Pain & Injuries In Barbell Training | Part 3 - The Athlete Recovery Process

Barbell training injuries will happen no matter what because, as discussed in prior podcast episodes and articles, injury prevention is not a thing. So when barbell training injuries do happen, what is the athlete recovery process like? And how can we continue to train through the athlete recovery process?

In this episode of the PRS Podcast, Drs Rori Alter and Alyssa Haveson wrap up the barbell training series on pain and injuries to help barbell trainees and powerlifters get through the athlete recovery processes efficiently.

Dealing with a barbell training injury is frustrating and sometimes scary. But the most important thing to do at the moment is don’t panic!

It’s easy to catastrophize the injury and dream up all sorts of things that might happen to your training… but a lot can change in the first 24-72 hours after a training injury.

While we must caveat any injury talk with “it depends,” often you can continue to get under the barbell in some capacity.

So in this episode of the PRS Podcast, we cover:

What to do if you experience symptoms or injuries in your barbell training session [00:16:38].
When you should see a doctor BEFORE a licensed rehab clinician [00:16:52], [00:21:49].
Why we need to ditch the RICE method [00:23:27].
A new way of addressing injuries with PEACE & LOVE [00:25:28].
Discuss the PRS algorithm for training with pain [00:32:37].

Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC, SSC: [00:00:29] In today's episode, we're going to continue with part three of the Pain and Injuries series. Episode five, part one, was all about identifying what injuries are, how we define powerlifting injuries, the difference between acute and chronic injuries, and how injuries are multifactorial. And we need to look at the big picture and all the pieces of the injury puzzle and the person puzzle to address injuries and pain in training. In Episode six, we dove a little bit further into the concept of injuries and pain being multifactorial. We discussed the pain and injury experience and how and why people interpret them in their own unique ways. We also discussed how the pain experience is not just influenced by what's going on at the tissue level but also influenced by individual experiences, narratives, belief systems, coping mechanisms, and psychological makeup. So circling back to what's happening physically at the tissue level, we also talked about why tissue damage isn't necessarily an indicator of pain and injury, and pain is not always an indicator that there is damage occurring within the body. So if you haven't listened to parts one and two of our Pain and Injury series, we encourage you to listen to Episodes five and six of this podcast, PRS podcast, but you're going to get a ton out of this episode, even if you haven't listened yet. But again, listen to them.

Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC, SSC: [00:02:21] If you get good stuff out of today's episode, go back and listen to those. And if you need clarity on some of the concepts we're talking about in today's episode, go listen to episodes five and six as well. So in today's episode, we're going to cover a lot of things. First, we're going to talk about what to do if you begin to experience symptoms or injuries in training. We're going to talk about when you should definitely see a doctor before seeing a licensed rehab clinician. Why we need to ditch the RICE method. We're going to address some common questions about training with injuries. We're going to discuss the PRS algorithm for training with pain, and then we'll introduce a way to reduce your risk for injury and reoccurrence of injuries after you've recovered from them. So in episode five, we define the difference between acute and chronic injuries and how acute injuries differ from chronic injuries because of the presence of an inflammatory response or an acute inflammatory response. And often, acute injuries have a larger influence on your ability to function and move relative to chronic injuries. So acute injuries often have identifiable tissues involved and an inflammatory response that supports the healing process. While chronic injuries don't usually have inflammation at the tissue level, they're much more multifactorial, take longer to dissipate, and are a bit harder to address. So we'll discuss what to do when you notice acute or chronic symptoms in and around your training sessions. So Alyssa, can you talk a little bit about the mindset approach we take at the onset of acute and chronic episodes of pain or injury?

Dr. Alyssa Haveson, PT, PRSCC, CSCS: [00:04:02] Yes. And when it comes to an acute injury, the first thing we always say is don't sound the alarm. We know that that's easier said than done. But understanding what's going on and the process that's about to take place in your body to help you heal can help reduce some anxiety about what just happened. So don't sound the alarm. A lot can change over the next 48 hours to a week in terms of how you're feeling.

Dr. Rori Alter, PT, PRSCC, SSC: [00:04:27] Yeah, the rate of symptom dissipation with acute injuries is exponential relative to chronic injuries. So chronic injuries might stay at the same level for a long time, versus those acute injuries might have a huge influence or experience at the beginning. And within a very short time frame, you can go from a ten to a two. So it's exponential in the time frame that symptoms can dissipate.

Show Notes Links:

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Web: https://www.progressiverehabandstrength.com

Email: podcast@progressiverehabandstrength.com

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Alyssa IG: @alyssahope_prs

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