Have you ever been to the doctor for an injury? Maybe you jammed a finger playing pick up basketball or sprained an ankle on the curb at the grocery store spilling groceries all over the landscape. (No one ever gets hurt doing anything cool.) What did they tell you to do? I bet they said RICE it and take some over the counter pain medication. But what does it mean to RICE an injury? You savvy readers already know that it stands for Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate the affected body part. Are there more effective ways to deal with the injury? What is the best way to apply RICE to an injury? This is the difference between teaching and telling. The doctor will usually tell you what to do. It will be the best advice that they know how to give, because doctors do really want you to get better. This is where you really want to enlist the services of a teacher.
Here's a story to illustrate the point. I have a super awesome client who was having some serious shoulder issues several years ago. She went to the doctor who made a diagnosis that there was some damage to the shoulder that needed to be surgically repaired. She went under the knife only to discover that the diagnosed damage wasn't there and put her in pain for over a year while she recovered. She was told to rest and ice the shoulder, but never taught how and when to do it. She was told to stretch and improve mobility, but never taught how to do it. She knew she needed to strengthen the shoulder, since she couldn't even hold her morning coffee with the injured arm, but no one taught her how to train. Then she found a yoga teacher who took the time to teach how to stretch and stabilize her shoulder. A good physical therapist who taught her how to apply RICE in a regimented and productive manner. And I like to think she has a pretty good coach now who is working on building strength and work capacity so she can continue to enjoy a healthy active life now. (It's me.)
So why do I tell you the story? Because when you're looking for experts to help you take care of your body, you don't want someone who is going to just tell you what to do unless you're already pretty well educated. Instead, you want someone who can teach you what to do and WHY you're doing it. They can show you technique and explain it in a way that makes sense to YOU the client and student. The difference is huge! After learning some self care strategies like intelligent stretching routines, strength training, and injury prevention (I like to call that prehab) the client above is able to stay on top of what was once a life stopping problem.
If you are tired of being told what to do and never taught how to do it by experts who are not teachers, stick around. You can hang out with us at our facebook group and throw out questions there, follow me on instagram @disruptivefit, or drop a line in the comments.
Here's a story to illustrate the point. I have a super awesome client who was having some serious shoulder issues several years ago. She went to the doctor who made a diagnosis that there was some damage to the shoulder that needed to be surgically repaired. She went under the knife only to discover that the diagnosed damage wasn't there and put her in pain for over a year while she recovered. She was told to rest and ice the shoulder, but never taught how and when to do it. She was told to stretch and improve mobility, but never taught how to do it. She knew she needed to strengthen the shoulder, since she couldn't even hold her morning coffee with the injured arm, but no one taught her how to train. Then she found a yoga teacher who took the time to teach how to stretch and stabilize her shoulder. A good physical therapist who taught her how to apply RICE in a regimented and productive manner. And I like to think she has a pretty good coach now who is working on building strength and work capacity so she can continue to enjoy a healthy active life now. (It's me.)
So why do I tell you the story? Because when you're looking for experts to help you take care of your body, you don't want someone who is going to just tell you what to do unless you're already pretty well educated. Instead, you want someone who can teach you what to do and WHY you're doing it. They can show you technique and explain it in a way that makes sense to YOU the client and student. The difference is huge! After learning some self care strategies like intelligent stretching routines, strength training, and injury prevention (I like to call that prehab) the client above is able to stay on top of what was once a life stopping problem.
If you are tired of being told what to do and never taught how to do it by experts who are not teachers, stick around. You can hang out with us at our facebook group and throw out questions there, follow me on instagram @disruptivefit, or drop a line in the comments.
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