Joint health

[dreamsunderstood]

Curious what long time CrossFit participants do to protect their joints?

I’ve been at it for over 10 years, am in my late 30s. Have been through several cycles where I get stronger/fitter and then injure something, have to rehab for a while, bounce back and then re-injure.

In terms of overall fitness I’m decent but not great. I usually score in the upper half of the CrossFit open, but never made it close to top 10%. Without injuries, I can do muscle ups, run a solid (sub 6) mile time, deadlift >400 lbs, etc. but I never seem to be able to transition to that super-fit level versus just being kind-of-fit because of repeat injuries.

Whenever I try to really push it, e.g., start doing heavy squats more often, focus on oly training to get past mediocre weights, or start doing lots of pull-ups / muscle ups, I get injured literally 100% of the time.

In just the last few years I’ve hurt my knee many times (right now I can barely bend it), thrown out my back several times (will work up to a ~250 lb clean, then inevitably hurt it and not be able to walk normally for a week or two, then take 3-4 mo to build back up), or tear out my shoulder if I do lots of pull-ups or muscle ups. E.g., a few years ago I could do >30 pull-ups and >6 muscle ups, then I worked my shoulder to the point where I couldn’t do more than 5 pull-ups in a row for a year, now after years of gradual building I’m back somewhere in between. I’ve also had issues with a torn peck and calf muscle as well as wrist and elbow problems.

It’s not like I’m not trying hard or that I don’t eat well or get rest. I do all of those pretty well, but it still seems like I can’t get better without breaking myself, no matter what I try.

Do others have this experience? Has anyone found a way through it?

 

[sissy52]

@dreamsunderstood Not sure if this works for everyone, but I’ve been super diligent about taking glucosamine everyday and i’ve definitely seen improvement in soreness, “crunchiness”, and recovery of my joints.

Knee sleeves have been a god send for stability as well.

 

[raffles32]

@sissy52 Did knee sleeves reduce your knee pain?

 

[bgetz]

@raffles32 They do mine. Just provides stability and the joint doesn’t have to work as hard imo.

 

[sharzid]

@dreamsunderstood Your movement quality is not at an adequate level to sustain an increase in volume. Due your advanced training age, fixing your shortcomings will require some sacrifices.

For the next three months, do the following:

• When performing Heavy Days - IE strength sessions - include a 3 second tempo on all eccentric movement with an exception given for Snatch / Clean & Jerk. IE: Take a minimum of three seconds to get to the bottom of a back squat. Pause in the bottom. And then stand up. Use a metronome.
• Avoid barbell movements in met-cons, instead look to implements that challenge patterns. For instance, if a workout calls for moderate Front Squats, use a Dball or Sandbag. If it is push press, use dumbbells. Cleans, dumbbells or sandbags.
• All gymnastics movements should become Strict. Your pull-ups should look like THIS (first movement) before you contemplate kipping.
• Get familar with the hip extension, back extension, and glute ham raise. Learn to properly perform GHD sit-ups (hint: 3s tempo applies here as well).
  

Finally: if a coach has been telling you to change something for years, like your squat stance, it might be time to listen. Conversely, if you haven't received feedback on your movement quality for awhile, it may be time to seek out new coaches.

 

[kattrav]

@dreamsunderstood Volume management is by the biggest factor contributing to injury risk. It sounds like you’re just continually jumping into the deep end as soon as you feel recovered from x injury, which is probably the issue here. More isn’t always better, especially when coming back from an injury. Try to take things more slowly, ramp up volume as you acclimate, but don’t get in a hurry. Take an extra day or two off every once and a while. It’ll pay off in the long run much more that stretching and all that jazz (not that stretching is bad but it’s not the injury prevention panacea people want to make it out to be)

 

[leemills]

@dreamsunderstood 40yo here, placed top 10% in open. A few things that keep me healthy and competing: 1) make sure you are eating adequately to support activity. Track your protein at a minimum. 2) mobility every day. Pickup a copy of Becoming a Supple Leopard if you don’t have it 3) select movements wisely. For example, I rarely train much volume of butterfly chest to bar pull-ups because the impact on my shoulders isn’t worth it. Instead, I focus on strength and will often sub in strict pull-ups (fewer reps). I’ve gotten so much stronger because of it and my shoulders aren’t constantly aching. Admittedly it’s hard on the ego to scale and kipping is way more fun than strict. Edited to add: I have spent a lot of time in PT. I avoided shoulder surgery recently because he encouraged me to be patient and rehab it instead. Im so glad I went that route. I know that isn’t an option all the time, but it was this time. If you can swing it, establish a good relationship with a PT who knows you and supports your goals, and go regularly.

 

[dreamsunderstood]

@leemills Great advice, thanks!

 

[neowatchman]

@dreamsunderstood How much stretching did you do over the years outside of rehabbing an injury? Aside from sleep, nutrition, and strength training. Healthy joints are kept by maintaining good mobility as much as possible. Without regular stretching, muscles will begin to pull tendons harder. Considering tendons are attached to a bone, typically at a joint, this pull can begin to cause a joint to go off track. Imbalances occur, and compensation is made in movement, further deepening the issues. Often seen when people say they have bad knees. Muscles in the hips and thighs can cause a knee to be off track causing bone-on-bone contact, which then rubs the cartilage, ruining the connective tissue that is designed to protect and lubricate.

The shoulders are also very finicky when it comes to proper form and support from the surrounding muscles. When you were capable of >30 Pull-ups, how often did you purposefully do sets of 10 even if the wod had sets of 20 prescribed? The reason I ask is in training, we need to push our limits to make progress continually, but that shouldn't be done on a regular basis. Taking quick breaks and doing smaller sets will help keep the muscles primed and ready for events that require a higher volume. Constantly training at higher volume while simultaneously not getting the required recovery will lead to issues.

It takes over 30 weeks to lose strength, so training at 70-80% of capacity or maxes is better during regular training schedules. As the competition approaches, building those capacities to peak at the right time is crucial. Also, by lowering the intensity occasionally, you allow your body to sustain great form during higher-volume training.

 

[dreamsunderstood]

@neowatchman Good advice, thanks! My job places me at a desk for 10-12 hours a day for the last 15 years, no doubt that hasn’t helped with mobility.

Are there any stretching protocols you’d advise?

 

[neowatchman]

@dreamsunderstood I use Pliability, they offer 20-45 minute videos everyday. Easy to follow and do but like most I struggle with this as well. I have an idea of what you struggle with as I am 42 and have made it continually in the top 10% over the 10 years I have been doing CrossFit. Every time I put more focus on maintaining a good stretching routine and lower my intensity in the gym, my progress continues steadily.

We all run into the times when our bodies feel amazing, so we push our limits but easily forget it doesn't last for long. Next thing you know, an injury occurs. Take the time to slow down every so often and don't post your scores openly. I would bet at your level, others in the gym will ask if everything is ok or want to know your score to try and beat you. That is a great and fun part of CrossFit, but we can't compete every day and passing this knowledge on will help others to take the time to recover when necessary.

 

[cycleharmony2022]

@neowatchman This is such great advice. Thank you for your comment.

 

[gutti]

@dreamsunderstood The vast majority of people don’t focus on mobility, flexibility, and recovery nearly enough. Like somebody above mentioned, your movement quality isn’t able to sustain the increase in volume, likely from a lack of flexibility and/or mobility. Movements suffer when you can’t get into the adequate position. Sure it might not injure you at that moment, but you’re seeing it the second you up the ante. Sure, your body adjusts, but then gets injured again and it’s just a cycle. The only way to get rid of that injury part of the cycle is to move and recover better.

Take a look at the sports that have been around exponentially longer than CrossFit. Swimmers have 2 hour long practices that are front and back loaded with mobility and gym time. Football players, same. Baseball players, same. Also, they all have a crapload of specific coaches…they don’t just coach the athlete to get better, but refine the movement for efficiency…and a byproduct of efficiency is minimized injury. If jury and nagging injuries, in any sport, almost always circle back down to mechanics and/or overuse.

 

[mad_ugleigh]

@dreamsunderstood Possibly volume related. I’m 35 and have been doing it for ~8 years. I never do cf more than 3x per week anymore and focus on strength/olympic lifts 3 days. More cf than that and I start to feel worse and tend to get weaker/less fit due to over volume. Maybe sub a recovery movement/general physical therapy day in for a cf day?

 

[dreamsunderstood]

@mad_ugleigh Thanks for this.

I’ve scaled down a bit and seem to be doing better so far (not more than 3 days a week plus some lower intensity cardio or lifting on the other days).

 

[enna2021]

@dreamsunderstood Injury is most likely due to lack of mobility

 

[112358]

@dreamsunderstood Dude, I’ve been doing CrossFit for 6 years and have similar skill/numbers as you - I did a 12 week OLY program last year thinking it would be no big deal… I was wrong! Knees hurt pretty consistently until week 10/11. Now I can handle the volume but jeez it was a process.