I guess I should start this by saying that this is not medical advice and that I am not a doctor. What I am is a man that has done combat sports for roughly six years now as well as been a near lifelong lifter, as well as a personal trainer. And in the course of this I have accumulated my fair share of injuries as well as have helped many others either work around or recover from injuries as well. So what this is, is my personal experience along with that which has worked for my clients, nothing less and nothing more.
I’d recommend that you take the Bruce Lee approach to this and take what is useful while discarding what is not, after all what else can we do? In this article, essay, whatever you call it, we’ll dive into why and how injuries happen, while an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as well as some things that you may never have heard of before. But first a quick history of my own injuries and how I have dealt with them.
My first big injury occured in football. Not during actual training but in the mandatory weight training we had to do for it. Our coaches were big on squats but not so big on doing them with proper form. Because of this I managed to get a small hernia as well as hurt my back in the process. And this was in highschool. I did everything that I was told to do and made a slow recovery and was eventually able to play again. I also got into a minor scuffle halfway through my back healing and so hurt that again.
From there I hurt my rotator cuff lifting during college and then managed to sprain my ankle during boxing. I was dropped on my back and pinched a nerve, I got caught in a particularly nasty wristlock once and that was hurt for awhile, and then the myriad of bumps, nagging pain, and bruises that come along with all of that. I noticed later that my mobility was starting to falter and so worked on that. And then also that I was becoming pretty injury prone there for awhile.
Like clockwork something would pop up every other month or so, granted this was when first started getting into combat sports again after boxing in middle school and wrestling in highschool. But since then I’ve been able to stay relatively injury free, knock on wood, and have been able to address many of the nagging pains that I’ve had for years using some of the methods that I’ll outline below.
But first…
It pays to understand this.
An Ounce Of Prevention Is Worth A Pound Of Cure
There’s not many things in life that this doesn’t apply too and injury prevention is not exception. The best thing you can do as far as injuries go is prevent them in the first place. Yes, this is easier said than done and yes, if you’re already injured then this doesn’t do you much good at the moment. But it’s still good to know and understand. So what are the big things for injury prevention? Well a lot of them overlap with injury recovery. For example, making sure you’re getting plenty of good food. I don’t just mean not eating fast food, though obviously that’s part of it, but rather making sure you’re getting all your vitamins and minerals, micronutrients, and focusing on nutrient dense foods.
The next is weight and mobility. Are you heavier than you should be? Weight makes a big difference. I’ve seen a few heavyweight blow out a knee or do a simple roll and end up in the hospital for it, yet I’ve yet to see it happen to a bantamweight, not that it doesn’t happen, it’s just that this is a big role. I’m not saying you need to be sub 10% bodyfat at all, just if you’re carrying a lot of excess weight understand that your chance for injuries shoots up with that. Doing something to work on that is going to help.
Hand in hand with that is mobility. Are you using one of those spikey foam rollers? Working out your aches and kinks. Doing some form of active stretching? We overlook these things because they’re often boring but the older we get the more essential that they become. Make sure you’re doing all the little things that help prevent injuries. Foam roll, stretch, don’t push yourself, make sure you’re getting sleep. Avoid junky foods and the like.
Stuff you’ve all heard before but there’s a hell of a difference between hearing something and actually doing it. Find a way to make these things less boring for you so you don’t end up injured and doing them because you can’t do the thing you love anymore.
Another note on this. Keep your ego in check. If I’m tired and one of the spazzy kids want to roll/spar with me, I say no, not today. Likewise if I’m under a weight or about to pick it up and something is just bothering me about it, I let it go. There’s always another day to lift, spar, or whatever. Learn to listen to your body. Yes, you need to push yourself but push yourself is the key word there, not destroy. More is not always better. Don’t be afraid of light work or light days, there’s nothing wrong with them or that.
A Secret To Healing Soft Tissue Injuries That I Only Just Discovered
So let’s take a second to talk about one of the most insidious and annoying, as well as debilitating, injuries out there. Soft tissue damage. Ligaments, joints, and all that fun stuff that is just a pain in the ass to heal and never really seems to get there anyways. First off consult a professional, it’s worth it. One for identification of what is actually wrong and also for effective treatment options like physical rehab. And then of course basic stuff like foam rolling, staying hydrated, eating right, and the like. I did all of that yet was still suffering from some nagging injuries in my right shoulder and ankle, until I did this.
I’ll admit, it’s gross, at first. It’s not a food or…”thing” most of us are going to be used to, but damn if it doesn’t work. I did some research and saw that while not 100% a large proportion of the fibers are made up of collagen. So I figured, okay what has collagen? Did some more research. Found out the miracle of bone broths and meat stock. Went from there and discovered a remedy that has helped my joint issues all but disappear. Anyways what I do is take a package of chicken feet and dump it in a pot with water covering all the feet.
I let that simmer for two hours, then take it off and let it cool a little. Then I dump it into a metal container, a cup with a lid really, and store it in the fridge. Let it sit overnight and then the next morning you’ll have collagen jello. What I do is take a tablespoon of it a day. I plug my nose and it’s weird but it works. I know collagen has plenty of other beneficial properties as well, especially for those who have gut issues. So just all around it’s something that’s worth giving a try, especially if you have nagging soft tissue injuries.
Which brings me to something else.
Sometimes Its Better To Focus On The Entire Body & Not Just The Site Of Injury
Something else I’ve learned is sometimes we’ve done all we can for a certain area of the body and have to then look at body wide factors contributing to the injury. The body is a system that’s connected. You can’t mess with one part of it without that also having an effect on another. Everything’s connected. So when you have say, a wrist injury, it could be more than just the wrist that needs to be looked at. You need to look at body wide health and especially inflammation. The causes of inflammation are to many to list here but I’ll hit some of the big ones that need to be taken care of when you’re recovering from an injury.
The first is avoiding vegetable oils and things like high fructose corn syrup. All that factory stuff that has wormed its way into essentially every food item in the Western world, especially in the states, where I doubt they make shoes without adding it in. Avoid all of that as much as you can. Make sure that you’re getting eight hours of sleep and that it’s quality sleep. Invest in a good mattress, a powerful fan, blackout curtains, whatever you need to invest in to make sure that your sleep is as quality as possible. Then of course make sure you’re getting your protein and other nutrients in.
Make sure you’re eating good meats and good foods in general. Maybe take some time to read or meditate or do whatever non physical thing that you can do to relax as that’ll help as well. If you’re constantly stressed and angry that’s going to wreck havoc on your body. Maybe take a light walk or swim, get the blood flowing every now and then. When you feel like you’ve addressed the area enough, make sure that you are doing total life wellness things as well. When doing all the above and still not healing, focusing on this seems to do the trick.
One more note on this. Don’t be afraid of light, and I do mean light, work that brings blood flow to the area. Don’t think you shouldn’t move at all, unless told by a professional. Light swims or walks are great for getting blood flowing to an injured area and so long as it doesn’t cause pain is a great way to bring nutrient delivering blood to the area that needs it most.
Not A Comprehensive Guide But Should Give You Some Food For Thought
This guide is in no way meant to be comprehensive, just some things that stuck out to me and that I think will make a big difference for you. Try them out, see how they work, and hopefully you learned something new. As always thanks for reading and for visiting the site.
Best Of Luck,
If you have any questions you would like to see answered in a future post send them to me at charlessledge001 (at) gmail (dot) com. If you found value in this post then I would encourage you to share this site with someone who may need it as well as check out my books here. I appreciate it.
-Charles Sledge
