My experience on the HydroWorx

 

Special thanks to Dan Lent-Koop, MPT, CHT at Orleans Park Rehab.

Help a blogger out!

The The Super Fatlete has a chance to win a new car!  All it takes is votes from us for the next 15 days.  You probably already know him but just to fill you in – he is a triathlete, a blogger, and has some awesome goals for this year -

2011 Goals

Personal
Get Weight to 186 lbs (ideally by 2/1/11)
Get weight down to 180 (ideally by first race)
Find optimal racing weight
Complete the 100 push up challenge by June
Complete the 200 sit up challenge by October
Begin martial arts training again if financially feasible
Try an IDPA shooting tournament
Performance Goals
Swim 100m in 1:30
Bike a 10 mile time-trial in 30 minutes
5k under 24 minutes
10k under 50 minutes
13.1 in under 1:50
Finish a marathon in less than 4 hours
Finish 1 sprint triathlon in under 1:10
Top three AG spot in the TrySports series

He is also hosting a contest – check out the blog and help him win the car! - The Super Fatlete

Ask the Physical Therapist–March 16

Earlier in the week I posed a question regarding physical therapy and said that I need to touch base with an expert.  Well, Dan from Orleans Park Rehab (the guy that kinesio taped my arm) replied to my question.

Dan Lent-Koop, MPT, CHT

http://www.orleansparkrehab.com

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Question:

I know from working in physical therapy (many, many moons ago) that you have to work an injured body part.  But where is the line between aggravating the injury and rehabilitating the injury?

Answer:

The line, so to speak, is established in the physiology of tissue healing. It is important to always go back to the science of it all. When you tweak or injure something there is typically pain. Pain is your body’s own natural protective mechanism. It signals that continued performance of whatever you’re doing will result in further tissue damage. We are taught as athletes to ignore pain and push on. While there is some truth to this be it the result of lactic acid during the final hard sprint, the chemistry of pain will best you every time.

As a therapist, I am trained to evaluate pain and its origin. There lies in the clinical experience of a good therapist. When to push and when to hold back is based on the individual case. Years ago, injuries were splinted and patients were immobilized until the tissues were well-healed. We now know better.

Assuming your injury is not profound, range of motion activities should be performed even in the acute phases of healing. These activities aid in promoting blood flow through the injured area and can reduce the presence of swelling. It also prevents the development of shortened muscles around the injury. These are commonly known as muscle contractures and can be even more difficult to overcome than the original injury.

Now if you ignore pain, push too hard, and overstrain the healing tissues, it is very likely going to prolong the healing process. If a little is good, it does not necessarily mean that more is better. Tolerating modified activity, moving through the available tolerated range of motion, for limited duration at limited intensity is exactly what is needed. Listen to your body. It will tell you when too much is too much.

Your best bet is to do everything possible to maximize the healing environment for your tissues. For healthy people, the body is trying to do exactly what it needs to do to heal itself. We can promote this by keeping the injured area from getting too swollen. The acronym R.I.C.E. should be employed. Rest the area as noted above. Ice the region for 15 minute intervals. Compression; wrap the area to promote venous return. Elevate the injury above the heart.

In Good Health-

Dan Lent-Koop, MPT, CHT

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Wow – thanks Dan.  That answered my question!  I have started back to swimming with my shoulder and there has only been mild discomfort.  The bench press will still have to wait.  I am thinking of starting the 100 push up challenge at the intermediate level.  This should allow for me to build up the shoulder without further injury.

If you have any questions for Dan then leave a comment or send me an email james@powermultisport.com

Back in the Pool!

So after a fairly big weekend on the legs – wait, back up.  Saturday I ran 10.5.  Sunday I rode 25 hard miles on the trainer, did a 6 mile brick that was progressively faster (started 7:30 and finished at 6:40 for an average pace of 7:05) and then got another 30 miles with the group ride!

Did I mention that I am starting to feel more like myself?  I’m not 100% but I am getting there.

Although the legs felt fine on Monday I have decided to give them a rest after the weekend.  However, I did skip Masters Swim again.  I tried swimming last week and I made it about 500 yards.  The swim was slow and painful.

Well, it has been three full weeks since the bike crash.  I’m a broken record here but I do say if you are injured – 3 days will save you 3 weeks and 3 weeks will save you 3 months.

Well, I took my three weeks off and got back in the pool.  I made a deal with myself that I was not going to push it at all and that I was going to jump out after only 2 laps if I felt pain.  But the real plan was to swim 10 x 100 yards on 2 minutes.  Nice and easy.

The shoulder felt fine.  There was zero pain.  There were no worries.  After the first 100 yards I just kept going.  In my head I re-did the set and decided on 4 x 250 to get my 1000 yards.

That turned into 6 x 250 for 1500 yards total.  It was not fast but it was pain free!

After the swim I went upstairs to do some abdominal work.  With the shoulder and the back hurting my core workouts have been absent.  I did about 15 minutes of crunches, side crunches and planks.  The obliques on the side my back is sore were way out of touch.  They started to burn instantly.  I have lost a lot in my core.  Time to start building that back.  Oh, how I have missed the TRX – but that will have to wait for a least another week!

I feel like I am getting back on track!

Here is a video of my good friend Dan from Orleans Park Rehab taping my arm.  The tape did provide some support the past few days.  It might have giving me some confidence getting back into the pool.  Thanks Dan!

First REAL brick of the year.

I am starting to get back on track (everything except for the swimming).  On Saturday I went for a 10.5 mile run on the trace.  I saw a lot of runner friends out on the trace.  I did not push the pace and felt strong for the entire run.  The back did come into play as the distance increased.  It was not debilitating but not being used to this type of pain it is very frustrating.  After the run I am sore the rest of the day in the lower back.  It is not a spine issue – the pain is in the lower back muscles.  Someone suggested that I might have a cracked rib – I don’t think so.

Saturday afternoon I went to the injury prevention clinic conducted by my good friend Dan (http://www.orleansparkrehab.com/).  He broke down common injuries by SWIM / BIKE / RUN and the stretches that can be used to prevent them.  Now, I am not a stretcher but I am going to start. 

Next Dan went over Power Taping.  It was an interesting topic and I video taped Dan taping knees and shoulders (my shoulder).  I will be posting these in the next couple of day.

Next we got to play in the Hydroorx treadmill.  Yeah, a treadmill in a hot tub.  It had video camera under the water and you could see your stride and everything.  When Dan turned the jets up and you had to fight against the water – well, that was the hardest head wind I have ever experienced.  It was a solid workout with 30 second sprints.  And, oh yeah, no IMPACT.

Chad fighting the current!

Sunday brought a solid day.  I was not feeling particular strong but I dialed up a hard trainer workout with the full intension of turning the session into a brick.  I ate my oatmeal and then jumped on the trainer for 4 x10 minutes at hard effort.  This was a 70 minute trainer ride and then I slipped on the running shoes.  I just wanted to feel the legs out but I ended up running a progressively faster ladder.  The paces started at 7:30 minutes per mile and quickly jumped down into the 6’s.  The fastest mile was 6:39.  I completed the 6 mile run at an average pace of 7:05.

I got home and recovered from the workout and jumped on the Sunday afternoon group ride.  I just wanted a few more mile and to enjoy the beautiful weather.  During this ride I hung way back in the pace line and took it easy.  I tacked on another 30 miles (easy 30 miles).

For the weekend I am starting to get some of my numbers back – (26.5 miles running and 55 miles biking).  That is not far off from some of my recent weekly totals.

Monday morning (as I type this) I skipped Masters Swim for the, I don’t know 681st time.  I am going to test the waters today at lunch.  The last time I swam (last week) it was slow and painful.  The shoulder is getting better but I do not want to aggravate it.

I know from working in physical therapy (many, many moons ago) that you have to work an injured body but - where is the line between aggravating the injury and rehabilitating the injury?  - I think I need to ask Dan.

WIR–March 13, 2011

My running mileage was down for the week.  Anything over 6 miles and my back really acts up for the rest of the day (and the next day).  I was able to successfully run 10 miles on Saturday but it was no where near marathon pace or even my ‘comfortable’ pace from a month ago.  The legs are doing fine. 

I have also noticed that I have great breakthrough cycling workouts on the trainer in the early part of the week.  But as the fatigue (and I am not even training hard right now) builds I can not achieve the high power outputs.  I am going to make a change next week and schedule the high out session in the first part of the week.  I hop to keep continuing to have success.New totals for the week:

Totals:

SWIM – 0 yards

BIKE – 96.16 miles (+ 10 miles)

RUN – 28.50 miles (- 5.1 miles)

Total time was 9 hours which was all cycling and running.  Absolutely zero swimming and zero strength training.  I am going to attempt to add several hours to both of these activities. 

At the injury prevention clinic last night I got my shoulder taped by Dan.  I also got to run in on the hydro treadmill – I’ll tell you more later in the week.