Pain and Dealing With Injuries

Ten years ago, I had a disc herniation in C3 and C4 vertebra in my neck from a muscular imbalance

At the time, I had an MMA fight scheduled and was training for the event with one of my partners

He hit me on the chin while sparring, and it felt like someone lit my left arm on fire

I had been dealing with the pain of the disc herniation up until that point, but that was the last straw

The pain had never been that bad and it wasn’t getting better

I went to the Dr., and he informed me I wouldn’t be able to fight because of the disc herniation

I had to stop training and do rehab to get the alignment back in my neck

After a daily rehab and stretching routine for about three months, the pain and herniation finally subsided

My story is pretty similar to most people who deal with pain

You will ignore it until you can’t anymore

Any athlete that has had an injury knows what it is like

Not being able to train or diminished capacity eats at you

You feel weak and many times get depressed

Trust me; I have been there many times in my 20+ years of training martial arts and strength training

One of the best ways to prevent injury is to stretch and, in general, be aware of your posture and body alignment

You need to be proactive with stretching and look at it more like preventative maintenance on your body

When your body is out of alignment, it places an unnecessary load on the affected joint

Over time the undue stress can lead to the eventual degradation of the joint because it is not tracking properly

Many time’s injuries occur when the imbalance has become too great, and the integrity of the joint is no longer able to function

Many nagging pains in your shoulders, back, and knees can be signs of muscular imbalances or joint degradation that is creating the discomfort

People usually ignore their posture and don’t see the correlation between having your body in proper alignment and pain

If you are an athlete, then you are hindering your performance if you aren’t stretching.

The more appropriately aligned you are, the more efficient you will move

Your muscles will recover quicker, and you will also become stronger

Muscle imbalances create weak muscles because they lose part of their functionality

I don’t know about you but I am in the game to increase my performance and do everything I can to get the most out of my athletic potential

The moral of the story is stretching should be a daily staple in your routine

If your consistent, you will unlock your hidden athletic potential

Get to it