She came in this morning, back sore. In a way it was good news. She's been feeling so much better lately that she decided to go out and work in the garden, and ended up overextending herself. Who among us hasn't been there?
Before we really even got started, though, she hit me with the big question. "Can you give me some exercises to strengthen my back?"
"Hoo-boy," I thought. "Now here's a good question!"
It's actually a great question, because it exposes a popular myth that keeps lots and lots of us from feeling our best. The myth is this: my muscles get sore because they are too weak.
Where did that come from?
Now don't get me wrong. I'm hugely in favor of a moderate, balanced exercise program for fitness. But that's not what she was asking about. She wanted a specific, targeted exercise to strengthen the muscle that hurt.
But wait. What if her muscle hurt not because it was too weak, but because it was too tight? Because there was a postural or mechanical overload on that area preventing the muscle from fully relaxing?
Tight muscles have less blood flow, which results in pain. In my practice, I see much more incidence of muscles that hurt because they're too tight than muscles that hurt for any other reason.
Do you see the problem yet? The purpose of specific, targeted exercises is to strengthen the involved muscles, which makes them tighter. If the problem is that those muscles are too tight in the first place, do you see how the targeted exercise solution might not be best?
[Never mind that those tight muscles most likely wouldn't be able to perform the exercise anyway. They're too fatigued to do the job. You'd most likely end up unconsciously recruiting others to pick up the slack, which wouldn't accomplish what you set out to do in the first place anyway.]
Perhaps it would be better to find a specific, targeted way to relax the involved muscles fully. Then the circulation would improve and the pain would decrease. Once you've got your muscle tone back to normal, then go ahead and hit the gym.
I know I'm challenging a very popular belief. You might not want to take my word for it. No problem. Here's the book you want to check out: Muscle Pain: Understanding Its Nature, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
When you get your copy, just flip it open to page 151 and read all about how "The strengthening of weak muscles and work hardening to deal with loss of function because of musculoskeletal pain has become an industry in itself..." Hint: Drs. Mense & Simons aren't big fans of that practice.
Anyway, we talked about all this during her appointment today. About how the discomfort she experienced was more likely because of the muscle's failure to relax than about its being weak, and if she wants to take up a general exercise program for fitness I'm all for it.
And then she said, "But I feel relaxed!"
Could I have scripted this better if I'd tried? We'll talk about that one next!
Elizabeth
P.S. Got a question? Just let me know.
