[quote]vroom wrote:
Hey, nice collection of tips, thanks everyone.
Any more?[/quote]
I’ll 2nd what someone said about wraps/sleeves. I actually don’t use them when I lift but when I do BJJ I sometimes use a neoprene sleeve on some joints if they are bothering me.
Also, a good daily routine like magnificent mobility and things like that really helps.
[quote]vroom wrote:
Hey, nice collection of tips, thanks everyone.
Any more?[/quote]
Oh one more thing, I really love the foam roller and magnificent mobility, and cissus and all that but the #1 thing that helped me was using bands to traction my joints. It really works.
Tate did an article on the band man here. That guy from jumpstretch sells a simple video and that shit works. As long as a bone isn’t broken, using light band traction helps injured joints feel a lot better and I think doing it with healthy joints is great.
A year ago or so I started a thread about knee pain which felt a lot like a torn meniscus. X-Rays and such couldn’t determine anything decisive, and the pain it was causing wasn’t so bad that we thought invasive surgery of even a mild exploratory kind was worthwhile. I decided to live with the frequent “twinging” whenever I took the stairs.
Within weeks of taking Flameout regularly, I stopped feeling any twinges in my knee, and it doesn’t feel sore after squats the way it used to.
(Still creaks, though–I misspoke about that in a recent Flameout thread–but you can’t have everything.)
Man, thank God I’m 22. 
This is a great thread, and I’m going to save some of this info for future usage.
This is a topic that is so right on for me that it is not funny. I’m 47 years old and I’ve got my fair share of problems as well. Long before I ran into to T-Nation I had searched out how to fix shoulder problems. Ran into Matt Fury’s stuff and started using his Combat Fitness exercises and added in Yoga (go figure).
I’m not a fan of Furey as he takes many long time established Martial Arts stretching and breathing, techniques and publishes then as his own, and his stuff is way over priced. But his combat fitness book is an OK buy for the price.
Anyhow, he suggested the rubberbands and I’ve included those in my routines as well, and they have been a huge help for joint and tendon pains.
T-Nation has added a few other huge helpers with the shoulder dislocates and lying pullups to the chest (the ones that I do in the power rack with my feet on the bench body parallel to the ground), and a few other exercises. Really a huge help and thanks to all for the help and advice.
On the supplement end I use Hemp oil for my EFAs as fish oils give me the shitz. Glucosamine, MSM and Chondrotin helped a lot but they didn’t seem to give the relief I was looking for.
At the risk of giving away my big seceret I’ll tell you all about the one supplement that was a huge help almost rid myself of joint pains completely.
I’ve always been a fan of the Chinese and their herbal patent formulas. They are difficult to use as you need to purchase a book and no books I have found include all the formulas available, probably becasue there are thousands of formulas and no one book could possibly contain all the formulas from all the manufacturers.
Anyhow, I had listed about 5 of the most popular formulas for joint pain, and went to a local health food store that carries them, they had one in stock so I bought it and started using it, 3 week later I was really impressed with the results.
The name of the formula is “Sho Wu Pian” or also known as “Ho Sho Wu” It’s herb name is Poygonum Multiflorum Or Chinese Corn Bind. It strengthens tendons and bone. Great stuff I just can’t say enough about it. The Sho Wu along with the Glucosamine and MSM has had a dramatic effect.
Ok now that I let my seceret out, I’m gonna get upset if the next time I go to get my supply of Sho Wu Pian I find that they are sold out!!!
chiro/ART every few months and at the first sign of problems.
Cressey/Robertson’s stuff to corrrect imbalances.
One thing I’m doing more of is listening to my body. When I feel good I go all out, if I’m feeling a little down, hold back a little. If I don’t feel like working, take the night off. Also I warm up a lot more. Like on bench I’ll sit and do 135 for a set of 10, see how that feels. Maybe another if I feel a little clicky. I go til I feel pretty smooth, then start adding.
One big thing I’ve noticed is this. I always try to pair my workouts together in back to back days. I’ve always noticed that my body recovers a lot better from one workout if I follow it up with another workout the next day. Then the third day, my joints aren’t nearly as soar as the would have been with no activity the second day.
So I always try to do something to help get bloodflow to an area that has just been worked the day before. My workouts tend to be bunches of 2-3 days in a row with a day or two in between bunches (this also fits in nicely with my life, as I can usually get 2-3 days in a row of good workouts, then 2-3 days of busy schedule).
My heaviest lifting is usually on the first or middle day of my workout streak, and the last day usually a non-lifting day, like jogging, GPP, core stuff, or swimming, and followed with some good stretching and soft tissue work. The stretching and soft tissue work are key for me. Foam roller, baker’s rolling pin, golf ball, and tennis ball all work wonders for me.
If you train the body to be prepared for frequent activity, I believe it will learn to respond and recover that way. If you do a hard workout and then nothing the following day, I believe your body will tighten up far worse. Maybe its learns that it has longer to recover or something.
RE: Fish oil… You need to be taking 3 grams of EPA + DHA every day for three months to see relief. Actually read the label and add up the EPA + DHA, because 3 grams of fish oil does not usually equal 3 grams of EPA + DHA.
I take 6 to 10 grams of EPA + DHA, and have noticed reduced symptoms. Point is: It takes a lot of fish oil, and you have to consistently take it for a long time.
I use Flameout and Kirkland. Why not just Flameout? Because I haven’t seen any research indicating whether it’s the EPA or DHA that helps with inflammation. Flameout has very little EPA, hence why I take a supplement with additional EPA.
Until research indicates which compound is responsible for reduction in joint inflammation, you should be taking a lot of EPA on top of your Flameout. I am for at least 3 grams each of DHA and EPA.
I realize that nobody really wants to hear the obvious, BUT… the best thing to do is to adjust your training. It’s possible to maintain high intensity while still sparing your joints. It just takes time and tweaking.
I had tendonitus in my shoulder and elbow . I did about 6 months of HGH from a rejuvination clinic and it went away…Nothing ever worked before .
I take lots of fish oil. Basically, every time I eat someting, I pop some fish oil.
Then I take Glucosamine capsules.
Finally, better warm-ups, cycling the training (take a week off every now and then).
This combination worked pretty well for me. Oh yeah, and knee wraps.