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Lessons Learned
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What a better day to go out and do some hard core mountain biking. It was 75 degrees outside and sunny as it could get. After a few spins in the car on Sunset Boulevard I arrived to the Santa Monica Mountains ready to lift some dust.
There's something about doing a solo sport..it just takes you to that little place where only you can be, it puts you in the zone…and the more difficult turns you find and the more uneven the road gets, the more adrenaline your body starts pumping…and the faster you go and the more reckless you become. Turn after turn, I was already going downhill and the bike started shaking and jumping. After a few times of flirting with danger, she bit me. Suddenly there was that turn, that…rush where things flash before your eyes and you lose yourself. I was going down the hill but without the bike. It was painful as you can imagine. Landing against a tree, my whole body was in complete torment, and I felt as though my back was as broken in half like my new mountain bike.
After a few hours I got back home and the pain was still there. I couldn't even reach my toes. I started to get really worried. 1) I have a pain in my back more intense than I have ever felt in my life. And 2) I'm less than two weeks from shooting a workout video and here I am…can't touch my toes or even put my shoes on, not cool.
A day later, nothing had changed. I felt the pain even by walking. It was a strange, throbbing sensation--my upper body and lower body felt like they were attached by a little string. I needed someone to tell me that this wasn't serious and that everything was going to be alright. I needed magic.
A good friend of mine referred me to Dr. Ken Gee (chiropractor). As soon as he walked through the door I knew he wasn't going to be just any doctor. The first thing I noticed was his purple, sporadically dyed hair and incessant need to move his head to the unadulterated trance music booming throughout his clinic. He exuded confidence and assumed the "everything is going to be alright" attitude…exactly what I was looking for. After a few x rays and tests, he came back and told me I have a subluxation on my L5—a hardcore way of saying I dislocated my back in a bad way. He then looked me right in the eyes and told me the magic words, "I'm going to make you pain free before the shoot of your video… you'll be fine". And I was sold.
So as soon as I left the office I headed to the gym to workout and get my muscles strong. The last thing you want to do when you get injured is to stop working out. I started doing exercises that will work my upper body and core indirectly. The only thing I couldn't do was any exercise that included hip flexion-- like squats, leg lifts, crunches, etc.. I was working out and going to see Dr. Ken Gee every single day. Aside from not being able to do certain exercises, I couldn't test the moves that made my back hurt until the day of the shoot. So it was a shoot or miss. This was my last chance to get it all together.
Thankfully, the day of the video arrived and I was pain free. I did put some Mineral ice on my back and hip flexor that were tight as hell. The shoot lasted 9 hours of just pure upper, lower and abs exercises…over and over again. I was sore for a whole week after that, but thanks to Dr. Ken Gee I was able to do it and pain free.
So.. a few things I learned from this was:
Don't wait too long to go see a doctor when something's wrong with your body
Don't act like a super hero, your body breaks easily than you might think.
The best way to recuperate from an injury is by working out smart.
Until next time!
Lalo Fuentes
Personal Trainer, Los Angeles
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3174 comments
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