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June 30, 2007

injury and training

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> Dear Mr. Kurz,
>
> I bought your books Stretching Scientifically and the videos about
> stretching and kicking to learn doing splits (for dancing and Martial
> Arts) and improve my kicks (for MA).
> I really appreciate the valuable informations in your books, videos and
> on your website.
> After studying your explanations about stretching and injuries I
> decided that stretching is useless for me because of my imbalanced
> muscles and misaligned bones (scoliosis, twisted pelvis) with
> permanent hypertonus in muscles. I will see an Applied Kinesiology
> doctor for that problem.
>
> But about another problem I am not sure what to do:
> My small scoliosis and my damaged knees (menisci, chondropathia
> patellae) were not real obstacles for my body practice until now
> (Dancing, Mixed Martial Arts, Running, Pilates). But now I got a new
> serious injury, that makes me feel completely crippled: vertebral disc
> prolapse (between lumbar vertebras 4 and 5) with relative spinal stenosis.
> Now I am in despair and feel like a damned worthless impotent mover,
> because knees and especially lumbar spine are essential for any kind
> sport. I am 47 years young and usually people over 60 years get such
> spinal cord problems (it's embarrassing to be such a weakling).
>
> Do you know, if it is possible to be succesful and competent in sports
> and dance with such a damaged disc? Or should I quit MMA-Training,
> because hard kicking, wrestling etc are too dangerous for the disc?
>
> Sincerely
> Andrea
> Berlin, Germany

Answer:
First, you should quit all your training until your doctor tells
you otherwise.

The more you load an unstable structure the more likely it is to
collapse. So, as long as your training was light or moderate, your
structural defects (scoliosis, twisted pelvis, etc.) did not get
much worse. When your training become heavy, your body could not
compensate any longer and its most vulnerable parts broke down.
To avoid such disasters, competent instructors identify posture
defects and weaknesses and correct them BEFORE allowing an athlete
(or a student or a customer) to participate in normal training.

Now that you are injured, you should follow the treatment and
advice of your doctor. Prolapsed discs usually heal with correct
treatment and correct exercises and do not require surgery. I am
sure that a good Applied Kinesiology doctor will help you regain
your health and even correct your postural imbalances. Until then
you better cease all exercises that are not recommended by your
doctor.

Best regards,

Thomas Kurz

P.S.
DVD Clinic on Stretching and Kicking is available at
http://www.stadion.com/clinic_stretch_for_kicks.html.

DVD Secrets of Stretching is available at
http://www.stadion.com/secrets.html.

P.P.S.
You can read my recent e-mails with questions and answers on
training. They are archived at
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