I am a junior in college and the captain of my wrestling team. I have had my bursa sacks removed 3 years back in both knees due to staph in my left knee and blood clots in my right knee. I also have been diagnosed with arthritis in my neck, possibly as a side effect from lymes disease and years of wrestling. I only have two years left to wrestle and I am gunning for a national championship which is a very feasible goal.
My main problem is the severe pain in my knees and my neck that is prohibiting me from going my hardest in practice and competitions, and the feeling of not fully recovering from my workouts.
I am wondering if there are supplements of any kind that would help heal my injuries while not hurting my heart or having too many negative side effects. I am not concerned with strength that much while it would be good to be stronger my main concern is alleviating the pain I am having while not damaging my body in the long run. I know what i am capable of on the mat and it sucks when your body is giving out and your mind is not. I would really Appreciate any advice given. Thank you.
[quote]wrestling80 wrote:
I am a junior in college and the captain of my wrestling team. I have had my bursa sacks removed 3 years back in both knees due to staph in my left knee and blood clots in my right knee. I also have been diagnosed with arthritis in my neck, possibly as a side effect from lymes disease and years of wrestling. I only have two years left to wrestle and I am gunning for a national championship which is a very feasible goal.
My main problem is the severe pain in my knees and my neck that is prohibiting me from going my hardest in practice and competitions, and the feeling of not fully recovering from my workouts.
I am wondering if there are supplements of any kind that would help heal my injuries while not hurting my heart or having too many negative side effects. I am not concerned with strength that much while it would be good to be stronger my main concern is alleviating the pain I am having while not damaging my body in the long run. I know what i am capable of on the mat and it sucks when your body is giving out and your mind is not. I would really Appreciate any advice given. Thank you. [/quote]
Being an elite athlete (15-20 hours of practice a week) takes a huge toll on the body and you have to keep the prehab up to par with the shear and tear that accumulates over time as practice goes on.
Fish oil and Turmeric powder are good anti inflammatory agents as stated above and should be a part of any elite level athletes diet with or without inflammatory issues, as it will keep it at bay, for a time.
But supplementation alone won’t get you very far and from your text above it is clear that the issues you are trying to combat cannot be fixed by any supp.
I’d recommend getting a foam roller and foaming the shit out of every inch of your body, before and after training, every single day.
I’d also recommend doing some heavy neck flexion with a harness, making sure to get your neck stretched every single rep before flexion. Getting your head snapped repeatedly fatigues the neck muscles, which is why they are an effective tool for wrestling. Getting some heavy flexion in there with the dynamic flexion caused by your opp’s will help out a lot with both the range of motion and to resist being snapped as far as you would otherwise, leaving you less fatigued.
Lastly I’d recommend seeing someone who can help you out with your scar tissue, like ART.
I’ll second (third?) the suggestion for turmeric. Check out vitamin shoppe, they sell a store brand called Triple Strength Turmeric Extract. Each pill already has bioperine in it as well, which boosts the effects of the turmeric so you don’t have to take a ton of it. I typically take another capsule of bioperine with each dose of turmeric (two capsules of turmeric), so it comes out to about 900mg turmeric/20mg bioperine. The stuff works wonders, a friend of my wife’s has rheumatoid arthritis and was hating the side effects from her prescription (think it was humira?).
She started taking the above protocol 3x per day, and was able to come completely off the humira. She gradually reduced her dosing from 3x/day to 2x, and currently she only takes it once per day. I know that is a sample size of one, but still. I’ve used it myself for years (achy knees when squatting heavy or running a lot), stuff’s amazing. There’s a reason the Indians (dot not feather) have been using it for thousands of years.
Personally, I would focus on the turmeric as I have seen the best results from that. If you still have supplement dollars after that, then look into a good quality fish oil.