Your Body Is Functional
Are you dysfunctional?
Here's a tactic to get people to buy something.
Tell them there is something wrong, like a "dysfunction". Then make yourself sound smart and sell a "solution".
Your body is not dysfunctional. It is functioning exactly the way it is supposed to. Even when it is not functioning optimally.
Here's an example: Limping.
You can observe someone limping and assume they sprained an ankle, or hurt their knee. Or that they have a blister. Or are recovering from a surgery.
Are they dysfunctional? Not at all. Limping is a normal response to address the current situation. Should you limp forever? Nope.
There are plenty of things fitness and health gurus will promote as dysfunctions.
Posture
Alignment
Limp length
Shoulder height
Walking gait
What you eat
How you sleep
...
The list is endless.
Want to improve the way your body functions? Amazing. Love that for you.
But don't let someone else feed you a bullshit narrative that you are dysfunctional and that you need some product or program to be fixed.
Disclaimer: This post is about categorizing normal things as dysfunctional. There are certain things that need to be addressed by medical professionals.
I Have Insurance. Why Would I Work With A Coach?
The case for coaches on your rehab team.
I like sports so here's a sports analogy.
Rehab is best accomplished with a team approach.
Your doctor, physiotherapist, chiropractor or (insert registered rehabilitation profession); they are like the head coach.
They have a lot of responsibilities. They are extremely knowledgeable and have a unique set of skills that put them in the position of head coach. But their resources, especially time, can be limited. When they have a big team they can not spend multiple hours a week with every single person on the team. They would get burnt out.
A fitness professional who is educated in the rehabilitation realm, is like the assistant coach. They are more involved in the day to day activities. They have the time to make changes in coordination with the guidance of the head coach. They also develop the entire athlete or client, not just the problems (pain, etc) that have already been identified. They communicate with the head coach to inform them on the progress of the athlete, so that adjustments and further care can be provided.
Without the assistant coach, the head coach could have athletes (clients) who are struggling to progress. Maybe they are struggling with accountability. Maybe they are struggling to maintain an active lifestyle in their rehab.
Without the head coach, the assistant coach could hit roadblocks that become out of their scope. Maybe it's its a treatment or diagnosis they are not qualified to provide. Maybe it's knowledge about a particular issue.
When working together, fitness professionals and health care providers can all succeed. And more importantly the client succeeds.
So yes, if you have insurance you don't need to also work with a coach to solve your problem. But with a good team, I believe it to be a results multiplier that gets you a better return on your investment. Especially if you want to live an active lifestyle.
It Runs In The Family
Is pain a problem in your family?
“My back always hurts, it runs in the family”
Just because grandma Sally had back pain, doesn’t mean that you are destined to as well.
Unless you believe that you are.
If you believe that pain is inevitable due to age, genetics, etc, you will increase your likelihood of experiencing pain.
Pain doesn’t need to occur after a particular incident. It would be great if it was that simple.
Your beliefs influence your pain.
You are not grandma Sally.
You have the ability to change your beliefs.
You have the ability to change your pain.
Solutions Without Information
Have you been offered a solution without that person knowing anything about you?
A proposed solution without information is not a solution. It’s a guess.
This story comes from a Facebook group of a very popular CrossFit programming company.
Someone posted that they had developed tendinitis in their elbows during the 13-week strict pulling cycle that they had just completed (as per the group programming). They were looking for advice.
The first comment is from a coach and gym owner.
“Smash scapula with lacrosse ball leaning on the wall, don’t do any movements that are more than a 5/10 for pain. Don’t take anti-inflammatories. Don’t ice. Do get a voodoo band and then message me when you get it”.
So far the only information from the person experiencing pain is that they just did 13 weeks of strict pulling. They say they have tendinitis. We do not know if that is a diagnosis from a professional or a self-diagnosis.
There is very little information.
So I ask this coach why he chose the scapula. I thought it was a more professional question than my alternative of “why are providing solutions without knowing what the problem is”.
The answer: “Anatomically I can’t tell you. I just know that where this is pain it’s often upstream or downstream causing it.
So what is NOT downstream from the elbow? The scapula.
But he’s going to send me some magical video of how to “fix” elbow tendonitis. I’m really looking forward to it.
To offer advice you need information.
Without information, anything is a guess. Guesses have a low likelihood of success. It’s ok to not know.
Information that would be beneficial:
What was their training volume like before the 13-week cycle? Especially with pulling movements.
Is the pain isolated at the elbow? Anything in the shoulder or wrist? Does it get better or worse with activity?
Do they have the mobility to get into the positions they need for the movements they want to do? Especially in the shoulder and wrist.
Any previous injury history?
What is their recovery like? How much do they sleep? What is their stress like?
These are only a few questions. There are plenty of others that could come up with a potential client.
Listen first. Get the information.
We Are Doing It Wrong
Training should not consist of pain.
If you are consistently working out in pain we are doing it wrong.
Maybe it’s the volume.
Maybe it’s the intensity.
Maybe it’s the technique.
Maybe what we are doing isn’t addressing your problems.
Maybe what we are doing isn’t the best path for you at this time.
I say “we” very intentionally.
Because it’s not only the responsibility of the client/athlete/member.
It’s also the responsibility of the coach/gym/program.
It should be a team effort. With all parties held accountable.
You do not need to tolerate pain.
Fitness should augment your life. Not leave you in pain.
Pain Isn’t Funny
Is pain a laughing matter?
If you have been dealing with pain for weeks, months or even years, it’s not funny anymore.
Sure there are videos all over the internet of painful experiences that could be objectively funny. Search for fail videos and I’m sure you will find a good laugh. That’s not the pain I’m referring to.
Consistent pain is not funny.
Maybe it’s the pain you feel when you walk up steps.
Maybe it’s the pain you feel in your wrist when you are at work.
Maybe it’s the pain you feel when you deadlift.
This pain can be addressed. Unfortunately laughing is not the answer.
It takes a coach and/or clinician willing to listen instead of laugh.
Low Back Sore After You Deadlift?
Are deadlifts the problem?
Does deadlifting leave you with low back soreness the next day?
Deadlifts get a bad reputation for low back pain and soreness.
I often hear things like “I deadlifted yesterday and now my low back is sore, I must have done something wrong with my technique”.
Sure it’s possible that your technique could have been improved, maybe recruiting other areas of your body to assist you. Maybe leading to less soreness.
But soreness also doesn’t need to be bad. We don’t always want to be sore, but soreness is a normal response to training, including with deadlifts. I have yet to hear “My biceps are sore from pullups yesterday, I must have done something wrong with my technique”.
Deadlifts are a posterior chain exercise (back half of your body). Your low back is included in that. While we want your glutes and hamstrings driving the majority of the activity, your low back is absolutely involved.
Here are some things you could look at that could influence that soreness:
Recovery: How has your sleep and nutrition been? Are you adequately fueling your body? Were you giving yourself adequate rest between sets?
Training loads: Did you increase your training loads to volumes that your body has not experienced yet?
Movement quality: Was your movement quality better at different weights or reps?
Areas of strength: Is your low back simply not as strong as other areas of your body? Maybe it just needs time to catch up.
Soreness is normal and ok. It doesn’t need to stop us from progressing.
No Pain No Gain
Do you need to go through pain to get results?
No pain, no gain.
This sentence is on the All Star team for dumbest sayings about exercise. It's up for MVP.
It implies that to see progress you need to feel pain. That it’s inevitable.
It started in 1982 with Jane Fonda. She would say things like “no pain, no pain” and “feel the burn”. It’s led to some people thinking that we need to push past muscle fatigue and that delayed onset muscle soreness is the sign of an effective workout.
It’s been frequently mentioned in high level sports and athletics.
And it’s seeped into everyday life and gym culture.
And it’s false.
To see progress in your training in the gym, pain is not needed. Sure you want to challenge yourself. That is important. But there is a big difference between challenging and painful.
What Comes First? Pain Or Posture?
Is posture the source of your pain? Or is your posture the result of pain?
This is a chicken or egg scenario.
Did you get injured because of your posture?
Or is your posture because of an injury?
This concept comes from @greglehman. He originally mentioned the thought process from leg injuries.
Basic idea is that people start to limp due to a lower limb injury. They don’t get a lower leg injury from limping.
So why do you have the posture that you have?
Maybe it’s because you’ve adapted to a specific way of moving.
Or maybe it’s because of a response to an event, and your body has now adopted a new position (or posture) in response to it.
Do You Need To Fix Your Posture?
Is your posture wrong?
This is a question I hear a fair amount. It’s often brought up as a source and cause for pain.
What is good posture for you?
Why do you believe your current posture to be the problem? How have you isolated that to be the main cause?
In 1952, a standard reference for posture was created for what would be considered a normal posture. 2000 people were evaluated for their posture.
The “normal” posture was created using an ideal from the 2000 people, not from the average postures observed. Meaning of the 2000 people, none of them demonstrated what was considered to be a “normal” posture. They were all abnormal by their own definition of normal.
That was 1952.
There are now multiple sources of research showing that postures often viewed as bad (like forward neck posture) are not independent causes of pain. @aaron_kubal has multiple posts on the topic.
So does your posture need to be fixed? (being “fixed” is an issue on it’s own).
Or could you just benefit from more variety and movement?
Overuse is a thing. It can happen in many areas of your body. Maybe you could use some more variety in your positions to let things calm down.
Feeling Good Isn’t Enough
Does rehab stop when you feel good?
Rehab doesn’t end when the pain stops.
I’ve been that coach that heard someone was pain free after an injury and let them load a barbell with pre-injury weights. That’s not who I am now.
You strained your hamstring playing soccer on the weekend.
You are eager to get back to what you normally do in the gym. You want to get back to deadlifting, squatting, running and anything else your workout could bring. And of course you want to get back to playing soccer.
You are in pain so you go to get some rehab work done. Maybe that’s physiotherapy, maybe it’s chiropractic, maybe it’s massage therapy. Through a combination of manual therapy techniques you are able to be pain free, which is fantastic!
You can go through your day pain free now. You are back in the gym doing your normal activities.
So are you done? Are you back to 100%?
The healing time of a muscle strain can range from 1 week-6 months. Maybe you feel great at 4 weeks but your tissue healing still needs more time.
You need more time to heal and a graded return to sport or activity. You need measurables to assess your strength levels relative to your pre-injury state. This likely doesn’t happen by feeling pain free and then jumping in on a fitness class and going 100%. But this can happen with a team approach in your rehab (that includes knowledgeable coaches).
Rehab doesn’t need to be an endless loop. You don’t need to always bounce between injured and pain free.
It may take more time than you want it to. But the results will last longer too.
You Get What You Tolerate
Are you too tolerant?
If you are consistently experiencing pain when working out this post may be for you.
You’ve been working out consistently for years. You love it, it's an important part of your life.
But there has always been a movement that has caused you pain.
Maybe it’s running, maybe it’s squatting, maybe it’s deadlifting.
You have always pushed through the pain. You’ve tried rest, you’ve tried ice, you’ve tried some exercises you found on youtube.
Nothing has been the solution.
So you continue on, tolerating the pain.
Eventually your pain tolerance even increases. But you are still in pain.
You need someone to ask some important questions.
Are you over-stressing your body?
Do you have some restrictions that could affect those painful movement patterns?
Are there factors outside of the gym that influence your pain?
These questions (and more) will lead to a better path towards solving your problem.
Training with a small amount of discomfort or pain can sometimes be appropriate. This is why I give specific pain tolerance directions for my clients that are specific to the issue we are trying to solve. Sometimes it’s below a 4/10 for perceived pain. Other times it could be to move in 100% pain free ranges of motion.
But if we are only ever experiencing pain, with no positive changes, then we need to find a different path.
Moving Poorly
When is it ok to move poorly?
PSA: If you have been going to the gym and are currently experiencing pain with certain movement patterns this post is likely not for you. But I may still be able to help you. Just in a different way.
For anyone who is inexperienced in exercising or maybe even have never exercised before:
I would rather you move poorly than not move at all.
This isn’t to say that you should put 300lbs on a barbell and have at it.
This is about the fear of movement.
The fitness industry can be so polarizing saying that certain movements will cause you pain.
Or that you need to move a certain way. And it can lead to people being afraid of starting what could be an extremely fulfilling process.
But here’s our reality: so many people are not moving. And so many of the claims that people read and hear are not true.
Move. It’s good for you. With proper progression and activities you enjoy, you will feel better.
Maybe your knees move in different ways when you squat.
Maybe your back rounds a bit when you deadlift.
Maybe your arms don’t lock out when you press.
When you are new to movement, I am ok with all of those things.
This isn’t to say that we aren’t going to try to improve how we move.
But not a single person is perfect. It would be absurd for a coach to expect movement to be perfect.
Not sure where to start? Let’s chat.
Age ≠ Pain
Is physical pain because of age?
Pain is not inevitable.
When we believe that our pain is due to our age, we relinquish the control we could have with how our bodies feel.
If the statement was true, that pain was inevitable, at what age could we expect it?
At 30? 45? 60?
That information to answer that question does not exist.
Is there an aging process that could contribute to pain? Absolutely.
But we aren’t helpless against it.
There are things we can control. We can control how we eat, sleep, move and think.
The idea that pain is inevitable can be easily spread and believed by those who aren’t sure what to do about it.
Know someone who believes their pain is due to age? Share this with them.
Mitigation>Prevention
Can we prevent it? Or mitigate it?
In the realm of injuries, mitigation is better than prevention. Because prevention doesn’t exist.
Mitigation is the action of reducing the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something.
Mitigation accepts that there are certain things that are out of our control.
We can’t control that hidden patch of ice that you slipped on in the winter.
We can’t control that box that fell on your toe.
We can’t control the car that forced you off the road into a biking accident.
We can control the steps we take to have those uncontrollable things be less severe.
We can prepare ourselves physically to be able to recover quicker from those incidents.
We can make it more likely that a 6 month recovery becomes a 3 month recovery.
We can make it more likely that you can be less hindered in the ability to do the things you want to do.
There are those that will recommend you do some weird training to prevent injuries. Those things may look cool, but unfortunately prevention is not possible.
Because life is going to happen. We can’t prevent that. But we can make the most of it by being as prepared as possible.
When to Use a Foam Roller
When should you use a foam roller?
Let’s dive into some claims about foam rolling.
One of the big claims for foam rolling is decreased soreness. Studies have shown no negative effect of foam rolling (increased soreness) and found about a 2% improvement in perceived soreness. This was studied using a 10x10 back squat program and 20 minutes of foam rolling.
Some claim that it promotes blood flow. So does running, walking, squatting, biking, rowing, or just moving. You would have to foam roll crazy fast to match the amount of blood flow created by those activities.
Another claim is loosening muscles. A commonly spread idea is that it will loosen knots in your muscles. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Let’s take someone who squats 500lbs. Their muscles and body structure have adapted to move 500lbs. A piece of foam isn’t going to do much to those muscles. But can change happen? Yes. But it won’t last long. Studies looking at improving range of motion showed that foam rolling prior to training can improve range of motion but that the improvement lasts approximately 15 minutes.
So how would I use it for myself or my clients?
To me, 20 minutes of foam rolling isn’t worth it for 2% improvement. I would rather manage the training volume and overall recovery (sleep, nutrition, etc) better. But for athletes, this could make a lot more sense. Athletes can’t control when their games are or how intense a game is. If it helps, do it.
For some people who feel restricted in movement, foam rolling could be useful. Let’s take someone who has very stiff ankles and it is restricting their squat or ability to run. Small bouts of foam rolling on the calf prior to training could provide a short-term window of improved range of motion. Next, we would use that range of motion. We would load it. Want to change your muscles? Load them. If we load that new range of motion, it will be more likely that that range becomes more permanent. So that eventually increasing range of motion could be less of a priority.
Lastly, the placebo effect is real. If you have been foam rolling, you enjoy it and are seeing results, then keep doing it. No need to change something that is working.
Shoutout to E3 Rehab for the majority of the content for this post. They have some great resources on the topic on youtube.
When Foam Rolling Isn’t Enough
Is foam rolling the solution for you?
You’ve got this knee pain that is affecting your ability to run. You love to run. It’s an escape for you, a part of your routine.
You see a video on Instagram of someone saying to use a foam roller to reduce knee pain. They seem smart. They run a lot too.
So you start foam rolling. You start with 5 minutes of foam rolling before your runs. It helps for 5 minutes but then the pain comes back.
So maybe more is better. You try 10 minutes of foam rolling. It helps for 6 minutes but the pain comes back.
This cycle continues until you spend 30 minutes before and after running on your foam roller.
That’s an hour of your day.
Is the foam roller the solution for you?
Maybe there’s a more appropriate solution for your needs.
It could be strengthening your hips, quads, calves, feet, etc.
It could be managing your recovery better through sleep and nutrition.
It could be managing your running volume more appropriately.
It could be a lot of things. And maybe it includes using that foam roller. But not for an hour a day.
Feel like you are spending time doing something and not getting the results you want in the time you have available? These are the problems I aim to solve.
What Worked For Them May Not Work For You
You don’t need to do what everyone else does. Especially when it’s stupid.
“My friend tried this thing where they rubbed French’s ketchup on their low back while wearing hockey gloves in the shower. It solved their back pain!”
First: Heinz ketchup. Always. End of story.
Second: Yes this is an extreme example. And if this example is true for anyone, that's really cool. And weird. And unlikely to be an actual solution. More realistic examples include foam rolling, ice, rest, KT tape, medication, etc.
Just because it worked for them, doesn’t mean you need to try that thing.
Sure they may have very similar symptoms or problems. But they are not you.
You deserve solutions that are specific to you.
You deserve educated direction and guidance to solve your problems.
No quick “fixes” or gimmicks.
I Squatted. Now My Knees Hurt…
Is squatting the problem?
So your knees are hurting. You’ve been running a lot. You are in a busier time in your life.
You go to the gym and your coach has squats planned for the day. You do your squats. They feel surprisingly ok.
The next day while running your knees feel worse! So what’s to blame? Is it the squats?
Not necessarily. Squats for unfortunate reasons can get a bad reputation for knee pain. Some of that is misinformation. But it’s also a reasonable conclusion. Your knees hurt so it must have been something that used your knees that led to your pain.
Pain can come from multiple inputs and we can be complicated beings.
Your habits, beliefs, coping methods, lifestyle, emotions, anatomy, activity levels, and more, all influence how your body feels.
This can make it difficult to identify a cause, but not impossible to find a solution.
Looking at someone's pain experience requires analysis and assessment of who they are and where they are at. From there a path towards a solution can be found.
Only sleeping 4 hours a night? Imagine what an extra 2 hours could do for your recovery.
Eating 1200 calories a day. Very unlikely for that intake to be enough to meet your needs. Imagine what more food could do for your recovery (and your mood).
Are you constantly foam rolling and stretching to address your pain? Maybe you need load and not length to recover.
Are you feeling unsupported in your physical goals by others? Maybe being in a more supportive environment could change your outlook on pain.
Pain is frustrating. It can be easy to place blame when we are unsure of a solution.
The solution requires introspection and effort.
The problem probably isn’t squats.
When Advil is Dumb
That time Advil said something really stupid.
“Pain says you can’t. Advil says you can”
This quote is from an Advil commercial that popped up on my feed today.
One of their other messages is “pain will get you soon enough”.
It’s clever marketing. Saying that pain is going to get you eventually, might as well buy some Advil.
It’s also a band-aid. A temporary solution. Nothing that will address the underlying issues that would lead people to have problems doing the things represented in their commercials.
Activities like lifting a tire, walking to work, picking up your mail, playing with your kids at the park, building furniture or opening your oven.
There are issues there that Advil will not permanently solve. Sure maybe it helps short-term. But it’s not a solution.
What could be the solution?
Maybe the person is doing too much too soon and needs to address the workload.
Maybe they are stressed and have too much on their plate or are unable to effectively respond to stress.
Maybe the person has some range of motion limitations that are affecting their daily activities.
Solutions require a process, not a short-term pill.
Solutions require assessing where someone is currently at, to find the most appropriate path towards results.