Pain and Post-exercise Recovery

Another not so good photo of the juvenile Song Thrush on the garden fence. I've not had much opportunity to take new photos of birds recently. The light and weather have been pretty rubbish.

ok, so,...still experiencing a lot of pain.

The problem area has shifted this week from the left glutes/hip and LHS lower back to the right groin/deep in the front of right hip/pelvis. In fact, I've had 5 consecutive days without LHS lower back pain! But, the right groin has been another of the chronic problem areas, recurring regularly for the past 2 years. This week it has been particularly bad. I knew I'd aggravated it during the bike work on Sunday (it's always a bit tight/painful afterwards) but then it was a lot worse after table tennis on Tuesday. I think the lunging for balls and shifting of weight entirely onto each hip/groin is the reason. I've been icing it regularly all week but that's not made a great deal of difference. It's difficult to get to the pain as it's deep in the groin.

Anyway, on Wednesday, I pushed pretty hard in the pool and swam 13 lengths (325m total). My arms/shoulders felt stronger and coped much better with the breast stroke but I didn't realise how much stress I was putting on my hips/groins. By the afternoon, I was in a fair amount of pain and for the last 2-3 days have found it quite difficult to walk. Everything has been stiff and painful and I ended up taking painkillers on Thursday night because the right groin/thigh was stinging/aching so much I couldn't sleep.

I reckon the left glute/hip, LHS lower back and right groin pain are all connected somehow. There's some kind of instability or irritation of nerves/tendons which causes problems first on one side of the pelvis and then on the other. I'm not sure how to remedy a situation which has been going on for 2+ years! I keep hoping that increasing the strength will increase the stability and tolerance of the structures but, so far, that's not happened. The pain is as bad as it ever was.

The good news is that I think my frozen left shoulder has 'thawed' a little more. The swimming is really helping. The range of motion on external rotation has improved by about 10 degs. If the full range is 180 degs, I could previously just about manage 90 degs, but that has now increased to around 100 degs. Plus, the pain is a lot less now.

For the past couple of weeks, I've taken to eating a Lucozade Recovery Bar after I come out of the pool. It's designed to give an immediate source of first class protein, carbs and fat to aid recovery. I'd read an interesting study (Flakoll et al, 2004) in Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, which suggested that consuming just 8g carbs, 10g protein and 3g fat immediately post-exercise can make a significant difference to recovery (Link). Essentially, carbohydrate stimulates insulin release (a hormone which helps build and refuel muscles), and, when combined with 10-20g of protein, cortisol (which breaks down muscle) is reduced and muscle rebuilding is enhanced. Anyways, I think it's actually really helped with recovery after the hard work out on Wednesdays.

This week I think I need to take things very easy. I've not done my ab/core exercises today due to various twinges esp lower right abs. I won't do any bike work tomorrow and I may miss table tennis too. I think I need to give my groins/thighs a proper chance to heal up or recover.