If you are getting older like I am, you know how aches and pains and soreness can pop up, seemingly from nowhere. And those aches are slower to heal as well.
Over the past week, I have had some pain and tightness in my left hip flexor. And over the past few days, I’ve also noticed tightness in my IT band and hamstring of the same leg. I have no idea why all this tightness started. Fortunately, I have an appointment with my physical therapist already on the calendar this month.
What my PT will do is help diagnosis the core problem. I’m sure I didn’t injure my help flexor AND my IT band AND my hamstring all at the same time. Most likely, I had some strain or injury in just one of those areas (or something else entirely!). Then, as I continued to use my legs (through exercise or even just walking through the day), other parts of my leg have compensated for the inherent weakness or injury. And this overcompensation has led to those other areas being strained and hurt.
It’s amazing how weakness in one area can lead to weakness or injury of other areas.
Weakness —> More Weakness —> Injury
The first time I saw this in my life was when I headed into my second year at Furman University, during football two-a-days. Here I was, a redshirt freshman and a walk-on, trying to earn a spot on the team, especially to make the travel squad.
Early during the first week of summer camp, before we had full pads, we were doing a simple tackling drill, that involved minimal contact. But the guy I was going against, who was about six inches shorter than me, happened to have is kneecap hit me on the side of my left knee. Turns out that there is a nerve that goes right over the bone (fibula) in that area, and he unintentionally hit that. My left leg instantly went numb below the knee, and I collapsed. I got up quickly (remember: never lay on the field hurt), and hopped over to the trainer. He determined that there wasn’t any serious injury, and I said I could continue practice.
I made it through that morning practice, but by the afternoon, my knew had swollen up like a juicy beefsteak tomato. For the next couple of days, I had only about a 30 degree range of motion. I kept trying to practice (trying to earn a roster spot, right?), but couldn’t put weight any on my left leg during warm ups without sharp pain.
I was distraught, but finally was able to get back a couple of days later. But in the middle of my first practice back, I pulled my right quadricep. Now I was even more distraught, and frustrated.
This was Thursday, and we had a big scrimmage on Saturday, where I knew the coaches would be making decisions of who they thought could help the team, and pencil in our two-deep roster. I sat out practice on Friday, to try to let my legs heal. The trainers wanted me to take off more time, but I was desperate to get on the field to prove my meddle to the coaches and my teammates.
Saturday came, and I suited up. I had my left knee bandaged up (with a foam pad protecting the sensitive nerve that had been bruised), and my right quad was bandaged, to try to provide support for the weakened / strained muscle. I looked and felt like a zombie or robot as I hobbled-ran.
I went as hard as I could, and was involved in some plays. But as the scrimmage went on, my injuries (both legs) got worse. It got where I could barely run at all, and couldn’t catch a single ball carrier. The trainer saw my deteriorating condition, and told the coach that I was done for the day.
That was an act of mercy by him.
Monday came, and I was banned from practicing this entire second week of two-a-days. What the trainer and coaches knew was that my body needed time to heal, without putting strain on it. And in my heart, I knew they were right.1
Push Through Weakness? Sometimes.
There is no doubt in my mind that my quad injury would not have happened if I had not had the knee injury. I was always in great shape, and was ready for camp after spending the summer in the weight room and doing conditioning drills.
But the freak injury to my left knee, and me trying to push through it, made my other leg try to make up the difference. The weakness/injury spread.
While this may sound like a contradiction to what I wrote about what my high school coach taught me, it’s more true that the two ideas are in tension.
There are times that you are weak or hurt or frustrated or confused, and you need to push through it.
But there are other times when you can’t, or shouldn’t. If you try to push through some things, you are going to make it worse. Or just as likely, you are going to do damage in another part of your life, that doesn’t even seem related. Sin or weakness or pain in one area of your life will lead to weakness or damage in another area, if not dealt with properly.
I have seen this in my life. I know subjectively that my years of not dealing with “hidden” sin, along with my pride and desire for control, made me weaker as a husband, father, and minister. My sin in one area of my life made me inadequate in others. I vainly tried to overcompensate in other areas, but through my rebellion against God, I had cut off the true Source of power and healing.
If you feel weak, consider what you need to do. Maybe you need to keep moving forward in faith. Or maybe you need to pause and get some rest, giving space for God to work or speak. Or maybe you need to get help.
Weakness spreads.
I hated not being out there, but I guess my previous efforts paid off. After assuring the coaches I would be ready by the next week, I was assigned to be a back-up on a couple of special teams, thereby earning me a spot on the travel team.