An ARPwave colleague in Chicago, Tommy John, recently made some comments that struck me. I'd like to share them:
"Over the past 5 years of ARP'ing injuries in anyone from 8 years old to 91 years old, the top 3 most common forms of training the 'injured' partook in were: 1. Long slow distance running or biking or stepping or eliptical, 2. Yoga 3. Pilates."
His statement may seem a bit harsh, but it's an observation that I've made in our facility too. Of course, these activities can have other benefits in terms of stress relief, balancing out your mind, or just being fun. And that's great, as long as we also realize the necessity to incorporate real strength training. Tommy continues:
"The stronger you are the less chance you have of becoming injured. The stronger you are the better chance you have to fight off illness if God forbid you acquire an illness. The stronger you are the less of a chance your joints or spine have to taking the load of force into the body which will lessen the chance of inflammation building up which will give your immune system a break to fight real disease and not symptoms bc of a lack of strength. Must be strong. Must train to become very very very strong. You cannot be too strong."
He's absolutely right. I'd like to place special emphasis on one of the last things he said. When you're strong, your muscles do the job they're supposed to. Less force will transfer to the joints and spinal column. This is so important, because most of the damage that we do to our bodies is so easily preventable. What is wear and tear? It's made up. Doesn't exist. It's really more like misuse and abuse. When we use our bodies the way they're meant to be used, they are built up rather than torn down.
I challenge you to take the time you already spend working out, in fact you can even take far less than that, and do a few extreme isometrics. Minimal space and equipment, and you'll really accomplish something. Your muscles will work to stabilize your body. The little aches and pains will vanish. You'll have more energy. And guess what? Even your mind will work better.
More on that later.
Oh, and you can check out my friend Tommy John here.
Yeah, it's terrible that our medical institutions, even Chiropractic, teach about unavoidable, natural 'wear and tear'. And that if a patient comes in over the age of 50 to go ahead and assume some natural degeneration with associated Osteoarthritis.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the only treatments prescribed are mobilizations of the joints, rest, ice, heat, and the overarching risk of surgery. Honestly, a disservice to the patient. The term in this modern day, 'Workout', has no substance at all and requires very little energy. It seems there is a lack of 'need' for people today to move in a functional and beneficial manner... until you start to realize how vastly important it is towards true quality of life.