Bodybuilders, both natural and chemically assisted, often feel invincible. After all, they are 20 to 40 pounds bigger, and much more muscular, than anyone in every room they enter. They are strong, powerful, and generally feel that as long as they eat, train, and rest by the rules; they will feel this strong forever. Age and chance are two influences which often feel otherwise.
As we age, our tendons lose some of their flexibility. It becomes harder to move our arms and legs than it was twenty years ago. Cartilage in the joints naturally wears away, making the likelihood of an injury increase. Additionally, thanks to chance, we never know precisely the moment when our muscles will prove to be too strong for our tendons, and damage will occur. We do know, however, that the stronger we become, the closer we move to that injury arriving.
If you do sustain an injury, follow these simple steps. First, you should immediately ice the area and halt your workout. The following morning, visit a doctor and have the tendon checked for damage. The majority of the time, the injury will just be a strained tendon. This occurs when it pops out of place briefly under a workload the muscle can handle but the tendon cannot. This may require weeks of rest for that particular body part, but it won’t cause any long-term damage to your body. A torn tendon will require surgery. If you are only suffering from a strain of the tendon, then active release therapy might just be right for you.
The active release therapy itself will be like nothing you have ever experienced. The process actually involves three separate ingredients. First, there is massage. That is normal and may be something you’ve experienced before. However, the addition of the second ingredient, motion, means that the chiropractor is able to manipulate the muscle group in new ways. This process of ‘dynamic’ massage delivers benefits that static massage, in which the patient lies still, does not. Finally, the addiction of an electrical current is applied to remove any pain sensations from the brain. This allows the doctor to move and massage your arm in ways not possible before, and really reach the injured tendons. He or she then rubs the area to break up the toxins and deposits which have accumulated in that area since the injury occurred.
Most people who experience active release therapy are back at the gym, at 100% strength, in less than 4 sessions. It’s that effective. The unique combination of electricity, deep massage, and motion very often breaks up the injury and gives the tendon room to heal.
Your active release therapist may tell you something you don’t want to hear – that you sustained major joint damage and will require surgery. If this is the case, then you need to just take your lumps and sit out for a few months. Use that time to perfect your nutrition or address a lagging body part, then come back with a vengeance, ready to rehab that body part and return to your former glory!