Before I left town for work this weekend, I got a massage from an ex powerlifter. I told her that my lower back is extremely tight from where I previously herniated a disc, my neck feels like it is about to fall apart, and a tendon in my left elbow screams at me every time I jerk off. As she worked on my tiny pre-injuries, I asked her how truly strong people avoid getting hurt and train in a constant upwards cycle. The answer was simple: they don't. Every time she went to a powerlifting meet, talks about torn muscles and aching joints went hand in hand with large totals and muscle milk (its the milk muscles crave).
She's right. Some of the time I am completely pain free, but most of the time I'm working around pain. I've learned that getting stronger is about what you can do and what you are willing to do. What I can do right now is squat, so the next two weeks will be nothing but fronts and backs while my upper body ungays itself. What I am not willing to do is continue to pull from the ground, or do anything with my elbow besides light arm work. I don't know if the best of the best are willing to do more, or follow the same path I'm choosing.
The next time you are hurt, think about a few things as opposed to blindly checking off numbers in your routine.
1. What can you do, and what are you willing to do?
Can you squat? Then squat. Can you bench? Kinda? Does it make the injury worse? Then don't bench asshole. Are you willing to make the injury worse in order to progress? Godspeed son.
2. What are you doing to make the pain go away?
Are you taking massive amounts of anti-inflammatories (fish oil and advil of my)? Are you foam rolling, stretching, applying any kind of active release? Are you doing light exercise with the hurt joint for high repetitions to force blood into the area? Listen to what works and calibrate from there.
There is always a way to get stronger, it may just involve stepping away from the comfort zone of your notebook.
Work around injuries, Get stronger.
Edit 4/22/14
I've been experimenting with a couple of supplements that have been very useful in aiding my recovery. I would suggest checking them out. I would be remiss if I did not state that supplementation is not a replacement for soft tissue work or rest, but it may give you a nice boost towards recovery.
Biofreeze
From what I've experienced, this product feels extremely similar to Icyhot. Amazon and Walmart both hold a fairly cheap roll-on applicant that lasts for months. I use this on my joints pre or post workout as needed.
DMSO
I heard about this supplement from the best source in the world, some dude in the gym. Some dude in the gym told me that he typically applies DMSO on his joints on a daily basis after bathing when experiencing pain (dude bro emphasized the importance of having a clean surface area prior to application of DMSO). Some dude in the gym advised to avoid coming into direct contact with DMSO on my fingers, and wash my hands vigorously after use (using a q-tip to apply on your skin).
Gym dude, I thank you for your kind advice. If you use DMSO, expect mild skin irritation for 30-300 in after use on the applied area. This shit is not magic, but it certainly helped my elbows stop screaming over a 2 week period.
Annnnnd boom wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethyl_sulfoxide
Also boom http://healyourselfathome.com/HOW/THERAPIES/DMSO-MSM/DMSO_MAIN.aspx
