If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. After managing to stay alive for 3 decades, my body decided to throw a little bit of a tantrum. The culprit was most likely my recurring complacency with warming up. Sometimes, I wouldn’t warm up at all. Other times, I would warm up, take a 30-minute break between lessons, and then get back to work cold. What was the consequence?
First, I managed to sprain my left shoulder just a couple of weeks before my 30th birthday. It wasn’t pleasant. I couldn’t lift my arm above my rib cage, couldn’t carry more than a pound of weight, and I was told it could be a 3-month recovery time. I lost a lot of strength as I impatiently waited for time to pass. I made many visits to my chiropractor who hooked me up to the TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), trying to loosen up some of the stressed muscles around my shoulder blade and neck. I did some yoga, complained, and counted the days. Eventually, enough time had passed that I was able to do some strength training. Soon after, I was doing some light sparring. Things were really looking up.
Then, things took a bad turn. I was demonstrating a takedown on a fairly large person. This was a move I had done live and shown many times. It was cold that night and I had just spent an hour sitting in my office chair. The second I lifted his large leg I felt a twinge in my lower back. It was as if a small cluster of nerves twisted up in a little circle just right of my spine. “It wasn’t a big deal,” I thought to myself. I barely felt it. The next morning I woke up with a very stiff lower and middle back. Throughout the day it worsened. It would get especially upset if I was sitting or standing for more than 10 minutes at a time. I later discovered I couldn’t really engage my core and, if I was lying down, I couldn’t lift my feet from the ground without that small cluster of nerves yelling at me.
Then, things took a bad turn. I was demonstrating a takedown on a fairly large person. This was a move I had done live and shown many times. It was cold that night and I had just spent an hour sitting in my office chair. The second I lifted his large leg I felt a twinge in my lower back. It was as if a small cluster of nerves twisted up in a little circle just right of my spine. “It wasn’t a big deal,” I thought to myself. I barely felt it. The next morning I woke up with a very stiff lower and middle back. Throughout the day it worsened. It would get especially upset if I was sitting or standing for more than 10 minutes at a time. I later discovered I couldn’t really engage my core and, if I was lying down, I couldn’t lift my feet from the ground without that small cluster of nerves yelling at me.
This injury was not as bad as the shoulder and I was grateful. After two weeks I could lift weights and do some stand-up fighting. After three weeks I was able to go rock climbing with only minimal discomfort. Still, I couldn’t do much core work and therefore couldn’t practice jiu jitsu. If I tried, my back would seize up for the remainder of the day. My BJJ purple belt continued to collect dust.
After talking to my BJJ instructor and partner, Andrew Kuiland, and a couple of other wise individuals, I decided it was time to make a change. If I was going to continue living my life the way I wanted, I needed to start taking care of my body. So, I made a plan…
To be continued
After talking to my BJJ instructor and partner, Andrew Kuiland, and a couple of other wise individuals, I decided it was time to make a change. If I was going to continue living my life the way I wanted, I needed to start taking care of my body. So, I made a plan…
To be continued
RSS Feed