What to do after doing what not to do… A cautionary tale

I’m sure this will come as a huge shock to many of you and for that I’m sorry but not all health care practitioners follow the advice they give to their clients.

You may recall in my March Newsletter I gave some pretty simple and easy to follow advice on how to safely & painlessly return to many of the activities we may have let slide with the coming of winter (start slowly, stay hydrated, stretch etc).

You will be shocked to find out only this last weekend I threw that advice out the window. After only three or four times on my bike this season where I rode with groups who held paces much slower to what I’m used to as well as doing relatively easy distances, I decided since Sunday was such a beautiful day and my ride was snowed out on Saturday, I should cycle to Burlington so I could climb the escarpment (on my bike).

Now at the end of last season a ride to Burlington and up the escarpment would have been chump change to me (just over 120k all in with a tough but short climb just past Burlington).

For a first significant ride of this season it was more like breaking the bank for me. I was feeling strong all the way to Burlington, of course not accepting the fact a tail wind was helping to push me along, but as soon as I started the climb I knew I had made an error in judgement. This did not make me rethink my plan of course because it was a “short climb” regardless of how steep it was (on a side note, it was breathtakingly beautiful to climb the escarpment with hawks sailing along over head). Once up the escarpment I had not choice but to turn around and head home cycling into a head wind all the way.

By the time I got home I was completely spent, my legs were screaming at me, my shoulders were holding so much tension I though they were trying to swallow my neck.

The pain my body was throwing at me finally inspired me to listen to some of the advice I give my clients on almost a daily basis. I added some other things to help easy my muscles back to state of forgiveness.

I thought it was a perfect time to share this advice with you as I’m sure many of you will fall into the same trap I did. So here goes..

What does a massage therapist do once he has abused his body in a very significant way?

1. Run a very hot bath, I mean so hot I had to ease myself into it a bit at a time, but not so hot as to scald myself
2. Once submerged in the tub I started with gentle point compressions to my hip flexors, pressing down to a 3 out of 10 and breathing through the discomfort down to a 1 before moving on to the next point
3. I used Golgi Tendon Organ Release (GTOR) on my hamstrings, calves, quads and upper traps. Click here to find out more about GTOR
4. I then gently stretch out my calves, hamstrings and glutes while still in the tub
5. I brought a hot mug of spiced herbal tea in the bathroom with me to make sure I was staying hydrated (although a beer would have gone down very nicely, it would not have helped with the hydration)
6. After 20 minutes I got out of the tub and then stretched out my hip flexors and pecs (this only took an additional 10 minutes or so)

After spending only half an hour doing some basic self-care, I left the bath with a body that had forgiven me for my abuse. There was absolutely no pain or discomfort what so ever. I woke up in the morning after a great nights sleep with no feelings of fatigue what so ever.

I’m sharing this with you so if you too find yourself over doing it in this glorious weather you will have some very simple things you can do for yourself to help your body forgive you.