The Weekly Word: February 19th, 2023

My Back!
On Wednesday night I woke up around 11:40 and could not move. My back was incredibly stiff and my legs felt a little tingly. I tried to sit up and failed. I was stuck in bed for a moment and after taking some time to ask myself, "what the heck is going on here?" I finally rolled off the bed and luckily was able to land on my feet. I had my fingers crossed that this was a dream of some sort and that if I went back to bed, I would wake up feeling like a champ. As it turns out, this was not the case!

So what happened? I am not really sure. As I think back to that day, no specific injury or tweak occurred. I swam in the morning and everything felt fine. I coached PE for a few hours and felt great. I then worked in the gym in the evening and went to bed with no signs of discomfort. Some things don't have explanations and this may be an example of one of them.

What I've Been Thinking About...
Early in the week I was talking to a father about his son who is recovering from a nasty leg injury. He mentioned that his sons ankle on the injured leg is incredibly stiff even though he did not have an injury at that site. I then shared the idea of muscle guarding. This is your body’s protective response when an injury occurs as it causes the muscles around the injured area to tighten up as a means of protecting the injured site.

A few days after that conversation, muscle guarding entered my world as the muscles in my lower back, hamstring, quadriceps, and calves got incredibly stiff post-back injury. The body has innate protective mechanisms designed to help you recover and function optimally and this concept of muscle guarding is one of the finer ones. One thing to keep in mind if you are experiencing stiffness somewhere is that the cause of it may not be right at the pain site, but rather above or below it. The stiffness may be the body's way of guarding itself from further injury, pain or discomfort!

Sticking with the Bad Back Theme...
This weeks fitness tip will involve how to handle and/or come back from an injury. To put this simply, pain sucks! It will put a hamper on your quality of life and can potentially be the cause of a downward spiral in regards to your over fitness if you let it. After waking up with my back feeling like garbage, I started to think about how I can make it feel better and here is what I came up with...

1. The first decision I made was that I was going to give my body 24-72 hours to rest and let the inflammatory process take its course. During this time I took a supplement we have called Renew which uses turmeric extract as its pain relief ingredient. I wanted to avoid NSAIDs and this ingredient has been shown to be just as effective against pain relief and function when compared to placebo and NSAIDs (click here to check out that research). 
2. Once I was able to bend down without my back seizing up, I added in some gentle stretches and in a day or two, will start taking some light exercise. I am taking this injury as a cue to go on walks more, enjoy the sights and sounds of country life, and not push so hard when lifting weights. 
3. Lastly, my goal is to keep mental stress minimal. During this time I think back to what I previously wrote about in regards to mental stress manifesting itself physically. Every little thing matters so I am planning on keeping stress to a minimum so the body can heal ASAP! 

​What I've Been Watching
The Super Bowl! Here are a few takeaways...

• What a great game! I grew up an Eagles fan and my daughter loves team (thanks to being brain washed by my parents) so I was hoping they would win for her sake. Funny thing is, she missed the entire game as she fell asleep at 5 pm in the car and after putting her in bed, stayed asleep until 6 am the next day! 
• The quarterback play and coaching was impressive as both teams lit up the scoreboard. The play design the Chiefs used to score in the second half was genius in its simplicity. It reminded me of coaching football where we would run a play and if it works, you kept running it until they show they can stop it! 
• The Mahomes injury and his miraculous healing. Pain relief measures have been a part of the NFL for as long as it existed so I don't think we should be naive to that fact. It is a sport that is physically demanding and at the end of the day, everyone's livelihood depends on whether or not they can play and do it well. I have no clue what the Chiefs did but Mahomes went from nearly being in tears with sad, mopey body language, to running for first downs and leading his team to victory. Performance enhancing measures are in every sport. Football is not excluded! 
• Andy Reid is one of the all-time great coaches. He was great in Philly and seems to be even better in the Chiefs organization. The most impressive thing to me watching the post-game celebration is that his team really seems to love him which says a lot about his character and his ability to connect.
• Eagles fans, beware how you discuss the loss if your children are around. If you blame the loss on external factors (refs, poor field condition, Mahomes "healing") then your child may see that as acceptable behavior and do the same. The next time things don't go there way in sport or life, they will look to blame others rather than take personal responsibility.

Quote of the Week
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right." --Ezra T. Benson

I hope you all have an awesome week!
Chris Fluck