Last week we discussed the nature of injury, this week I want to focus on the restoration of the body. In order to do so we must overturn a commonly held notion of healing; the best way to heal is to do nothing. While this works when the body is healthy and is fighting off viruses, bacteria or other infections this philosophy does not apply to injuries. Healing an injury requires work. Which is the nature of this week's topic.
Before we examine how to treat an injury, the kind of work we need to do, we must take a look at the commonly held notion of doing nothing as a way of recuperation. I am all for a day of rest, a day we relax, take a break and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. This is different from consistently doing nothing, hoping an injury will get better. What happens when we do nothing, is exactly that. Nothing happens. Or to be more accurate, the body atrophies. Atrophy is a weakening of our muscles. In the case of muscles tightness, atrophy appears to release the pain, but what actually happens is the injury remains but is no longer felt. When we return to movement, the pain returns. Time does not heal all wounds, active recovery and motion will.
What's the atrophy window? 48 hours. We have 48 hours to subject our body to some kind of motion and physical exercise to continue building strength. Now say we immobilize part of the body. As in we no longer let it move the way it normally does. We impede its function. When we do this, atrophy occurs faster. I know this first hand from two broken arms, a shattered hand and two torn ACL's. In the case of my legs, one was braced for support while the other was allowed to move freely. If you were to examine my legs today, you may not be able to tell which one was braced and which one was allowed to move freely. Yet, when I do heavy leg exercises, I can still feel the difference. I favor the side that was braced; it's the weaker of the two. Even though its my 'strong leg' not my 'skill leg'. Had my 'strong leg' not been immediately braced, but allowed to move freely in the early stages of recovery I wouldn't have this issue. It's amazing how such a simple decision has had such a powerful effect on the current state of my body. The effect is mostly negligible now, but its something I keep in mind when pushing myself in the weight room. Which brings us to the point of today's article.
When recovering from an injury, the entire body needs to be focused on, not just the injured part. When I was playing football in college, I hurt my left ankle, and faithfully trained my left leg. However, this created an imbalance between my legs, as my right side not only had to compensate for the injury, but also wasn't being trained the same way as the left. What started out as a left sided injury eventually caused a right sided injury because I solely focused on the injured side. I forgot to think about my whole body. I didn't understand that my body functioned as a unit, and the whole body needs to be addressed in recovery. I learned this the hard way, and now I apply this method to my training & recovery efforts.
What does it mean to holistically treat an injury? It means working it in tandem, through function movements and full range of motion. This means working at the speed and strength of the weakest muscles. For example, I wouldn't squat with a weight that would cause me to favor one side. I would simply have to do more reps at lower weights to maintain balance and strength. This can be frustrating, as one side is working harder than the other, but keeps the body from over-training and over-compensating while it heals. In addition to strengthening exercises, mobility exercises need to be introduced; the body needs to trained in multiple planes of movement. Multiple planes recruit stabilizing muscles to support the primary movers, causing more muscle fibers to be recruited in a specific activity. These stabilizing activities prevent future injuries and help the affected area build strength without compromising safety. If we limit our training and recovery efforts to a few planes, the muscle will not recovery as quickly, and more importantly, the stabilizers that prevent future injury will not be sufficiently strengthened to support future movement. In short, proper recovery requires introducing the affected area to multiple movements and supported strengthening exercises. An effective recovery program subjects both sides of the body to these methods, preventing imbalances.
There are natural imbalances in the body. We tend to use one side for skilled activities and the other for stabilization. We all have a dominant hand that is much better at writing than the other. But the hand we write with is not our power or strong hand. For example, I'm right handed; yet, when I box, my left hand is my power hand and my right hand is my speed hand. This truth applies to the legs. I use one foot to push off with and the other to kick with. Why the a natural imbalance? Because we do more activities with one side than the other. These are subtle differences, not major ones resulting from an injury. Injury causes one side of our body to pick up the slack from the other. In other words, the power hand is forced to be the speed hand, the skill leg is forced to be the strong leg, etc. This new stress can overload the compensating side, causing it to tire, wearing out and become injured.
What does this have to do with spiritual principles? When we hurt emotionally, we have a tendency to withdraw in on ourselves to stabilize our emotions. While this initial withdrawal is healthy, we often prolong our period of withdrawal, causing an unhealthy emotional imbalance. The act of recovery requires subtle, slow movements in an supportive environment, while at the same time introducing our spirits to strengthening activities. Too often we withdraw for a time, but don't properly let our spirit recover. As soon as we stop feeling pain, we go back to our previous activities. We tend to neglect supportive strengthening efforts, AKA stable relationships, as we strive to prove our independence. We don't spend time exploring the range of our emotions resulting from an injury, we accept anger and hate towards another person or towards a whole gender of people. Instead of comfortably working through the pain, we try to ignore it, pretending nothing ever happened. This creates emotional imbalances that can lead to further emotional injury. Just as we treat a physical injury, we should also treat an emotional one with the same training methods.
Where's the Christian approach in all of this? You would be correct to say what I have described is a good philosophy that applies to most situations. It's not uniquely Christian. To speak of a uniquely Christian perspective, would require me to talk about God, and how he helps our injured state of being. It requires me to say that God cares about our injuries, and wants us to be whole. But there's more. While I could speak about Jesus, and his many healing miracles, he's not the main form of support for Christians; the Holy Spirit is. From a technical standpoint, I could just talk about the Holy Spirit in reference to God. The Holy Spirit is God, but we recognize a difference because of the way we experience God through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the person standing next to us; the Holy Spirit is the voice inside of us, surrounding us and moving through us. It's the still small voice that prompts our healing and the healing of others through healthy action. Christians have another name for the Holy Spirit: the Comforter. Why is the Holy Spirit considered the Comforter? Because It's not only the voice of God that calms us and reassures us of His love, but It's also the active hand of God. When we cry out, God hears us and settles His presence around us through the Holy Spirit. He does not leave us alone to lick our wounds. He seeks to be near us, support us and help us get back on our feet. We can refuse His help, just as we can refuse advice from a trainer of doctor, and He will let us walk our own path. But this is never His desire. His desire is our wholeness, which comes from not only spending time with Him, but also doing what He prompts us. Which is a topic for a later date.
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