fifteen years ago...but, there is just something about being able to do it that he can’t let go of...it’s almost as if he uses it as a measure of something more than just physical strength. Getting old doesn’t have to suck. These guys need to realize that their foundation is there. All they need to do is switch up the tools they are using to keep it strong.
