If you have been CrossFitting for any amount of time, you have likely experienced some sort of tweak, strain or inflammation of a muscle or connective tissue of a joint. This rings especially true and is practically a given for us "older" CrossFitters who are constantly trying to keep up with our younger counterparts.
Fear not, slight tweaks are easily treated with ice, rest, and some over the counter non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen or naproxen (my personal favorite). Give yourself a couple days of laying off the injured portion of your body, and slight injuries recover fairly quickly. Note- NSAIDs work great to treat INFLAMMATION. Do not use NSAIDs for just being sore.
More serious strains or even slight tears need to be handled with much more patience. Follow the RICE protocol. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation:
REST is the key component. Any injury to muscle or ligaments can take six to eight weeks (or longer) to COMPLETELY heal. Just because it is feeling better, be wary. You can potentially damage yourself worse if you jump full tilt boogie into training the damaged area.
ICE is probably the best thing you can do for an injury. Icing it within 48 hours of the initial injury will help with inflammation and swelling. Damage to a ligament or a muscle causes a cellular release of fluid to the damaged area. Couple this with a rush of blood flow, and you get swelling rather quickly. Ice constricts the blood vessels in the area and limits blood flow, thus reducing swelling. Ice reduces the activity of free nerve endings in the effected area, essentially making the area numb and reducing the amount of pain. Be careful with pain reduction. I often ice an injury and then think it feels like a million bucks. Don't ice and then train the injured area. Again, you need to rest! Most doctors agree that icing the injury three to four times a day will speed up the healing process. Doctors and scientist seem to agree that you should ice for no longer than 20 minutes so you don't damage any skin or underlying tissue (like with frostbite).
COMPRESSION works two-fold. First, like ice, it helps with inflammation by restricting blood flow to the area. Second, it offers support to the damaged area relieving the total amount of work that the injured joint or muscle has to do. An ACE bandage or neoprene sleeve works well. Avoid wrapping an area too tightly.
ELEVATION also works in lowering blood flow to the injured area. Elevate the injured area higher than your heart and let gravity work for you.
INJURIES SUCK! It's even worse when you are a dedicated athlete who works out regularly. Some folks couple that dedication with a perceived sense that others will think they are copping out if they properly rest an injury. They don't listen to their body, and they "suck it up" and train anyway. STUPID! (I know because I have fallen into this trap myself.) Don't succumb to peer pressure. You can still train if you are injured! You just need to be super smart about it. If it hurts, DON'T DO IT! Even if it hurts a little during a range of motion, you are causing injured tissue to be forced into work and adding time to your recovery period. Substitute movements or even complete workouts with exercises that don't involve damaged areas of your body.
The potential for injury is real in any physical endeavor. I stand strong in my belief that CrossFit is safe when you perform the workouts with some smarts. Avoid injury in the first place by striving for excellence in your knowledge and application of proper technique. On those occasions were you incur an injury, be smart about your recovery!!!!
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WOD 11/4/2009This is from our last in house competition:
You have one hour to complete a 5k row for time and 30 clean and jerks for time (M:135#/W:95#). Post an individual time for each. You may do them in any order, but you must complete both tasks within one hour. The clean and jerk can be a power clean and then any way overhead you wish (press, push pres, push jerk, split jerk) as long as you get to full lock out and bring both feet back under your hips with the body in an upright position.
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i agree with brad!!!
Posted by: Patrick | November 04, 2009 at 19:40
"Age only matters if you’re cheese." - Woody Paige (from ESPN's Around the Horn)
Posted by: Zen | November 04, 2009 at 12:53
what do you all know about getting old? How old do you have to be to be old?
Posted by: brad | November 04, 2009 at 11:30
yes it does......
Posted by: Mary | November 04, 2009 at 10:51
What a timely post. I hurt my foot last night putting away my equipment and I am using the techniques thatyou posted Freddy and the pain has definitely been less. Getting old sucks.
Posted by: Jason | November 04, 2009 at 10:26
Man, your post hits home Freddy! I think my wrist is just about ready so I'll probably be back in the gym either later this week or next week. Hope everybody is doing good! See you all soon!
Posted by: Chris Lai | November 04, 2009 at 07:30
Yeah what Eric said... and yes elevation sickness sucks
Posted by: Lancaster | November 03, 2009 at 21:48
oh no not this F#cking wod :(
Posted by: Eric | November 03, 2009 at 20:44