The Sore Joint Solution - https://go.chasingstrength.com/sjs-simple-movements/
We’ve been talking lately about how important getting stronger and building muscle is for those of us 40 and older.
(Let’s face it - it’s critically important regardless of your age.)
But actually, there’s one thing that’s MORE important.
Before we discuss it, let me just tell you that I had to learn this the hard way.
When I was younger, I was a knucklehead.
I prided myself on “working hard.”
Regardless of the long-term effects.
I pushed myself so hard in my lifting that I literally broke.
Multiple times.
And that was when I learned that “masking the pain” in the short term only created more pain in the long run.
And it’s the long run - the Long Game - that we should (in my humble opinion) should be focused on.
So that’s why we need to focus on JOINT HEALTH first and foremost.
Even BEFORE strength and muscle.
Because if you have joints that produce active pain (and inflammation), then your body will shut down the neural drive to the muscles around those joints.
And that means that you won’t be able to use the muscles surrounding that joint at your normal capacity.
And the danger in that is you end up “grinding” down that particular joint even more -
Accelerating the joint destruction process.
Worst case scenario, you end up tearing muscles attached across that joint -
Like a rotator cuff tear (which can take up to 18 months to recover from surgery)…
Or a partial / full joint replacement - which, depending on your surgeon and PT, can take equally as long.
(My friend up the street is a 70-something former Marine pilot who had a knee replacement 2 years ago - he’s STILL dealing with issues resulting from that surgery.)
So, if you have chronic soreness, pain, and restricted range of motion in any of your joints, you have three choices:
1- Ignore it.
(And usually push through it.)
This will speed up your own demise.
Get ready for more pain and physical limitations.
Get ready to start feeling O-L-D, sooner.
And maybe never stop feeling old.
(I used to do this.)
2- Mask it.
This is where you “rub some cream on it” like Icy Hot or Tiger Balm.
It makes the pain go away temporarily by dulling the pain receptors and in some cases increasing blood flow.
Or, you pop some Ibuprofen or Tylenol.
Again, dulling the pain receptors or reducing / removing the inflammation.
But here’s what no one tells you:
Inflammation is your body’s protective response.
It’s supposed to protect that joint, so the body can repair it.
But if you take away that protection?
You just end up grinding down your knee… your hip… your shoulder… into dust.
And then the pain comes right back - many times even worse once the cream or the pills wear off.
(I used to do this too!)
3- Address it.
This is where you face it head on.
You see your doc and get a diagnosis.
You do some restoration work.
And you focus on your “health” so you can waltz into your 60s… 70s… 80s… and beyond should you choose to.
"What Kind of ‘Restoration Work’?”
… You might be wondering?
There are 3 broad categories:
1- Flexibility
This is good ol’ fashioned stretching.
Problem is, it doesn’t work for many, if not most people (Not all).
And that’s because your body is tightening up the muscles around the joint to protect itself and keep you from moving into ranges of motion that would further aggravate the joint.
Think of tight muscles as a “splint” that your body has built.
This is why you either-
[a] Get nowhere when you stretch or
[b] Get a little looser during your stretch “sesh” only to tighten right back up the next day feeling like you’ve done nothing. (This was me.)
Or worse - you get sore.
2- Mobility
This is super popular these days.
Move a joint through its full range of motion - or as close as possible to "increase proprioception.”
This can work.
It worked for me - until it didn’t.
It was like playing “Whack-a-mole” - the pain constantly moved around, never fully going away.
Worse case scenario is you become “unstable” - you literally lose your ability to stabilize yourself under load - either weight or speed.
(Also happened to me.)
3- Motor Control
This is how your CNS (Central Nervous System - brain and spinal cord) coordinates muscle activity to produce movements.
One of the key tenets is that “proximal stability creates distal mobility.”
In other words, a stabile center (core), produces mobile extremities.
For example, many times, you get stiff ankles, and you stretch your calves and/or do some mobility drills to loosen them up.
And for a short window of time - usually immediately thereafter - they’re more mobile.
But the next day?
Locked up again.
Same thing with shoulders.
Why?
Your CNS is protecting you from - well, you.
So the key then is recapturing that lost proximal stability.
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