First experience with dry needling

     Over the summer while we were moving down south, I started to experience cramps in my calves while running. I went for a run one evening, and felt a slight cramp coming on in my leg then boom intense cramp. I chalked it up to new environment (the south is slightly more humid than the northeast), not dialed in nutrition or hydration. I took two weeks off from running then went for another run......another cramp ensued. I was a tad frustrated but ended up taking a month off from running. This coincided with my shifting into more of a lifting heavy type training. By the way if your accustomed to lifting with 3 sets then jogging or doing some sort of cardio after then switching to 4 sets with no cardio you will get sore for a week. On the other hand, I did enjoy my newfound muscles.

    I did that for six weeks (standard micro cycle) then decided to start running again. It was that cool fall weather that is perfect for running. I started off slow with a goal of running 12 min for two days a week. First week went well-then it all went to crap, and I started cramping again. This time it would knock affect me for longer. Instead of a day or two it went on for a week.

    Being a man, I did not want to go to the doctor. I had this gut feeling that they would say stop running and rest up your leg. When you're in the military that is not an option. I have to run for a physical test. I knew it was not serious enough for a long-term permanent profile, so I swallowed my pride went to the doctor. Being in the military everything works with the speed of a glacier. Making an appointment is like pulling teeth, "We aren't accepting new patients" "You need to go to sick call" I called and called seeing if anyone canceled and lo and behold a cancelation. Finally, an appointment with a doctor to get a referral. The doctor agreed that I should see a physical therapist (duh!) that of course took another couple of weeks to get. 

    The day of the appointment the physical therapist took all of two seconds to diagnose me. In laymen's terms I had several knots deep within the muscle belly. He recommended dry needling to get the muscle to relax. He would stick a needle in the muscle belly for it to contract then relax on its own. Metaphorically it would be like popping a ballon.... only the ballon is my muscle and inside of my body 

    Let's do it.

    When he prepped the needles, he gave a warning. This will hurt and you will experience soreness. I may miss the intended muscle and, in his words, "If I get the wrong part of the muscle, it will get angry and contract" In my mind this seemed like a good tradeoff. Little bit of pain for relief. He started the procedure and quickly found the suspect muscle and inserted the needle.

    He immediately found the muscle in question and inserted the needle. 

    HOLY CRAP! 

    The contractions were strong and quite painful. "Yep, I found it" No shit doc. He paused waiting for the contractions to stop then poked me again, another powerful contraction. 

"Got it again" 

"yeeeeeep you got it alright...."

    The pain was quite intense. To his credit he asked if I wanted a break......nope just do what you got to do. Eight needles later (If the knot is strong enough, they break the needle). 

    Ok, let's try it, walk around a bit and let me know how it feels. I tried to walk around and nope pain was still there.

    Round two of dry needling-pain was intense but not as long. Short, high intensity contractions. Several needles later he was done.

    I walked around a bit (with a limp). Ok, that looks ok. Come back Monday and we can finish up everything. I thought to myself Oh great I get to go through this again.

    It was obvious that I did not think this one through for I still had to drive home and since I'm uncoordinated I had to drive home pressing the accelerator with the same leg that I had the procedure done on. 

    I had the appointment after lunch, and it is still sore and hurting (way to undersell the follow up pain doc). Sitting down feels good.... until I get up and start walking around then the pain comes and I'm limping around the house. 

    Ever walked around the house with a limp around a 9-year-old? He was taunting me the whole day. "Dad, your old!" "Dad, you want to race. I bet I could beat you! Thanks son-appreciate the support. After the initial mocking he seemed generally interested in what happened. I showed him where the doctor stuck me and showed a few YouTube videos of what happened. I did my best to explain and he seemed to get it.

I have the weekend to recover before round two on Monday.

     

        

How I train my clients

        I received my certified personal training (CPT) certificate a few years back. Due to the unpredictable nature of my previous job as an instructor I wasn't able to fully use the certificate for extra money. I interviewed for a few places and either the time or the money was not quite right. (This is where I learned that personal trainers don't make squat.... pun intended). Moving down south with a more predictable schedule I was able to use my cert to make money. Again, I interviewed at a few places and money was the biggest obstacle (This comes from a place of ego, but my knowledge base is much higher than a dude with just a CPT). I was able to land a job with a large company and the money/schedule was on point. I learned the nuances of training and found out it is selling used cars. (The worst part about the job). I do have a personality and could have sold myself to clients. That felt cheap and unethical. Why would I take a car payment away from someone and lock them into a contract, and hound them over the phone to show up.

    What I did learn through this process is to wait for someone to ask about personal training. No need to constantly sell myself or use my interview techniques to get someone to sign a contract. My cliental would be smaller this way, but timewise it is for the better. I was able to procure some clients and spent the first few sessions instructing them on techniques about lifting and spread some knowledge. After two sessions it reaches a decision point. Do you want to continue, or do you have enough knowledge to go forth on your own? 9/10 they want to proceed with training.

    

    I charge $20 a session because I want it to be affordable and maintain flexibility in my schedule. Due to my job, I take classes, travel for work. That structure maintains a flexible schedule.

    During my sessions I train my clients like athletes.

    I run them through a RAMP warmup, utilize plyometrics, incorporate sprints and agility sessions along with heavy resistance training. Even with the females that I train who want to "tone up" I have them lift heavy. I explain that males and females can be trained the same way with different endocrine responses. Therefore, you won't get bulky or have Ronnie Coleman type muscles. Lifting heavy will tone you up. I tell them my job is to get you bigger, stronger and faster. I'm not into training to lose weight. That will come with time. What you look like in the mirror is more important than a scale.  

    I go over the specific goal of the workout with them and let them know why we are training this way.

       Pro Aglity tests, T-tests, vertical jumps, broad jumps, sprints and heavy compound lifts are on the schedule with training.

    To my surprise, all of my clients really like it. They enjoy lifting heavy, they enjoy sprinting (to a degree). I incorporate all of my fitness knowledge of energy systems into the training. For example, if we are doing sprints, I schedule 15 second max sprints with 230 seconds of rest to train the phosphagen system. Plyometrics are the same way. I follow the 1:5 ratio with plyo's. It takes a few sessions to get them used to jumping five reps then resting for 2 min. I do this to ensure the body has recovered and to get the highest quality jump not to jump for the sake of jumping. 

    With the positive feedback received for each workout, I'll continue to train this way.