If you implement anything from this post, you do so at your own risk. Always consult with your physician before any kind of treatment.
The best way to avoid injury is to avoid inefficient technique and program effectively. Even subtle form issues can cause problem in the long-term, but especially so if the body is in a perpetual state of under-recovery. If the system and structures aren’t fully recovered, then they can exhibit issues like soreness and pain, but they can also be susceptible to an acute injury. If the structure isn’t 100% and is being used inefficiently, a sub-maximal repetition can cause damage; I talked about it in this post. In any case, do something wrong with a lack of recovery and it results in shit being jacked up. This post is just a brief review of how to deal with most injuries.
What Is Hurt?
First order of business is knowing what the hell is actually going on. If you don’t know the name of a structure, that’s okay, but you should at least be able to discern what that area does. Something on the front of your hip is probably a hip flexor. Something on your ass or hamstring is probably a hip extensor. What happened when it got hurt? Under what circumstances or during what movements does it hurt now? This is all information that allows it to be ‘diagnosed’.
Irregardless, Ice It
Last night I heard a guy on ESPN radio say irregardless. If you have any kind of pain after a workout, then ice it. Failure to do so will result in being dropped from the course. But seriously, the way Kelly Starrett goes about this is that if you have pain and you’re not icing it, you don’t have an issue. It isn’t worth addressing if you’re not utilizing the most basic recovery mechanism.
Icing removes heat from the body to decrease inflammation and pain and helps promote healing in the structures. This is especially important in the first 24 hours of an acute injury, but should also be implemented throughout the process of recovery. Any time you rehab structures, ice them after until full, pain-free ROM is achieved.
Heat Is Only Preparatory
I know a guy who has been treating his injured back with heat. This may feel better than icing, but heat promotes inflammation while cold reduces it. Instead, only use heat when preparing for movement. Ligaments don’t receive blood flow, so externally warming them up with a heating pad and then keeping them warm with joint sleeves, clothing, or sweats can help them function normally. Weightlifters and powerlifters will often wear knee sleeves and I’ve had to use heat sources for my shoulders (acromioclavicular joint) and back in order to train or compete in a meet. However, don’t consider heat as a treatment; stick to using ice.
Remember: The Muscle Belly Isn’t Inflexible
An injured muscle shouldn’t be actively stretched. You’ll often see guys who have a calf, hamstring, or quadriceps strain trying to stretch it. The injury itself may have occurred because of inflexibility, but trying to stretch — or elongate the fibers — of a muscle when it’s injured isn’t going to help it heal. Instead, use light, high repetition contractions. Once the initial acute inflammation process has been dealt with (via icing), then mobilize the area via the “mobility” methods we use from MWOD.
General Rehab Strategy
Structures require an adaptive stress to increase in strength, size, or density. Injured structures like muscles and tendons (and to a lesser extent, bones) will obviously not be able to handle their pre-injury stress. The general strategy is to provide a very light stress through a full ROM and see how it adapts over the course of a day. If it feels the same or better, then apply the same stress or a little bit more. Gradually apply more stress as the structure(s) improve, and that’s essentially rehab. Stay patient, don’t be Johnny Badass, and you’ll get back to normal. It can be frustrating being hurt (I’ve had periods of not squatting or pulling for several months at a time), but it’s not the end of the world. Yet.
A Word On Joints
If you’re dealing with internal joint issues in a knee, hip, shoulder, or elbow, then rehabbing it will be different than a mere muscle strain. Joints will typically be out of the scope of what you should try and work on by yourself. However, if it’s an overuse issue caused by lots of work in a program or by doing new movements (i.e. elbows hurting with an increase in snatches or jerks or knees hurt from hiking a mountain), then reduce the work load and slowly adapt over time. Ease into new activities even if they don’t hurt from a muscular perspective. This is why beginners shouldn’t jump into a six-day-a-week Oly program.
Preventing Future Instances
Why did this injury happen? How did it occur? Do your knees move forward throughout a low bar squat rep? That would explain anything from knee pain to hip flexors, TFL, sartorius, gluteus medias, and lower back pain. Your medial elbow hurts? Well, do you have inflexible shoulders? Cause that would explain how a shitty low bar squat grip, clean rack, or press grip could cause that. Good coaching just isn’t to make you stronger; it helps you do the movements with mechanical efficiency so that extraneous stress isn’t placed on the wrong structure. Efficacy is safety. So please, be safe out there.
If You’re Lost On What To Do
You can search MWOD and other popular forums or websites, but you can always ask me or the 70′s Big community in the comments or the Facebook page. Chances are someone has experienced the same injury before and most people will know if actual medical treatment is necessary. Just keep in mind that seeing a doctor supersedes anything else, even if it’s a shitty doctor.