Aches and Pains 101
“What can I do about aching joints?”
We have all been there. You feel like shit, you’re tired, and your body is aching. This can be because you have been neglecting your body, or on the other end of the spectrum, that you have been overtraining—and you just broke your body. Aristotle famously stated that you should avoid extremes, and aim for a balanced approach. He was, of course, talking about the path to a virtuous life, but this principle is surprisingly applicable for most aspects of fitness. Don't do nothing, and never go pedal-to-the-medal for longer periods. Aim for a balanced approach, and you will avoid the pain and suffering of an extreme lifestyle. But let’s say, for argument's sake, that you have done too much too soon, and now you have an aching joint—what do you do?
There are two answers to this question, a holistic one and a more practical one.
The first answer is to stop doing movements and exercises that hurt your joint. This is not the same as doing nothing at all—but is just about stopping doing things that aggravate the joint, and make you feel more pain. Instead, find movements and exercises that you can do pain-free. This will often mean that you have to take a step back from your normal routine and work around your injury. This is not fun, but we are confident that you will survive a couple of weeks without bench pressing or doing the Olympic lifts. Do not let your ego dig a hole so deep that the pain becomes chronic and permanent.
If it is your sport or discipline that is hurting you, then consider doing something else—see this as an opportunity to grow as a person, and try another sport or practice. There are so many things to try, and there are so many physiological and cognitive benefits of learning something new. New movement patterns stimulate and rewire your brain and give your overworked joints the break they deserve. Instead of seeing an injury as an obstacle, see it as a blessing. Your body needs rest, and you need to try different things than your normal routine.
The next answer is more pragmatic and is probably the one you are looking for. Your joint is aching, and you want a quicker fix, that will help you move better without pain. Luckily for you, we have a tried and tested approach that has worked wonders for ourselves and clients.
Aches and Pains 101—Scott’s Practical Approach
I’ve been a personal trainer for 17 years now, and I have officially lost track of how many certifications I have had. In my opinion, they are mostly a money making scheme for various organizations, and at this point—I don’t see any reason to keep any of them current. Experience in my own training and with clients has taught me the most valuable things—as well as remaining teachable and soaking up knowledge whenever I can. However, one certification that taught me things that I still use every day is the Corrective Exercise Specialist Certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. They teach a great system of addressing aches and pains—and it has worked for me and my clients time and time again.
Release - Lengthen - Activate - Integrate
In my experience, 90% of aches and pains are muscular in nature. You can address most aches and pains yourself with this system: Release - Lengthen - Activate - Integrate. Even joint pain is very often because of muscle tightness above and/or below the joint. To address basic aches and pains, you need some basic equipment: a lacrosse ball, or a foam roller. These items are well worth the investment in your body, if you don’t have them. Let’s take a look at this system, step by step, while addressing one of the most common aches and pains—a sore lower back.
Release
We’ve all felt “knots” or tightness in our muscles. When we have consistent tightness in muscles over time, it affects the way we move, and compensations happen. Add a lot of repetitions, or a lot of weight on top of that—and you’ve got a problem waiting to happen. Releasing those tight muscles is the first step in the right direction. You may have heard the term, “self-myofascial release.” That’s just a fancy way of saying “massaging the knots out by yourself,” and that’s what we’re going to do. For a tight lower back, we want to address the lower back muscles specifically, but we also want to look at the muscles above and below the “problem area,” as well as other muscles that may be tight and therefore pulling you out of alignment. With a sore lower back, you want to address the upper and mid-back, the glutes—and the front of the hip (the hip flexors). You need to be patient, and spend at least two minutes on each area, in order to affect change in the muscle tissue. Here is a short video, demonstrating release techniques for these areas:
Release Techniques for lower back pain
Lengthen
After releasing the tight muscles a bit, then you want to lengthen the shortened, tight muscles by doing some stretches. You want to address every muscle you worked on releasing. Spend at least 30 seconds on each stretch.
Activate
After lengthening the affected muscles, the next step is strengthening the weak muscles that are contributing to the problem. There will be isolated strengthening exercises to target specific muscles, and some positional isometric holds to address posture issues in your whole body. For the lower back, we will target the glutes, the core stabilization muscles, and an isometric hold that addresses common overall posture issues.
Isometric holds for better posture
Integrate
In my experience, this next step is one that is often overlooked, even by many physiotherapists. Once you have done the previous three steps, you have to do an integrated dynamic movement. This means a full-body movement, using good mechanics. For the lower back issues, we’re going to do a bodyweight squat.
Integrate all of the exercises
This may seem like a lot at first, but check out our videos, and spend some time trying them out. With a little practice, this method of addressing aches and pains will become a working part of your training repertoire. If you have questions, or feel like you need more one-on-one help, contact us at the email address below.
Good luck, and get after it!
Scott and Lennart