this way you can continue to derive some satisfaction from your training
while you wait to get everything back in good order again.
. For your recovery exercise program, so long as progress is happening, albeit
slowly, watch out for trying to speed it up. Because you may feel ready for
something more demanding does not mean that your muscles and joints are
ready. Not coming back from injuries carefully enough is a major reason why
people suffer from repeated injuries to the same area.
Trigger point therapy maintenance
. For weight training to be effective, or any other type of exercise, you need
to do it over the long term. To maintain myself in good enough working
order to train I found, at least for several years, that trigger point therapy
was a must. It kept discomfort and aches and pains at bay, so I could train
progressively. Before I knew of the therapy, and before I had my debilitating
injuries, I had ups and downs as I “recovered” from each minor injury that
came along. I was not really getting injured, but was suffering from trigger
point flare ups.
. If, the morning after a training day, any of my sensitive areas were irritated,
I would add an extra morning session of trigger point therapy for those spe-
cific areas. at got those spots in good running order immediately. Some-
times the trigger point therapy was like magic.
. If my back was not in the morning after waking, a little trigger point
work would set me up for the day. e same goes if I am not before
training, or after. I slot in a little extra trigger point therapy whenever I need
it.
. Until November I still used trigger point therapy even if I felt no dis-
comfort in the areas concerned. e areas that used to receive almost daily
maintenance therapy were my knees, both big toes, both shoulders, lower
back, elbows and fingers (especially on the day after a grip workout). Just
minutes a day (I was thorough) kept me in good running order. From
November onwards some trigger point therapy was done most days,
but only according to what I felt my body needed rather than as a rigid
schedule. I would still do some therapy most days, but not for the same trig-
ger points each time.