A couple of years ago I wrote about recovering from an injury. At the time I thought it started as a pulled muscle that cascaded when my determination to keep running and cycling led me to compensate with various misalignments. The physical therapists I saw at the time agreed, so when the acute phase died down we worked on restoring the range of motion I’d lost in my right leg. I recovered some, but not all, of that range, and eased back into hiking, and then running and cycling.
Things haven’t felt right since, though. I’ve never regained my full range of motion in that leg, and I’ve been feeling a lot of discomfort in both quads as well as in the right groin where the initial problem began.
When I talk about full range of motion I mean something different from what most people mean. Take a look at this young man doing front stalders on the horizontal bar. Think about the leg and hip flexibility required to do that. In high school and in college I used to do stalders. Since then I never lived near a gym where I could swing on a high bar, though it’s something I still dream about, could do, and would do if there were a gym that had the gear and would let me use it.
It’s natural to assume that only a young person can be that flexible. Not so. There have been a few role models in my life who have shown me what’s physically possible in later life, and one of them was Bob Stout. In 1952 he was a U.S. Olympic gymnast. In 1972, when I was getting into the sport as a 15-year-old, he worked out with my high-school team and showed us that a man then in his late forties could still hold an iron cross on rings (something I could never do), swing high bar, and demonstrate the full hip extension required for the stalder. As far as I know he was still doing those things when he died at age 56, of a heart attack, while jogging.
I am 58. Until recently I could also reach nearly that same hip extension. Then, after the incident a couple of years ago, my flexibility diminished by a lot. The hypothesis I hope will prove true is that I got myself into a vicious cycle. An injury made it hard to stretch, so I avoided stretching, which made stretching even harder. Ditto for squatting. I’ve been avoiding it because it was uncomfortable, that made it even more uncomfortable.
The hypothesis I am afraid will prove true was suggested by a physical therapist I saw last week. He thinks I have osteoarthritis of the hip. If he’s right, I’m looking at no more running, reduced hiking, lots of pain management in order to maintain activities like hiking and cycling, and joint replacement at some point. I guess the X-ray will tell the tale, and that won’t be for a few weeks. Meanwhile, it’s suddenly a high priority to maximize strength and flexibility. Whatever the state of my hip joint(s) turns out to be, those will be key assets.
I know how to maintain those assets. I don’t know what the limits of recovery are, once muscle has been allowed to atrophy and connective tissue to tighten. So, I’m doing that experiment now. I’ve seen noticeable improvements just in the past few days. I have no idea how far I’ll get, but I’m grateful to Bob Stout for his inspiring example.
We’re not the best judge (being a Pilates Instructor) “if all you have is a hammer every problem looks like a nail!” but have you thought about trying Pilates? Classical Pilates to be specific, it’s one of the few forms of exercize that both elongates the spine while building muscle at the same time. It is also very helpful for promoting correct and aligned joint movement. Just a thought! :-)
Good idea. Checking into some Pilates videos I see some things I already do, and also some great ideas that I haven’t tried but look useful.
I just discovered this article. I remember that 15 year old kid in 1972 as I was home working a summer job from college and trying to stay in shape for the next college gymnastics year. .I was there with my father, Robert Stout.
It’s wonderful to hear from you, Rich!