Happy Sunday!

Injuries....minor ones, major ones, ones that just won't go away and everything in between. They stink. They happen. Thats life. Athletes get injured. I get injured. You get injured. It happens to all of us at some point! But! I'm here to tell you that injuries and naggy little things on your body shouldn't be there forever. They should go away at some point. But, only if you work hard to make them go away and understand that it's a process. 

Something I always say to my clients "Weak Things Break". That saying comes from powerlifter and strength coach Louie Simmons (RIP). Find out more about him HERE. But, it's true. When something on our body is weak, it usually hurts. It's usually tight. It's our body telling us 'hey, this muscle or area right here is weak, so we need to protect it'. What most people want to do when things hurt is:

• Avoid using that area or stay away from it entirely. 
• Ask their doctor to which their doctor may say "well don't do that" or again "avoid that area."
• Put wraps, braces or whatever crazy apparatus you see someone putting on their body nowadays. 
• Ice it to the end of time or use a heating pad like it's magic. 
• Take pills like Advil and Tylenol to "dull the pain".  
• Go see your massage therapist.
• Take advice from your uneducated friends & family. 
• "Insert other silly things here".  

So. Ya see. None of that stuff above is going to actually FIX whats going in with your body. Those things are going to keep delaying the fact that you need to tackle that area, get it strong and finally understand how to fix some pains going on in your body. 

I usually take a 3-step approach when addressing any type of injuries or naggy little pain that my clients may have. It goes like this:

1.) Get some blood flow to the area.

• Blood is our best friend when it comes to healing. We need blood flow for our body to heal itself by continuing to deliver healing properties to that injured area. 
• We do this by warming the area up with foam rolling, manual manipulation (massage), lacrosse ball, tennis ball, Theragun or whatever else you use to really get into that area.

2.) Mobilize it by creating space for that joint + muscles to move correctly. 

• After we get some nice blood flow, we want to teach that area how to move correctly through it's designed range of motion. 
• Static stretching is old news. We want to dynamically stretch the area by moving in and out of positions to get those muscles or joints moving how they should. 

3.) Strengthen the area to avoid future injury. 

• After we have warmed up the area, shown it how it's suppose to move through its range of motion, we then want to strengthen it to show it that it can be strong in that position. 
• Isolation exercises work great at this point because we want to avoid compensation from other muscles or joints. 

An example of the above approach would look like this:

*Area that hurts; lower back*

1. Foam roll back, glutes, hamstrings to create blood flow. 
2. World's greatest stretch, seated hip hinges, kneeling adductor rock backs to create space in your hips (both front & back). 
3. Glute bridges, deadlifts and isolation glute exercises to strengthen the area. 

This isn't the end all be all. This little protocol may not work for you. But, it's a way to look at injuries or things that have been nagging you in the past. I work with a lot of PT's both personally and for the good of my clients. I try to keep up with my certifications and continuing education. I don't know everything about the body but I do know my stuff when it comes to muscles.

Don't avoid things. Don't listen to people that tell you to avoid things. Thats probably the worst thing you can do. Unless it's broken or torn...there is a reason why something is hurting on your body. Find the root cause, stop applying bandaids. 🤘🏻

Much Love,

Nick Bolio, CSCS

Owner

B3 Strength & Conditioning

Bodybybolio.com