Top 5 Tips for Pain Management

So you have been through physical therapy, chiropractic, get massages, do your stretches all the time. But those aches and pains never go away. What is happening here?

This is the question that really dug into my soul. I got so frustrated seeing so many of my clients still suffering from injuries, nagging aches and pains that never go away. Especially when they just came back from rehab. And either their condition is just "a little" better, stayed the same. Or it felt good for a while but the pain came back. Why? What is going on here?

After networking and learning from over 30 of the best fitness, rehab, injury prevention specialists from all over the globe. I realized not one system works for everyone. That is ironically one of the things all the specialists agree on, yet many of us are fighting others on whose profession, system, technique is better. I spoke about this in my previous blog. (The disconnect in health and fitness industry.)

So instead of looking at what was different in all of them. I put all their systems together and looked at what was similar.

That is probably what we should be focusing on in order to truly help people move better, feel better and get out of pain.

So here are the Top 5 things that most health and fitness pros agree on in regards to pain management.

1) Stress - One of the biggest factors that cause pain, inflammation and inhibit the body to heal. Almost every Non-genetic medical condition (eg. heart disease, weak immune system, cancer etc.) can all be related back to some sort of stress. We all need to find some way to manage it. Whatever method that works best for you, do that to help relieve stress.

2) Resetting the Fundamentals - Most injuries are caused by poor movement patterns. For example. We didn't "tweak our back" because we picked up something heavy. We tweaked our back because we have been picking things up incorrectly, over time repetition after repetition, the back muscles got overworked then it tweaked.
We didn't tear our ACL in the knee because of jumping or cutting, we tore the ACL because our body doesn't know how to jump or cut properly. Certain muscles were not working properly and other muscles were working too much, causing imbalances over time. And one day, the ACL tears. The list goes on and on. Everything goes back to the movement fundamentals.

3) The 6 Movement Fundamentals - Push, Pull, Squat, Hinge, Carry, Rotate. These are the 6 main movements that the body is supposed to do pretty well. As we age, because of lack of movement, strict workout routines or just plain ignorance. We miss some of them in our workouts and poor movement patterns develop over time. Eg. Back pain comes from not being able to hinge properly when picking up something, knee pain comes from not having a good squat or rotational pattern, shoulder pain comes from not being able to push or pull well etc. the problem is you can do well in 5 of the 6 movement patterns, but the 1 that you can't do well is probably what is causing the rest of your body to get injured or be in pain. Original Strength, Animal Flow, DNS, Foundation Training, Primal Movement Chains are all systems built to reset movement patterns that help bring the body back to "normal" I combine all of these systems in my facility.

4) Lack of awareness - Not knowing how the mind and body is feeling. Sensory acuity is something we all need to build up consistently. We get so focused on the world around us that we forget to focus within. When we forget how to manage how we feel mentally and physically, our body falls out of alignment and pain, illnesses develop and we have no idea why. Resetting the fundamentals and relieving stress are awesome tools to help you build up awareness in your body.

5) Relying on others to do your job for you - Most trainers, Chiro's, PT's, Massage therapists etc. Give you homework that you need to implement into your daily routine (if they don't, find someone else). Roughly 70-80% of patients/clients never do their homework CONSISTENTLY after their rehab so the pain comes back or doesn't go away at all. Here is a quick video explaining this:

What we all need to understand is that professionals are just a guide to AID you in getting better. We can't do the work for you unfortunately. We can help you get out of pain, but you need to train your body to be able to maintain it and remember how to STAY out of pain.

So look at the 5 again and see what you might be missing in your daily routine. Pick the one that you feel you need the most and begin working on that asap and let me know how it goes!

I really hope this article sparked your curiosity and helped you look deeper into what is happening that might be causing your body to be in pain. A lot of the things you probably know, but have not implemented yet or don't know how or where to start.

I would highly advise you to reach out to me, If you're not in San Diego I can get you in contact with someone that might be able to help you. I know great professionals from all over the world so definitely shoot me a message, comment or email and I can find a way to help!

Much Love

Andy

The 6 Fundamental Movements

Most people cringe when they smell dirty underwear or food gone rancid. I cringe when I see poorly executed exercise programs and bad form. Too many "10min fat burning routines" or "Get shredded fast" routines are out there. Most of these routines are poorly designed and prone to lead to many muscular imbalances and injuries in the long run. If you want to lose weight, get toned, gain muscle, be healthy, have more energy etc. You MUST learn how to move properly first, once you can do that, every goal that you have wanted to achieved can be achieved, you just have to move!

This blogs main focus is to educate you about the most fundamental movements that should be incorporated in a workout program. Dan John, one of the best strength coaches in the world came up with the big 5. I added a couple more movements as accessory and corrective work:

• Push (Push ups, Bench press, Shoulder press, Sled Push)
• Pull (Rows, Lat pulldowns, Hamstring Bridges, Sled Pull)
• Hinge (Deadlifts, Single leg RDL's)
• Squat (Squats, lunges, lateral lunges, step up's)
• Loaded Carries (Farmer carries, Waiter walks)
• Rotation (Wood Chops, Cable rotations) and Anti-Rotation (Pallof press, planks with one leg extended to side)

If these 6 movement patterns are not incorporated in a weekly workout routine, a lot of muscle imbalances start happening and you are more prone to injuries over time. Most of us(including myself) do too much sitting and slouching with our eyes glued to the screen all day already. Then we do a lot of Push, Crunching and Squats, but not enough Pulling, Hinging and Loaded carrying exercises that cause our entire posture starts changing from bad... To worse.

My old man used to smack me on the back every 10 min to make me sit straight I was a kid. Then one day he got so fed up that he tied a cross to my back forcing me to sit up straight, that didn't work very well for my self-esteem, nor did it last very long. My posture only started getting better once I started working out correctly with the right selection of movements and incorporated corrective strategies to loosen up the tight muscles that are pulling our posture forward instead of pulling us upright. 

But main take away today is incorporate all 6 fundamental movements into your workout routine and you'll see a lot more balance and complete program!

Comment below if you have any questions!

Stay Healthy, Stay Motivated!