I hurt myself, now what?
Like I mentioned here, most injuries can be attributed to “training error.” Exposing yourself to too much volume, intensity, or volume AT intensity, before you are ready for it. What’s that mean? Let’s use a (EXTREME) running example.
Volume: JOG a marathon
Intensity: RACE a marathon
Volume AT Intensity: JOG or RACE a marathon 2 days in a row
How shitty you feel after depends on who you were before you started. Now humans have pretty good range, so a “marathon” could be:
an actual marathon
wrenching on cars
getting off the toilet
It is a challenge for the people at the extremes (#1 & #3) to add in new stuff since the system is already running at max capacity. Neither can just start up a 5 day/week powerlifting program. That doesn’t mean they won’t try.
Then there’s us in the middle (#2), with our high volume, low intensity lives. Most people don’t particularly train hard, so we make up with it with volume to feel like we’ve done something. From an emotional stress perspective, we probaby lead high volume, high intensity lives. Then you see a new thing you want to try, so you just ADD it into the already busy life. Your cup runneth over. Now something hurts.
Okay, Now What?
If you already have a pain problem, you’re likely going to have to back off a little bit. It doesn’t have to be ZERO, but you’ll have to reduce the work by SOME amount. There will be some experimentation involved as there are no hard and fast rules. Just don’t let the pain get to a point that is “agonizing.”
If it is exercise related pain, that’s easy, just 1) reduce the weight or 2) reduce the # of exercises.
If it is real life pain, work in short spurts when you can. Generally speaking, volume is an irritant. Unfortaely, with work and life, you don’t always get to dictate the terms.
Whether it be exercise related or life related, start at 1) low volume low intensity before moving to 2) low volume medium to high intensity.
Practical example:
I recently started back squatting. I actually hate back squatting, so no clue why, but whatever. Whenever I add back a barbell lift, I usually give myself a 2-3 week “ramp up” period before really hitting my heavier percentages/RPE. If I was doing ONLY barbell stuff, I could probalby avoid the ramp up, but there are other things I like to do, so I find this strategy useful. Every week, I find out something new, so I adjust accordingly.
Summary
You’ve over filled your cup. You have to 1) dump some of the contents out and 2) build a bigger cup. The less irritable you are, the better chance you have of doign both at the same time. There’s no textbook answer, so you’ll have to be yoru own n=1.