Yesterday, I helped my neighbor break up his front yard in preparation to lay sod.  I was feeling great and broke up the hard ground with a pick axe and a heavy spike.  After an hour of work I could feel the muscles in my lower back tighten up…I knew I would be paying for this later.

I woke up this morning to find my lower back tight and very, very sore.  It took me a couple of minutes to get out of bed and I immediately cursed age and poor technique for my discomfort.  I drank some coffee and got my trusty foam roller out of my garage.  I put that foam roller under the small of my back and let the screaming begin.

There are a couple of points to this story…

1.  It feels great to be out of doors and doing some manual labor.  We sometimes get too focused on training in the gym or dojo.  We forget that functional gains can come from everyday activities.

2.  Getting old sucks.  But tell that to Randy Couture who just had a decision win against a younger opponent.  As we get older we need to think before we act.  Using strategy instead of brute strength in our activities becomes more and more important with age.

3.  Use simple tools to aid in recovery.  This is a great time for martial arts practitioners concerned with fitness gains and speedy recoveries.  Tools such as foam rollers and stretching devices can aid in muscle recovery and get you right back to training.

Long story short….it took only a couple of rolls to get rid of the soreness from my back.  It’s amazing how a simple self massage device, like the foam roller, can make such a big difference.  My thought of the day is this: Work hard and recover smartly.

-CD

The foam roller is an incredible tool for recovery and conditioning. Check out this video…