Travelling and Training

Today’s post is incredibly pertinent to everyone here. Learning from other people’s mistakes is almost as good as learning from your own mistakes. The powers of observation will help you from having to experience it yourself in order to ingrain the lesson. For example, if the dumb broad that wrote the linked article in yesterday’s post had made logical observations, maybe a couple inferences, and not performed the Tracy Anderson POW program, she wouldn’t have had to waste her time getting so obnoxiously unhealthy.

I have two stories that should blatantly teach you not to lift heavy after a long day of traveling. Traveling itself is a necessary hindrance (we haven’t developed a floo network yet). My observation has been that training hard upon getting to the new destination is doable. However, once returning home — typically after a busy few days that are capped off with that last “I can’t wait to get home” traveling day — it would be best to ease back into training.

When I worked with Rip we came home from doing a Starting Strength Seminar in California. The next day I was volume squatting for the Texas Method; I was on my third set of 5×5 at 430. When I went down on the third rep, I felt a sharp movement and pain in my lumbar/sacral area. I actually squatted it up with help so I didn’t kill my spotters (Chris being one of them). There were some other circumstances that made the injury worse, and it ended up preventing me from squatting for about two months. During that time I qualified for nationals in weightlifting without squatting heavy and a yanked back.

The second story happened yesterday. I traveled back from San Antonio (where the military nationals for USAPL were) on Monday; the day started at 3:50 AM and I got home around 8:30 PM (this included six hours of driving). It was arduous. Yesterday I was squatting heavier than I have in a while. I planned on doing two or three reps. At the bottom of the second rep, I feel kind of a pop in my left TFL/hip flexor area, yet it doesn’t necessarily hurt and I squat the rep up well enough. I stood there debating whether or not to do the third rep; it didn’t hurt, so I descended. When I got to the bottom it didn’t hurt, but it felt…fluid, like there wasn’t normal support. So I just eased the bar onto the pins knowing that things weren’t normal.

A day later, it’s sore. I am continuing to treat it (especially with ice), but I’m irritated with myself because what happened is obvious. The day before I was sitting a lot with my hips in complete flexion; they were undoubtedly tight. I worked on my back and lateral hips a bit before going to bed, but I didn’t really give the anterior thigh any attention (I’ve never had issues in this area, with injuries or as a result of squatting technique). In any case, the negligence in not working on them when I got home and choosing to lift heavy resulted in an injury that will take at least a week to rehab (by my estimation).

Be aware of how certain body positions can effect training. If you sit at a desk for 8+ hours a day, you are more than likely experiencing something similar. Whether you are traveling or working in an office, give your hips and low back attention. Stop and think; what is my back doing all day? Is it in weird lumbar flexion with bad posture? Mine is if I’m traveling; my torso is long and I don’t fit in regular chairs. I have to slouch in order to be comfortable (why airline and car seats don’t have lumbar support is beyond me). What are your hips and knees doing all day? My thighs are bigger than average, and they don’t fit in seats comfortably. Hips are in flexion when sitting and I’m usually externally rotated so that my thighs don’t smash down on my junk. Based on that observation, right away I should know to pay attention to my sacral/lumbar and lateral hip areas. It’s obvious that when the knee is in flexion all day that the rectus femoris would be tight (or even the TFL or adductor longus). The easiest way to address these muscular irritations is with a foam roller or PVC pipe. Roll over the area, and when you find a painful spot, spend some time working it out.

To bring this lesson full circle, remember that your body adapts to stress. “Stress” doesn’t necessarily have to be something you’re imparting on the body for performance gain. “Stress” can be a lack of activity, or even a lack of movement. You intuitively know this; when you get out of bed or up from the couch, you have to stretch or move to loosen your muscles up. Sitting for long periods of time makes you feel stiff and rigid. Here is Dr. Gil Hedley talking about this topic. He conceptualizes it by calling it “fuzz”, but after watching this video you’ll have an understanding of why sitting still can make you stiff. Staying stiff without addressing the muscle tissue with stimulation or movement can make muscle too “rigid”. Rigid muscle and tendons are easily injured.