A History of Injury, A Future of...

[Michael Jordan]

This is an abbreviated version of my training history, a little bit of how I got to where I am now. I had been wanting to type this up for a while now just for myself, but I feel like I might stand to gain something from sharing it with the appropriate community. So, here it is.

 

I was a very active child. I spent a lot of time playing inside and out, climbing trees and everything else in sight. Running around the neighborhood on foot or bicycle, eventually riding all over town. I played 7 years of little league baseball and a lot of neighborhood football and all the other games that kids play. I was fascinated with martial arts and gymnastics from an early age, and even though I never took any classes as a child I did my best to imitate what I saw on television and in movies. I got my hands on all kinds of martial arts books with fitness training techniques and played around with all of them. As a teenager I started walking around town, and for a few years – especially during the summer – my friends and I would spend anywhere from 2-6 hours a day just walking around. During this time I was also skateboarding, jumping on my trampoline, climbing the ropes I had hung from the tree in my back yard (I could easily go up and down several times using only my hands), riding my bicycle, and I finally got into a martial arts class so I did a lot of working out with friends and class-mates. Right toward the end of high school I discovered that people were still breakdancing, and this became my next passion and my primary focus for the next 8 years. I went to college and added in yoga to my practice. I had started weight training just before college, and even though I had no program or teacher I kept lifting, just doing the random exercises I saw others doing. Over the next several years I began discovering the growing online fitness communities. I found T-nation and eventually Dragon Door, which lead me to the planche and front lever articles written by Coach Sommer. I had already been using paralettes for a while and training what little GST protocol I could find online. Eventually I got a pair of rings from the old ring strength website and began training with them. I got BtGB when it came out and added some of the movements into my workout. Sometime around 2006-7 I was doing hanging leg lifts on the rings when I felt a twinge in my shoulder. I had been doing them rather easily for a while so I think that the injury came from training other movements on the rings I wasn't ready for, specifically archer pushups. I rested for a couple of weeks and it went away. 4-5 months later it came back. I rested again and it was fine. I went through this cycle several times over the next ~3 years until I could no longer do any pulling movements without pain.

 

Before that happened I was dancing 2-5 time per week, swimming and cycling 2-4 times per week, going to BJJ class twice per week, going to the local tumbling gym to learn tumbling, practice breakdancing technique, and was learning the movements of tricking and parkour. I was doing my regular GST training, and I would sometimes superset the GST with expert level DDR (the highest difficulty is INTENSE). I could do 25 consecutive, non-kipping pullups, 5-10 free-standing handstand pushups, lower from handstand almost to a straddle planche and raise back up, was working on advanced tuck planche holds and pushups as well as advanced tuck front lever holds and pullups, was doing bulgarian dips on rings for 5x5, could hold L-sits for 60+ seconds for at least 2-3 sets, and was very comfortable on my hands doing pretty much whatever I wanted (jumping, walking, running, spinning). I had recently got a copy of starting strength and was getting back into weight training learning squats and deadlift. At some point around this time I began having a weird pain in my abdomen. I had a couple of doctors look at it and the second one had me do a CAT scan which showed nothing, so she released me and I went on my merry way. Early in 2008 I started getting a pain in my right knee. It never went away so I stopped all training for a month. There was no change so I got a pair of crutches and completely stayed off of it for 30 days. The pain remained the same from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. I went to a doctor (had no insurance at this time, otherwise I would have gone earlier). Diagnosed with medial-synovial plica syndrome, I did physical therapy for a couple of months and saw zero change. I decided to have surgery to fix the problem. It took about a year for me to recover but the pain was gone. I started yoga again as soon as I could, but the recovery was slow. My shoulder problem came back so I went to a doctor to get it checked out. The MRI didn't show much, and what I got from the doctor was basically "don't do the things that make it hurt", so I was on my own.

 

Over the next couple of years I got back into playing music and joined a couple of bands, so I was still working on getting back into shape but because of the music and the slow recovery it was moving along a a snail's pace. Between then and early 2013 I ended up with a couple of sprained ankles and a few other minor injuries, so I was in a constant state of trying to heal. Mid-2012 I felt good enough to start back into dancing. I did 10 minutes of light, basic toprock which resulted in a minor sprain to my right instep. I spent the next year and a half dealing with it, finally beating it with the help of a physical therapist. Enter March 2013 and I was ready to get back at it. I purchased Foundation 1 and got to work. 5 weeks into it the mysterious abdominal pain returned. I went to my doctor who immediately diagnosed me with a bi-lateral inguinal hernia, that is one on each side. The specialist confirmed this and I prepped for surgery in May. After 6-7 months spent doing nothing but resting and eventually walking to recover, I went back to the doctor for the pain. He recommended physical therapy so I started going. After several months I was cleared to return (slowly) to whatever else I wanted to do. One year after the surgery I started back with F1. March 2014, I was so much weaker this time that I had to singly or doubly regress almost all of the movements. I followed the 3 day per week program to the letter, and was making great progress until November 2014 when I started getting pain in my left knee while doing SLS/PE2. I remembered that while recovering from hernia surgery I had experienced some pain in that knee, which went away with rest, but apparently it came back. I rested for a few months and then started doing barbell squats, which made it feel better. Two months later, the pain came back. No amount of RICE has helped and the pain remains to this day. Also in November 2014 my big toes became chronically sprained (from overuse? too much walking?) which I am still dealing with. Some foot exercises and walking seem to help, but it is difficult to find the balance between making them worse and strengthening them. I addition there is a small pain on the outside of my right foot just below the bottom of the fibula, which comes and goes. My shoulder pain from earlier years had migrated to my elbow and wrist, aggravated by any kind of fine motor use such as writing, typing/using a mouse, playing video games, playing guitar, etc. I stopped doing all of those things as much as possible. The pulling movement in F1 started making my shoulder better, and all that pain started going away; Hooray! February 2015 I added in Handstand 1, started at ground zero, and in less than 2 months my left wrist developed a sprain on the inside and outside. This happened during the wrist pushup variations. I continued the rest of F1, now minus the row variation since I cannot use my left hand/grip, and the pain in the joints of my right arm has returned since I stopped doing the pulling movement. Eventually the pain started happening from any grip or hand pushing movement, so I moved to doing forearm pushups and forearm handstands. A couple months later I had been feeling a bit of discomfort in my right elbow while doing FL/PE2>iM, and lifting a couple of things at home and at work pushed it over the edge to full blown inflammation. So I had to cut out all upper body work.

 

Almost 33 years old and all I can do now is walk for exercise, and even though I could do the front lever variants in F1 they don't feel as worthwhile (in other words: much weaker) without all the other F movements. I am doing the little bits of mobility that I can (SLS/PM1>iM and various joint rotations) and trying various rehab movements for my knee. My doctor suggested RICE, but it has only ever helped me to feel a bit better in the short term, doing nothing for actual healing, and this time has been no different. I have been trying heat as an alternative, no results yet. Been going to chryotherapy, although it is hard to say whether or not it does anything. Incidentally, I have followed a vegetarian diet for 14 years and recently have wanted to see if I would notice any difference if I started eating meat. It's been ~3 months of eating meat and I've yet to feel any differently. Not too surprising since over the course of my vegetarianism I have always included a healthy spread of protein and fats from various sources. I'm not convinced that my diet has been holding me back due to all the evidence that a meat-free diet should be able to allow the body to thrive, but I'll keep at it for at least 6 months to see if there will be any change. I started taking quality fish and krill oils, and I've included a glucosamine+chondroitin product (GLC2000) which helped me a lot when I sprained my left wrist in 2002. I guess I was just younger and more resilient then because it healed easily in just a few months. With all of this I have yet to see any change in my rate of healing. I'm looking at potentially trying ASTM or PRP/Prolotherapy. There's also massage therapy, voodoo floss compression techniques, and any number of other healing modalities that I could try. At this point I'm willing to do just about whatever I can to try to help my situation, so I'm trying some mexican supplements which purportedly help to regrow connective tissue.

 

If I could build a time machine I would go back and start GST as early as possible, start yoga and weight training around the beginning of high school, and would be more apt to visit a doctor even without insurance, but of course I have only this one life which did not come with a reset button or save points. I didn't have the good fortune to have my body developed at an early age by way of parents putting me into a sports program, I'm not a mesomorph, and I wasn't a high school athlete. I have always approached fitness in the same way I approach everything else, and that is with a methodological mindset. I don't skip steps, I understand the importance of fundamentals, I put in the hard work while doing my best to not over-stress my body, I listen to those who have gone before, and I don't jump into things which I am not physically prepared for. Of course, all of this is done with only as much as I know about the particular discipline at any given point, but still, I am careful to take my time to do everything I can in order to avoid injury. Am I missing something huge or obvious? Did I maybe just get the crap end of the genetic lottery – born with a weak, injury-prone body that heals incredibly slowly when at all? If that is the case, it is nothing short of a damned shame that most of the things in life which I am passionate about require my body to be in tip top athletic condition in order to pursue. I'm only getting older and I have yet to achieve any of the goals which I was aiming at in my early 20's. I'm not sure I can even reach them any more, and I definitely won't if my body continues to refuse to cooperate. Every day that passes they get further and further away, and I'm more and more relegated to what feels like a life of mediocrity instead of a life filled with the joys of exploring movement in all its forms. I'm not sure where to go from here. I don't know what, if any, advice could be imparted to me but I'm posting this anyway. Thanks for reading, if nothing else.

[Mark Collins]

You seem to be injury prone which I suspect is either due to or a combination of:

1. You push too hard and not progress when the body is ready

2. You have a lot of whole body inflammation which is why you have injuries all over the body.

I would be interested to see how you feel if your diet was a strict lower carb paleo approach. I would do some reading of Robb Wolf, Loren Cordain, Prof Tim Noakes amped Nell Stephenson. I have had many patients that are like you that are eating what is considered healthy but when they change to a more paleo style of eating their pain is significantly better. I know this is the complete opposite to vegetarianism, but what you are doing now is obviously not working and you may need to do the opposite. Even a thirty day trial will give you a good idea of if this approach will work.

I would also focus on the stretch series and start back on foundation.

[Doug Grainger]

oh, NELL.   I was about to ask what part of "Snow Crash" will solve his problems.

[Cole Dano]

Thanks for you forthright post Shoes. 

 

In addition to Marks comments, have you checked to see if you could have a mild form of something like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)?

[Michael Jordan]

You seem to be injury prone which I suspect is either due to or a combination of:

1. You push too hard and not progress when the body is ready

2. You have a lot of whole body inflammation which is why you have injuries all over the body.

I would be interested to see how you feel if your diet was a strict lower carb paleo approach.

I would also focus on the stretch series and start back on foundation.

 

Hi Mark, thanks for the reply. You are spot on with #2. I went to see my doctor about all this and his diagnosis was that I have a lot of inflammation all over. To my disappointment he prescribed for me an NSAID and in so many words sent me on my way with the implication that there was nothing else he could do for me. If #1 is also accurate then I hope it is due to the inflammation bringing my overall potential work capacity down, because I've been baby-stepping everything for quite a while now. It's been about 4 months since I started eating meat and I have yet to notice a difference in my rate of healing or how I feel. I've been aware of the paleo approach for quite some time now. I'll take your suggestion and give it a go. Unfortunately S and F (all of both of them) will exacerbate my current injuries. As much as I would love to get back to them and exercise in general I am going to have to wait until some of these issues clear up before returning to that kind of work. You say you have had many patients; what are your practice and credentials?

[Michael Jordan]

Thanks for you forthright post Shoes. 

 

In addition to Marks comments, have you checked to see if you could have a mild form of something like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)?

I have wondered if there might be something else like that going on. I haven't checked for anything specifically, though. My doctor didn't seem too concerned with any of it so unless I ask specifically I doubt he will be inclined to want to have me tested for anything. I will ask him about it next time.

[Mark Collins]

I have a degree in Physiotherapy. I have been practicing for 17 years and hope to figure out the body before I retire.

[Tom Skywalker]

 

Did I maybe just get the crap end of the genetic lottery – born with a weak, injury-prone body that heals incredibly slowly when at all? If that is the case, it is nothing short of a damned shame that most of the things in life which I am passionate about require my body to be in

 

Genetic expression is environment-dependent: what you eat, feel, think, etc. will determine which genes will activate..

It was heresy up to a few years ago, and now it's an accepted scientific truth called Epigenetics

 

If you're so passionate about movement, then it means that's your route.. Experiencing hardship means there's lessons to be learned about that path, that once integrated will make your journey way more enjoyable and with much more rewarding results.

 

You may start by asking "How may this benefit me?", "What can I learn from this?", "In what new way could I approach this now?" 

Maybe you need to discover new systems.. Or maybe you're meant to breaktrough and design some!

 

Hope this helps, and even more that you don't even need it any longer and you're feeling way better already