Injured...again.

[Cut N Run]

 
Good luck on the disc deal, Wack.  I had two discs blow out in my neck in '92 and had to have C-4,C-5,& C-6 all fused together. They were degenerative discs, so it was just a matter of time before I had to have it done. I wrestled (State Champ in '77), played football, & hockey and it caught up to me. Before the surgery, I had almost no feeling in the middle, ring, and pinky finger of my left hand along with a "dead spot" along my lower left forearm. After the fusion, I had to wear a hard collar for 8 weeks and a soft collar a month after that.  But once I was healed, I was good to go. I do neck exercises daily to maintain strength and flexibility (plus I don't want to go through that again).  I got the all clear signal from my neurosurgeon and he said I was cleared to go back to normal life. The first thing I did was shoot a dandy buck a week later.  I lost a little range of motion, especially looking straight up, but compared to the alternative, I'll take it.  Since I was cleared to do as I pleased, I went back to playing hockey, which I did until I was 44 years old (when it just got too tough to keep up with the 22 year olds)...also, a guy on my team introduced me to his mother, I was older than she was. That sort of sealed the deal.
 
We're lucky we live in the time we do, because medicine & science has improved by leaps and bounds in my lifetime. 40 years ago, it just would have been too bad if you had similar injuries.  Or, they would have done surgeries that were about as damaging as the injury itself and recovery time would have been significantly longer than what they are today.  I'm really lucky to have survived that crash in the first place and for the most part am pleased with how I was repaired.
 
It is aggravating on how long it takes to recover, but if you push too much to speed recovery, it usually makes things worse, especially with soft tissue injuries. When I was in rehab in the hospital, there were others who didn't have as good a chance to recover as well as I did & they inspired me. So, relax, take things slowly, and your body will tell you if you are pushing too hard. Make sure to take time to appreciate those who support you, they are the ones who matter most.  Also, the members of this board provide a lot of help, intentionally or not.  There's nothing like hanging out carrying on a conversation with buddies at deer camp.  We're not in the same state, but a similar state of mind and talking here is a good outlet & nice diversion.  I'm thinking healing thoughts for all who hurt.
 
Jim

[JOEL]

hmmm seems somebody suggested some exercises might be over the top and was scolded for it.Hope you recover quickly and get back into the swing of things soon.I know first hand whats its like to be hurting so bad it hurts to tie your shoes

[wack]

JPH good luck with your shoulder, I doubt your shoulder is as bad as mine was so it should be easier to heal it up. Just don't over do it and give yourself the time needed.

 DrDaven thanks for your input, I hope you are wrong but doubt that you are. Even in high school hockey, my lower back was always the first part of my body to get tired and soar. I just chalked it up to being a goalie and having to carry all that extra equiptment. I started ice skating at about age 4 and wonder if the unnatural movement of skating damaged my lower back as I developed?

Cut n run I'm impressed. lol I'll be 44 soon. I loved playing hockey as a goalie until I made WI All State team as a freshman being nominated by the Minn. Gofers. My parents saw scholarships in my future and pushed me way too hard. 7th grade I was practicing with the high school varsity team. 8th grade I played a few games with the varsity team under a fake name, I tried out for the olympics and basically ran out of money before I ran out of talent. It's kind of funny that my Dad is visiting from AZ last week when my back went out. He ran into my old baseball coach who gave him copies of my high school teams score book a few days earlier and my last years batting average was 748! My on base percentage was just over 800. The other day my dad finally said he shouldn't have pushed me so hard in hockey and let me play baseball. I could be making millions playing for the Brewers and still have hunting season off. lol

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: JOEL

hmmm seems somebody suggested some exercises might be over the top and was scolded for it.Hope you recover quickly and get back into the swing of things soon.I know first hand whats its like to be hurting so bad it hurts to tie your shoes

Ahh, I was waiting for that one. A little late aren't you?

Let me say this. I will ALWAYS error on the side of pushing my body too far. That is the only way to learn where your limits are. Aggressive exercises are not why America is fat and lazy. The LACK of exercise is the problem! I'll take the occasional injury over the bleak existence brought about by sitting on my butt and worrying about being in a little pain. 

I will freely admit that I sometimes fail to rest as I should. Overuse is the primary reason for my injury issues, but I was open about that in the OP.

[drdaven]

JPH,

You can blame more of your injuries on sawing all the branches than on your exercise routines.  IMO your exercise suggestions are spot on.  I have said for years that more people need to do functional types of exercises, that spot shooting or isolating certain muscles groups was not "normal". 

I was just reading something last week that spoke of the newest craze in the exercise world.  Know what it was?  Functional training.  Things like bodyweight pull-ups, pushups, etc, all the stuff you have been posting all along.  I had to laugh!  I also have told many a hunter that they better be able to do pull-ups.  It may just save your life if you should fall out of your stand and are dangling by your fall restraint system.

Keep up with the exercising.  You are not going to do any irreversible damage by exercising.  And keep up all the great posts! 

[JPH]

drdaven, not only do I appreciate your support, I thank you for helping me and others with your knowlege and advice. I have been using the stretches and I can really feel them. Strange how stretching the front of my neck can be felt in my shoulder.
 
And for Joel or anyone else who see's my offerings here as unsafe. My personal opinion is that many of the things we do as hunters are hazardous. In addition to the use of firearms, we climb trees, walk through the woods in the dark, drag very heavy loads over rough ground, endure extreem cold and heat, and subject ourselves to long periods of rest, followed by sudden bursts of aderenalin. If hunting season is the only time we push our bodies to the limit, we are begging for serious trouble. That is the real dander as I see it!
 
Any exercise, if done improperly or too often will cause injury. As an example, weighted squats are a very safe exercise. But I would be stupid to get under a bar and attempt to squat 400 lbs. I would also be stupid to perform high rep sets of lightweight squats every day, without recovery. The exercises offered on this board are not intended to be a complete exercise program. They are intended to provide ideas and motivation that you must use within your own program.
 
Once again, I was not smart about a slight pain in my back and I kept working without rest. That caused so much irritation to the muscle that I set myself back several weeks. Dumb mistake and I admit it. On the other hand, if I had not shared my mistake, drdaven would not have had the chance to offer me a long term solution. I will continue to experiemnt with exercise and share the results.

[buckhunter21]

Did you make it out this weekend at all Joe?

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: buckhunter21

Did you make it out this weekend at all Joe?

 
Nope. Took my little girl down to the cabin but we just played around in the dooryard. We didn't even squirrel hunt. I might slip out to my suburban stand for sunset tomorrow. I'll shoot off the deck tomorrow and see how I feel.
 
I do not want to push this too far, too fast over an early October hunt or I'll wind up watching the rut from the sidelines!

[buckhunter21]

Good call.  Rushing back might sideline you for the rest of the year, which you don't want to do!  How's the boy's football team doing?

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: buckhunter21
How's the boy's football team doing?

Well he is healthy, which is more than I can say! They are 4-2 but the next 3 opponents are all ranked in the top 10 with a combined record of 16-2. It's all good though, I still love to watch him play.

I'd say your boy (Farve) had a good night last night. I guess he's healthy now too!

Back to the topic at hand. I shot about 20 arrows today. Out of the blocks I drilled a tight group at 20 yds. (yeah I know, that's what you're supposed to do!) and I felt great. As I continued to shoot, I tired quickly and now I'm feeling a little raw under the shoulder blade. Nothing serious, but I know it is going to be another week or two before I am 100%.