A Thought About Injury
Every time I think I have my injury under control or improving, I realize that I don’t. The only thing that seems to genuinely ease the pain is rest, or even just taking it easy on my exercise routine. I realized this recently because I had been feeling really good, but I wasn’t going that hard on my workouts. I was able to take it a little bit lighter, and slower, and less intense, because my day was occupied with getting out house set up, and all the work we were doing was using up my energy that I typically tried to dispel through exercise.
But recently, as we’ve settled into the house, and there’s less work to be done, I’ve been hitting my workouts really hard. Four days per week of strength training. And two days per week of intense cardio. Either tough trail runs with lots of elevation gain, or HIIT style circuits in my garage using a combination of a rower, assault bike, heavy bag, and jump rope. And I’ve noticed in the past few days that my back has been acting up. It doesn’t help that during this time I’ve also been working to level a 10’ x 8’ space in our backyard that is covered in rocks and made up of dense, heavy clay soil.
But over the last couple of months I’ve been in a good morning routine, waking up and working on my pain points every day. I wake up most days in pain and twisted, and so I spend 30 - 40 minutes doing soft tissue work and pressure point releases with my foam roller and massage balls. I thought it had been healing me. Turns out, not so much. Even though it might not have been healing me the way I thought it was, I still think it’s good for maintenance, and I’ve continued to do it.
I think I’ve finally just come to accept hat this injury, initially sustained 5 years ago, that I never treated, is going to be with me for the rest of my life. I hope I’m wrong, and I will never stop working to try and fix it, but at this point it seems like a long shot. But it opens up kind of an interesting question.
If I rest, perhaps it will heal. If I rest, the pain will definitely subside. But if I rest, then what longer term benefits am I losing out on from not training the way I am currently. What will I lose in my strength and muscle mass? My endurance? My VO2 Max? Is it worth taking 1 month, 2 months, 3 months or more, off of training to see what happens?
It might be. But I know I’m not there yet.