A while back, I wrote an article about the exact approach that we used with her to decrease her hip pain.
To give you a quick summary:
Anne is a yoga and fitness instructor, who had been having pain in her hip for a very long time, and despite her own background in fitness, couldn’t figure out what to do about it. We set her up with our trainer, Brian, and in a matter of a few months:
- Her pain almost completely disappeared
- She was no longer waking up throughout the night because of the pain
- She had regained lost function that she thought she lost forever, simply due to aging.
And even though I will see you this Sunday I still thought I would like to say a few words regarding my progress.
As you may remember I just went on a trip to Iceland [this is of course pre-covid]. My number one goal was to be able to enjoy my trip without restrictions. Well, I was able to do anything that I wanted to on the trip, and it involved a lot of hiking and on rough terrain.
I had no problems at all with my hip, no pain, and even my recent injuries from my accident on the paddleboard seemed to have completely healed, allowing me to carry my suitcases, backpack etc, with ease. There were a couple of girls on our tour in their 20’s and I had just as much strength and energy as they did.
So with a glowing testimonial like that, I decided to write another article, on what Anne and Brian have been doing between her first article and this one to get these kinds of results. And heck, if you want to skip all the theory, and you want us to figure out how to get you similar results, you can see if you qualify to work with us, by responding to this email with the words “Rapid Rehabilitation” in the subject line.
If you want to hear Anne tell her own story, you can check out this 4-minute video.
In today’s article, we’ll cover:
- Anne’s paddleboarding injury
- The nutritional recommendations made
- The exercise program used despite her injury
- Her trip to Iceland
Anne’s Paddleboarding Injury
A couple of weeks after the previous article was written about Anne, she sustained an injury when taking a yoga class on a paddleboard (that was in early August). She fell face-first into the board. The result:
- A rib fracture
- Partial tear of her pectoral muscle (chest) on the right side
- Partial tear of other shoulder stabilizer muscles on the right side
That’ll certainly spoil a good trip, and set you back. Most people in Anne’s situation would say “let’s hold off on the personal training, until I’m all healed, and ready to go.” But not Anne. She had the right mentality going into this. She asked Brian, her trainer to modify her personal training, to speed up her recovery. And she asked me for advice on nutrition to speed up her recovery.
The day after the accident, she went to her chiropractor, and asked him for advice. His feedback:
- She’d need to take 2 weeks completely off training, and off work.
- During those two weeks, she’d need to take pain killers and anti-inflammatories
- Get treatment during this time
- Recovery would take 3-6 months, or longer.
- She got back to training and work in 2 days, instead of two weeks
- She didn’t need any medications
- She didn’t need treatment during this time
- She was back to full recovery in 4 weeks, instead of 3-6 months.
The Nutritional Recommendations Made
Whenever an injury is sustained, a person’s requirements for protein rise immediately. Why? Because bones and muscles are made of protein (it’s not the only thing they’re made of, but it’s a big chunk). An injury puts you in an automatic state of deficiency.
So whereas a “regular” person may need between 0.8 and 1.8 grams per kilogram of protein, during an injury that requirement rises. How high it rises is still a matter of debate, but what isn’t up for debate is that you require more protein to speed up the recovery from an injury.
In one study, two groups of people were compared. One group had a fracture and received a protein supplement (20 extra grams of protein per day). Another group also had a fracture, but didn’t receive a protein supplement. Nothing else between the groups was different (age, location of fracture, etc.). The group that received the protein supplement stayed in the hospital for 33 days. The group that didn’t receive the protein supplement stayed in the hospital for 54 days. Many other studies have confirmed this as well: protein is very helpful for recovery from fractures.
So specifically, what did I recommend? The exact supplement I recommended was MAP (Master Amino Acid Pattern). Why this one, as opposed to whey protein, or casein, or something else? Because of how well-absorbed MAP is. Protein from supplements, and food is absorbed at only about 16%. So if you consume 30 grams of protein, the amount absorbed by the body is only about 5 grams of protein (and the older you get, the lower the absorption). MAP has 99% absorption, on the other hand. I have no financial interest in MAP, by the way.
The other supplement that I recommended was AOR’s Ortho C+. This is vitamin C, plus proline, plus lysine. Why did I recommend this specific one? Because you need all 3 ingredients to make collagen. And what are bones made of? Collagen! Wait. Didn’t I say earlier that bones are made of protein? Yes, I did. And collagen is a specific type of protein. There are many different kinds of proteins, and based on what they do in the body is the term they get. For example, hemoglobin is a protein too. It carries oxygen in the blood. Myoglobin is also a protein. It carries oxygen in the muscle. Likewise, collagen is a protein. This study, in the American Journal of Orthopedics explains in great detail the role of vitamin C in fractures. As with MAP, I have no financial interest in this product either. It’s just a good product.
Within 1 week of taking both MAP and TLC 3.0, Anne said that Brian saw an unexpectedly large difference in strength and range of motion. Anne said she noticed a significant reduction in pain, and bruising.
To be fair, I was quite aggressive with dosages. One thing I learned from attending many of Dr. Robert Rakowski’s seminars is that and I quote “bodies respond to frequency, intensity, duration, quality, and timing of stimuli.” So I stacked all those factors in our favour to achieve unusually fast recovery rates.
The Exercise Program used Despite Her Injury
Where Brian and I are really proud of Anne is her approach. She didn’t just sit on her butt, do nothing, and wait for the injury to heal before getting back into the swing of things. She actually wanted to figure out what she could do despite her injury. High five!
So what did Brian do with her?
First of all, heavy lifting was out for a while, so he decided to work on more “functional” movements with her that involved more fluidity.
A couple of the exercises used were the pendulum lunge, squats, and kettlebell swings.
On the surface, this would seem like it would work the upper body musculature pretty hard, but because the motion is supposed to come from the hips and not the shoulders, it actually allowed Anne to still move her upper body in a way that increased blood flow to the injured regions, and sped up recovery.
In addition to that, Brian continued to do corrective training with her, to improve any muscular imbalances, teach her to activate her core better, and improve her posture.
Other lower body exercises were used as well. Just because your upper body is injured doesn’t mean your lower body gets a break.
Oh, and by the way, remember how in the last article, in July, I mentioned that her hip pain was almost completely gone? Well, now I can drop the word “almost.” The pain is now completely gone.
How long did it take for Anne to recover from a fairly serious injury? Four weeks.
Oh, and originally, Anne came to us primarily for hip pain. Sure, she had a few pounds to lose, but that wasn’t her priority. Now that her hip is all better, she has switched her focus to weight loss, and managed to lose 6 inches from her waist. Maybe we’ll have a third article updating you on Anne’s weight loss progress.
Her Trip to Iceland
Many of our clients love to travel. And not just the “lie on the beach, and do nothing” type of travel. But the sightseeing, adventure type of travel. Anne was no different. For a long time, she had been planning this trip to Iceland that she was looking forward to, and as you read about in her email, that involved a lot of hiking, and on fairly rough terrain.
When you travel, it’s a shame if you’re restricted from fully enjoying your trip due to what people mistakenly call “age.” What they really mean is “lack of energy” or “immobility” or “lack of strength.” Fortunately, you can do something about all those things, and that’s what Anne decided to do.
Not only was she able to hike on rough terrain, she was able to carry suitcases, backpacks, you name it. And she was able to keep up with women in their 20s (when she, herself is in her 50s).
If you’d like to be our next superstar success story, you can see if you qualify to work with us, by responding to this email with the words “rapid rehabilitation” in the subject line.
