Never work through any pain!

Lesson # 1: Never work through pain because you will injure yourself worse.

Lesson # 2: When the doctor says to lay off of anything, do it! I know it’s hard, but there is a reason for it and that is because you will most likely continue to injure it.

This is kind of what happened in the story that I have to tell you written below. Basically the girl was running a race and she hurt her knee but she decided to continue and now she can’t run outside. Period.

Here’s my story:

I had a very good day today. You know why? We’ll probably a reason that you might not be thinking of. No, I didn’t go dancing, nor did I win any cash, nor did I go to the beach. But, what I did do was help someone out.

I was working out at the gym and I saw this girl that I always see in there. She is always doing cardio…at least 1.5-2 hours…crazy cardio. Either she is on the bike or she is on the elliptical or treadmill. So I casually started talking to her and that’s when I found out that she does that much cardio.

Anyway the reason that she does so much cardio is because she used to run marathons but she hurt her knee a while back and hasn’t been able to really run outside ever since. She went to the doctor and the doctor didn’t find anything wrong... so, nothing torn, nothing sprained, and her limitations were just no running outside and to lay off of it for a couple of weeks until it feels better.

So I told her that I would help her out. I told her that I am not a physical therapist, but I am a personal trainer and have been working with all sorts of injured people for the past 5, almost 6 years.

I said to her that if I wasn’t able to help her I would recommend that she goes to a physical therapist. So she agreed. I helped her stretch the muscles that I saw tight and taught her how to foam roll to get rid of the knots, which most likely play a role in the fact that her knee bothers her. After those 15 minutes I took with her she told me that she felt so much better.

Oh and I also gave her some tips on better eating habits, so she could knock off some weight and when she does that there will be less impact on her knee.

It felt so good to help someone out. I’ll keep you posted on her progress.