Finally taking it easy...and still using the Stick

Last night I finally got 8 hours of sleep. It felt good. I am sick of being sick and I'm going to take it easy on my body until I feel 100%. I'm hoping that should happen within a week.

On the training side, with all the working out, muscle being repaired, and body recovering from sickness, my body is retaining water. Today I was up 3 lbs to 177 lbs but my BMI was at an all time low of 18.8%

Today's workout was a light one. I went with Reid to his hockey school where today they allowed the parents to participate with the kids. We played shinny and just fooled around passing the puck and shooting. Even with not much effort, I could still feel the sore muscles from this past Sunday nights hockey game so I took it easy. Reid also gave me tips on how to shoot properly and they worked great!

The picture I've posted today is called "the stick".

I found out about it on the Internet when I was researching ways to eliminate my multi-year recurring calf pain. For me, I would run for 3 - 6 weeks, then my calf would seize up like someone hit it with a baseball bat, then I'd have to stop running for 6 - 8 weeks for it to heal. Then I'd start running again and the same thing would happen. I tried all kinds of therapy's to fix it and nothing worked. For someone like me that loves running, it was beyond depressing. At one point, because it happened so often over the past 8 years I thought I'd never be able to enjoy running again. I used to drive by people running and envy them.

It is simple to use and understand. Essentially it is rollers on a stick that you roll along the muscle and apply pressure when rolling towards the heart. You do about 45 repetitions on the area you are concerned about. I do it when I wake up and go to bed, as well as after most workouts and definitely after every race.

By using it, the theory is that it breaks up the scar tissue and allows blood to heal the muscles.

It is amazing. Since using it, I've had no calf pain. As a matter of fact, my last few visits to a massage therapist have been interesting. In the first case, the therapist did some deep tissue work on my calf's which is usually very painful, but this time I could hardly feel the pressure and even fell asleep until she got to my quads, where my screaming began. On a visit to another massage therapist she said my calf had no kinks at all, they were perfect, she didn't even think I needed to see her.

I'm now starting to use it on my quads and hamstrings. It is amazing how something so simple can have such a positive effect.