Hello, everyone! I found this article and was so happy to have found it. As you can imagine, as a personal trainer,
every single time one of my clients experiences a twinge of any sort, their first question is "What are we (meaning me)
doing wrong?" and some times as hard as I try to explain that LIFE is involved and exercise isn't always to blame, I
would guess that 95% of pain during the length of time people are with me is attributed to problems within the
training session -- by my clients, and as the author below has experienced, by their doctors!
In addition to the stories covered by Neil below, I have many of my own to add....
- Acute hip flexor pain that showed up--although I didn't connect it at the time, with the purchase of my new
Miata, which then went away as soon as I moved the seat back and could relax my foot to the floor vs keeping it
raised
- Very bad and ongoing heel spurs which was diagnosed as improper and insufficient stretching, poor hip alignment,
bad running form, etc, and which I paid a great deal of money to try and resolve (even having MANY foot specialists
insist that I do not pronate), which as it turned out was due to running on hills with insufficient flexibility in
my feet as a result of having 3 shattered ankles (one was shattered twice) and was easily resolved using my own
intuition by adding heel inserts (and thereby raising my heels) to my running shoes
- My neck regularly went out of alignment over most weekends which was attributed to increasing
my running mileage, wearing improper shoes, lifting too much weight, etc. As it turned out, it was due to
cuddle-time-on-the-sofa during weekend movie night which put undue stress on my spine due to improper spinal
support while leaning up against him. It had nothing at all to do with my "excessive" training!
Read on for more....
Is it just me, or is the entire athletic community sold on the idea that unless you trip while running, or
crash while riding, your pain is likely an overuse injury? Well, I am here to present the other side of this
very serious coin: the underuse injury. That's right, underuse. After looking back at all of my serious
injuries that were not related to bike wrecks, wild animals and electrical appliances, I have determined that they
were all related to something other than training. Here are a few of the more notable cases.
1. In 1998, I was diagnosed with iliotibial band (IT) syndrome. I spent sevearl months adjusting my saddle
height to no avail befoer I realized it was actually from sitting in stop-and-go traffic with an automatic transmission.
A classic underuse injury, which could have been avoided if I was riding my bike to work like I had planned to do before
my symptoms started. True cause: Laziness.
2. Two years ago, I struggled on and off with piriformis syndrome (sometimes linked to sciatica) on my right side.
I was told everything from "You're not stretching enoug" to "Your saddle is too high" to "That is a typical
running-off-the-bike injury," which may be true, but not in my case. I have since been self-diagnosed with "fat-wallet
syndrome." This syndrome is caused by elevating the right butt cheek, and placing pressure on the sciatic nerve.
I'm not kidding--this is a real syndrome. Since proffesional multisport athletes and cyclists are usually broke, they
should have very thin wallets, so there is no need for a solution to this problem other than credit counseling. True
cause: Sitting on my butt with too many credit cards in my wallet.
3. More recently I have had nagging plantar fascitis. At first, I thought it was from not changing out my running
shoes after 900 miles, but it actually turns out that it was caused by the dress shoes I wear to work. I'm not sure why
I wear dress shoes, since I sit behind a desk, and nobody can see my feet unless I prop them up (see #6 below). I
purchased a comfortable (and nice-looking) pair of Merrells last weekend, and the problem seems to be going away
despite increasing my running mileage. True cause: Selling out to corporate America and trying to look nice in the
proces.
4. In 2001, I had a nasty case of chrondomalacia and patellar tendonitis. Once again, I was told it was from
having my saddle too low while pushing a big gear. Although this would be a likely cause, my case was a result of
tight quads from sleeping in a bed that was too short in a very cold room. I purchased a larger bed the same year I
was riding a 56-tooth chain ring, and the problem went away. Coincidence? Maybe. But you should buy the best bed
you can afford anyway. If there is one thing you can't waste time on, it is quality sleep--with emphasis on quality,
not quantity. I sleep less now, but it's good knock-your-socks-off-wake-up-and-feel-rested sleep. I'll save the
NyQuil story for another time. Addressing this problem will also help solve #5. True cause: Too much poor sleeping
in a short, crappy bed.
5. For about three months last year, I was having on-and-off hand and arm numbness with twitching. The twitching
also appeared in my calves. This was a complicated one-two misdiagnosis where I was told everything from "You hve bad
position on your aerobars" to "Your symptoms could be the onset of MS." Needless to say, the latter one horrified
me. Turns out, the were all wrong. The hand numbness was from resting my elbow on my desk while typing, and the
finger twitching magically disappeared when I switched from a trackpad to a mouse....and the calves? It all seems
to be related to an electrolyte-imbalance rollercoaster caused by drinking water, espresso, and Gatorade throughout the day.
You see, calcium, sodium, and potassium are all positively charged ions, and their exchange through a membrane
called the sarcolemma, which surrounds each muscle fiber, ultimately leads to the fiber's contraction. The electric
potential is typically stabilized by the sodium/potassium balance; however, a contraction results when three sodium
ions are exchanged for one calcium causing a change in the electric potential. Studies show that caffeine does result
in a negative balance of calcium, but these values are negligible. Hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate provides
the energy to maintain the sodium/potassium balance mentioned above. Caffeine molecules are similar in structure
to adenosine, and as a result, they bind to the same receptors, thus blocking the role of adenosine, which is to
slow down the cellular activity. All that being said, my ingestion of water, espresso, and Gatoragde at various
times during the day wreaked havoc on my neuromuscular system--and you thought the Krebs Cycle was another dumb high
school biology lecture. (Note: The above text is entirely the opinion of the author and may not have any scientific
basis, as he was apparently ditching school to surf and has no recollection of the Krebs Cycle lecture--or tenth grade
for that matter.)
I haven't really cut back my coffee intake. In fact, soemtimes I will crank up the Illy espresson homebrew so much
it's like electrical stimulation without the wired electrodes. True cause: Too much coffee to keep me awake while I
played on the internet at work.
6. The longest recurring undersue injury I have had is Achilles tendonitis. This injury has been the Achilles
heel (sorry, I had to) of my racing career. I have switched through dozens of running shoe styles, counltess
cycling shoe orthotics, stretching, yoga, massage, and drugs. As you could imagine, everyone had some advice on
this one. It only took me six years, but I fiured it out. it wasn't related to mileage, intensity, or shoe sole.
It was caused by propping my legs up on my desk at work, and on the coffee table at home. Apparently, the hard
edge of the table was causing adhesions, which resulted in knots in my calves, which led to the Achilles problems.
Soudns crazy? Well, I now use a pillow under my legs when propping, and I haven't had the prolem since. True caue:
Leg propping without proper padding.
In summary, you should always ease into your laziness. You don't want to up your loafing too fast, as this will
almost certainly result in some type of injury. Make sure your propping equipment for both legs and arms is safely
padded. Likewise, bed fit is very important, and should not be overlooked. If you must drive to wrok, it is best to
hire a chauffeur, or bum rides, thereby protecting your legs from unnecessary pedal usage. Finally, I would also
suggest finding a job where it is acceptable to wear bed slippers all day. Don't overlook the obvious, and you'll
be on your way to injury-free training!
Neil Jacobs
