For about a year, I commuted to San Francisco, the average commute was about an hour and twenty minutes, it’d sometimes be as long as an hour and forty minutes, plus sitting at a desk all day in a cold office. I noticed my body start to degrade. And after a couple moves and helping my friends move, I really felt my body take a downturn that never really bounced back. Usually, I’d be able to go play sports and feel quick and springy, and recover fairly quickly or my strength and springiness would return the week after. But now when I’d play sports, my reactivity was very slow, my quickness wasn’t there anymore. I’d mostly attributed this to getting older and maybe this was just how your body gets old.
But slowness and lack of reactivity became pain and stiffness in my joints. After jogging for a duration and doing some weights in the gym, I started getting tendonitis mostly in my knees. And it just would not go away. So it seemed I had only a few options, exercise with pain or stop exercising, find a physical therapist, or see a doctor. I looked up some doctors, literally every reviewer said they went in and were told they needed surgery. I couldn’t afford a physical therapist. I didn’t want to stop exercising. And running with pain was unacceptable and intolerable.
By that time I would be dealing with some degree of plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, calf stiffness, shin splints, knee tendonitis, IT band, sciatica, lower back stiffness, depending on my activity level. And as I looked back at it, I realized now when I was younger I was dealing with these issues but the degree was so small and the recovery so quick, it wasn’t an issue. But now as I got older the recovery was slower and the pain was increasing.
I’d tried everything, foam rolling, scraping, cupping, massaging, trigger points, electric tens, massage gun, compression, ice, heat, floss bands, stretching – they would all provide some temporary relief but wouldn’t last and didn’t fix the problems.
The biggest and most nagging issue I had and the most difficulty getting rid of. Waking up in the morning my feet and achilles were so stiff, it would a few hours in the morning just to warm up and not feel any stiffness or pain when walking. I’d have to gingerly get up and walk around and creep up and down the stairs.
Now I feel no pain, no stiffness. And I’m stronger and more explosive than I’d ever been. My legs are still growing muscle. There was a time my teenage son was beating me in sprints now I’m able to run as fast if not faster than him. And I got rid of all of pain, and the solution was so simple. But the fix isn’t just for pain relief and aging but the answer also scales to improve total overall athletic ability and explosiveness. The most amazing feeling, the thing that I still can’t over is getting up in the morning and being able to walk and jump without any stiffness as if I’d been already warmed up for thirty minutes. Being able to spring up and down the stairs, immediately getting out of bed.