I was approached by a lady who was in dire straits. She had been working out for years, but really not that hard. She had been just exercising.
(In my next book, I will discuss the difference between Exercising vs. Working Out.)
Anyway, she couldn’t get her right arm over her head. She said she just woke up one morning and it was really sore. She let a few weeks pass, thinking it would get better with rest.
Most people share that same thought. Unfortunately, that’s the wrong approach for long-term well-being.
I told her, “In the future, if you hurt yourself or you’re very stiff, give it a day, but do something after that because usually the joint, ligaments, and tendons will typically tighten up. And when that occurs, the inflammation tends to mask the injury. That could lead to misdiagnosis, which in some people’s case could cost them hundreds tothousands of dollars in medical bills.”
She met with a doctor and they diagnose her problem as “Frozen Shoulder”. She would need surgery and the rehab would take 3-6 months. When she described the surgery to me it almost – ok it DID – brought me tears. The doctors told her that they just crank and crank and crank on the shoulder to loosen it. Most times, the shoulder breaks due to the excessive “Cranking around and around”.
Well, to me that sounded just brutal. Sort of Medieval.
To try to make a long story short: I recommended light weight training (2-3 days a week), massage therapy (once a week for six weeks), and a good nutrition plan that included a fair amount of calories. The weight training is for breaking down muscle tissue to encourage the body to want to heal itself. The massage therapy is to help promote range of motion and blood flow. The blood flow carries enriched blood to the damaged area for healing. The nutrition plan provides all the nutrients necessary to create enriched blood so the body can heal faster, and with a little rest could help out tremendously. This formula can’t hurt.
We have been working out together for about 3 months. She now sees a massotherapist and has definitely improved her calorie consumption with great food selection. She has not been perfect, but good enough. After 3 months, she not only can put both arms over her head, but can also do shoulder presses with 4 lb weights.
That is AWESOME.
She’s happy, I’m thrilled, and so far so good.
