Get What You Need...

Well, first appointment down with Raymond Chiropractic and Sports Injury Center...

I went for a run on Sunday and just had an absolutely abysmal time. Generally, I've been clipping off some great runs: right around 7:45 pace with a nice, low heart rate. Well, roll into Sunday and I couldn't do crap in terms of that: breathing was way off, heart-rate sky-high, stomach hating me. Couple that with my IT bands starting to get really angry with me, a little bit of knee pain, etc. So to add it all up:

• No swim due to the shoulder and neck.
• No bike because it's on the way to Georgia to get checked out with the manufacturer.
• Now, my run's falling apart? What the hell?

I had already booked out this appointment with Dr. Jamie Raymond about a week ago, with the primary focus being on that left shoulder of mine. Guess it was convenient that my entire body decided to shut on down all at the same time.

Now, some people see the word "chiropractor" and they immediately get nervous: am I going to need to see him continuously to get re-adjusted? Could this be the wrong course of action for me?

The answer, of course, is it depends; however, Dr. Raymond is much more than just a chiropractor. Sure, he provides that service, but he also couples that with Active Release Therapy, massage, Graston technique, and exercises to help you hold onto the adjustments. Basically: trying to identify what the underlying root issue is, find exercises to help correct it and strengthen (if possible), and adjustment/release as necessary.

The initial consultation is a little longer: you talk about injury history, you talk about what you've done in general to try and correct the issue, what brought you to the office then, and then the work begins of trying to build you back up the correct way.

We started getting into some exercises, and immediately we found some fun stuff:

• My left lat was shut off. Not weak. Not tight. No, we mean: would not fire. At all. That wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with my shoulder issue.
• My gluteus medius wasn't firing, either. This was forcing strain elsewhere, which leads essentially to the IT band getting to do all of the work.
• The underlying issue: we got completely locked up in the hip region: psoas, adductors were just a big hot ball of tightness. The thing is, it was causing problems in both directions: got the rib cage completely out of alignment, which turned the lat off, which then got my supraspinatus to do all of the work, resulting in impingement. Hooray!

So, now with a whole bunch of exercises to do at home, we're hopefully on the road to getting better. I'm going to run as I feel like it, but more importantly just pay attention to my body. It's been good to have this mental and physical break; it's letting me get some projects done and get myself focused for 2013.