How Injuries Can Ruin More Than Your Body

  I consider myself pretty lucky.  From playing numerous sports all through grade school to intramural sports in college and partaking in numerous other physical activities in my 22 years of life, I have never had any serious injuries, unless you count a sprained ankle.  No concussions, broken bones, trips to the emergency room, surgeries, torn ligaments or muscles.  I never knew what it was like for an athlete to deal with a serious setback in their fitness goal.  That was until this past summer when I tore my trapezius muscle.   

Over this past summer, June 22 to be exact, I tore my trap muscle.  I had no idea that it happened either.  I was doing some dynamic stretching warming up for deadlifts that morning.  As soon as I bent over to touch my foot I felt something strange happen to my upper back.  I can’t explain the feeling, it just felt different.  I still did my workout that day just fine.  I iced my trap that night just as a precaution and thought everything should be fine.  However, the next day it felt like someone poured concrete into my neck.  I couldn't move at all! I had to roll off my bed in order to even get out of bed.  I then crawled to my phone like a newborn baby.  I managed to call my mom and asked her to make an appointment with my uncle who is a chiropractor.  When I finally managed to get to my uncle’s, he told me to lie on his table so he could inspect the damage.  He could tell there was a lot of inflammation and that I probably strained or slightly tore my trap.  He said I would need to take a few weeks off from using the muscle.  He adjusted me, which helps in speeding up the recovery.  To be honest, I do not remember the rest of the visit.  My mind blacked out given the pain and all the worries. 

So after a few weeks off I was back at it, doing Crossfit.  Just a little bump in the road, I told myself.  That was until I strained my trap again in late September.  This time I knew exactly what it was when I felt it happen.  This time, thankfully, it wasn't as bad.  So after another trip to my uncle I decided to rehab my trap back by swimming.  After a month of swimming I felt great.  I still did Crossfit here and there, but not as intense.

Late November, I decided to start doing Crossfit again and I wanted to join a box so I could have a coach and a good program so that my injury wouldn't come back.  I joined a box downtown called Queen City Crossfit and I fell in love with it.  Loved the coaches, members, the programming, and the extra push and encouragement everyone gave during the workouts.  My coach knew about my trap injury and would only push me to where I was not risking injury recurring.  I started to feel confident enough again in my body that I could go harder during workouts.  Well I was wrong.  I strained my trap again for a third time in a matter of months. 

I was pissed off at my body.  Why is my body not letting me push myself to the limit that I am so accustomed to?  Where did I screw up?  Am I ever going to be 100% again?  All these questions blew up in my mind.  I decided it was in my best interest to stop going to my box and doing the thing I love.  I told myself I would not put a time limit on how long my recovery should be.   I have been taking it very easy working out and rehabbing my trap back to health.  From many visits to my uncle this past month and long talks with my mom who also dealt with a sports injury tearing her ACL playing tennis, I still do not know if I am emotionally ready to start working out again at the same intensity I am accustomed to.  That’s right, I said emotionally ready.  Physically, my trap feels better for the most part. After messing up my trap the third time, I know what exercises I need to work on. However, there are not any exercises I know that can help me forget about my injury.  I still am scared every day I work out that I might tear my trap again and be forced to take another month or more off. 

The human body is an amazing organism.  It will constantly fix itself know matter what you did to it given time, rest, and nutrition.  However, your body cannot fix your mind.  My trap injury has definitely changed my perspective on sports injuries.  Coming back from an injury is tough because it is like getting put in a cage with a lion and it bites your arm off.  After surgeons give you a new, stronger arm, they put you back in the cage with the lion.  Of course you are scared because you think the lion is going to bite your arm off again.  However, if you have the confidence and forget about the fear, you can beat that lion. Well this week I decided I need to go back in the cage with the lion and continue with my fitness journey without that fear.  I decided that life is too short to be fearful of reaching for your goals. 

Thanks Uncle Dave and mom for giving me the support I needed to get me through this injury.

Ryan Morrison is a senior at the University of Cincinnati studying Food & Nutrition leading a certification as a Registered Dietitian.  Ryan currently works at the University of Cincinnati Department of Environmental Health & Safety and at the University's Recreational Center where he conducts group fitness classes.     And of course he is my Nephew. 

Do P90x and CrossFit qualify as good fitness programs?

I've been thinking about this subject for awhile; P90X & CrossFit are they Healthy?
Many assume if you workout more often that you become healthier or that all forms of activity produce health & fitness. True you may become stronger, faster,increase endurance and lose weight but that does not guarantee that you have improved your health.

The sheer volume of both P90X and CrossFit, in time will cause injury and illness. Most cannot sustain the level of intensity and and the time commitments. I believe if the activity is actually healthy than anyone can partake and can do so over their entire life. If not than I wholeheartedly believe it should not even be started.

My rationale stems from a more scientific approach. I want to do what I need to do ,exercise wise, to stimulate my body. Not any more or any less.

To determine if your exercise routine is increasing your overall health you have to define all the players; HEALTH, FITNESS, EXERCISE.

As ofter as we use these terms there really isn't a standard definition utilized by Medical researchers & fitness experts. I like the definitions laid out by John Little & Doug McGuff, MD in their bookk Body by Science They used multiple sources to come up with workable definitions.

Without quoting verbatim, health is when you are w/out dis-ease or pathology and your body is in a state of homeostasis. Homeostasis being the balance of catabolism (breaking down) and Anabolism (building up).

Our body is constantly building up and tearing down in order to maintain some type of balance. The complex process of blood clotting is an example. The blood is constantly clotting and breaking down clots in it's attempt to maintain a viscosity thin enough to insure smooth flow thru the arteries but capable of stemming any bleeding with out clogging the artery. This process is just one of many that when working efficiently displays the balance of catabolism/anabolism.

Fitness is the body's ability to withstand challenges, both internal and external, above a resting metabolism.

Example, one may be considered fit if he or she is capable of climbing 5 flights of stairs in a row. But another individual would be more fit if they were capable of climbing all the stairs in the Empire State Building. The least fit individual can hardly get out of bed.

Exercise in the end is any activity undergone that stimulates a positive physiological adaptation that maximizes fitness without minimizing Health.

I personally have reduced my training from 1 hr 30 min 4-5 days per week to 30 minutes once every 7 days. Now can every reduce their exercise to this level; absolutely. Will everyone mentally be capable of working out 1x a week; probably not. The issue is that many use exercise as a mechanism to cover up a poor diet or at least poor choices. Eventually, the bad diet overtakes the most avid exerciser.


Mark Sisson, a former workout-aholic, who now preaches intense exercise followed by adequate rest recently blogged about both P90X & CrossFit. His "Pros & Cons" type discussion is very balanced and his assesment factually based. Give it a READ!

Work Smarter Not Harder!
Dr David Marcon
Cincinnati, Ohio
drdavidmarcon.com