Have you ever done anything that you immediately regretted?  I’m not talking about anything that will get you into real trouble, but rather something like hurting yourself.  I tend to do things like that routinely, and I’m sure that some of you are on the same page.  I think it is something about forgetting that I’m not 18 anymore.

I did something like that earlier this week, and I think my experience is a good reminder to all of us that we must think things through thoroughly before doing anything.  Here’s my story and what I should have done to prevent it.

As many of you know, I like to run a little bit.  My favorite workouts are speed intervals.  Unfortunately speed intervals can be a little harder on your hamstrings, as common sense and a few past experiences have demonstrated.

Many of you also know that I am a big supporter of rolling on therapeutic balls or foam rolling as well (depending on the situation one, or both may be necessary).  Unfortunately I have been shirking my responsibilities on that portion of my own care.

I’m sure you can all imagine where this is heading.  After a couple of sprints, my hamstring started feeling a little off.  Not enough to stop me from running, but enough to remind me that hurting myself was a possibility.  Of course this only got worse after I got off of the treadmill and the hamstring cooled down.

I will give myself credit.  I am great at stretching every day, no matter what the circumstances.  This injury just reminds me that I have to do all parts of my therapy, not just the parts that I enjoy.  Continuing down the path that I know I should have been on would have allowed me to skip over this injury.  As a chiropractor I know that this is the case, but some things are still hard to do.

Like I said, I think this lesson can be applied to almost all of you.  I see a lot of people that come in and claim that they are doing their stretches.  Of those that are willing to tell the truth on the frequency they are doing their exercises (don’t lie about it, it only makes it worse), many are still not doing what has been instructed.

A number of the people that end up in my office with the same injury that they were seen for in the past, MOST of them have been neglecting their homework.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY.  YOU HAVE TO PUT IN THE WORK TO REMAIN HEALTHY.

I have learned my lesson, and I hope that y’all can take advantage of my mistakes. 

…Now go stretch.

If you have questions, or would like to discuss this further, please contact me at:

Jeffrey L. Cumro, Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Personal Trainer
Better Life Chiropractic and Wellness, LLC
          Better Care > Better Health > Better Life
          10700 Sapp Bros Dr, Omaha, NE  68138
402-210-1472
BetterLifeNE@gmail.com
www.BetterLifeNE.com