I had lost complete control of my entire right arm. It was dead. But only for 30 seconds or so. The feeling and control slowly started to return to my arm. It started as what felt like thousands of pin pricks in the tips of my fingers. It then started coming back to my whole arm.
“Thank GOD! Let me test it.” I said to myself. I approached the pullup bar and attempted a rep. My whole body shifted to the left uncontrollably. I was pulling with equal force on both sides, but my right arm had ZERO strength.
“Not again!” I thought. This had not been the first time I had experienced numbness and tingling in my arm. It started when I was in Iraq. Being small but strong has its benefits, but in this case I had been putting EXTREME loads (over 100 lbs. For more than 7 mile patrols in hostile environments) on my body for over 6 months. That led to what started as shoulder pain, then turned into numbness down my arm and loss of control.
“Sergeant, I think I need to go to medical.” I said with a confusion about what was going on.
“It’s just your pack digging into your armpit and cutting off circulation. You’ll be fine. It happens all the time.” my squad leader replied.
It had only been a year, but that feeling was back, WITH A VENGEANCE!
I found out years later after a couple more flare ups that I had severe cervical spinal damage. That explained my chronic headaches and migraines.
The doctors at VA sent me to the physical therapist. I’m not saying that the PT wasn’t knowledgeable, or that I know better than he did, but I don’t think a “one size fits all” approach works.
I was already a high functioning athlete and trainer with more that 10 years of education and experience. So when he had me use an extra light band to do exercises that were far below my ability level, it left me feeling like I was wasting my time.
So I began rehabbing on my own. Just like I had to do with my gunshot wound. I hadn’t had very much luck in the way of physical therapists.
It took 6 months for my most recent flare up to subside. The doctors say if it happens too many more times, that I might have permanent nerve damage. The problem is not my training program. The things that I do to flare it up are sedentary activities:
Sitting for long periods of time in from of the computer
Too much cell phone activity
Driving long distances
Sound familiar? Do you suffer from neck pain and headaches? Do you experience shoulder pain?
It’s not the workouts that are killing you. It’s the posture and the way you have taught your body to move (or not move) that is killing you.
I learned a long time ago that neck pain is a byproduct of bad posture. And that most chronic headaches are byproducts of neck muscles that are so locked up (trying to protect the cervical spine) that they pull relentlessly on the attachment points on the skull. This causes debilitating headaches.
You might not yet be at the point where you are having pinched nerves, loss of strength or even headaches, but if your posture and spinal alignment are off, then it’s only a matter of time.
For those individuals who are very active, think about how detrimental it is to perform tens of thousands of reps with bad posture. What injuries are just around the corner for you? What injuries already occured that you chalked up to a freak accident?
We here at Unbroken Fitness Solutions have studied the human body in all its intricacies for decades!
If you are having joint pain: Feet, ankles, knees, hips, back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, or neck pain, then we have the Solution for you to break down the foundations of movement that are causing your pain, and teach you how to move pain free!
Let Unbroken Fitness Solutions be your solution today.
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