Understand this, and you understand your injury.

You know that feeling when something “just goes”? Your back locks up during a deadlift. Your achilles hurts halfway through a run. Your shoulder suddenly is painful when you are pressing.

It always feels like it comes from nowhere. But it rarely does.

This week I want to share something I explained on the podcast that people have already told me has changed the way they think about their body.

And it starts with a strange but surprisingly accurate analogy.

Imagine your body is a power station. Your brain is the main supply. Every muscle in your body has a dimmer switch. If the light is bright, the muscle is firing well. If the light is low, the muscle is protecting itself or not functioning at full cpacity.

Now think about what happens when you injure something. Let us use the ankle as an example.

Roll your ankle and the body immediately turns the dimmer switches down on the muscles around it. It is not going to let you put full power through a damaged joint. It is a protection mechanism.

But the task you want to do does not just go away. You still need to walk. You still need to run. You still need to train.

So the body looks elsewhere.

If the dimmer switches around the ankle are turned down, then the dimmer switches on the calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes and lower back have to go up to make up the difference. They all do a little more than their fair share. They have to if you want to move.

This is where the problems begin.

Because that pattern stays. Long after the ankle feels “better.” Long after you even remember it happened.

Now imagine that process repeating through your twenties, thirties and forties.

A rolled ankle here. A strained hamstring there. A sore knee after five a side. A dodgy shoulder from years of rugby.

Each one turns down a dimmer switch. Each one forces another switch up.

And all is fine... until its not. Eventually a fuse blows, and you get injured.

And this is why your back “goes” when you deadlift. It is why your achilles flares halfway through marathon prep. It is why your shoulder hurts even though it never has before.

The painful area is rarely the problem. It is the solution. It is the one doing the extra work because other muscles have been turned down for years.

Most rehab only looks at the sore bit. But if the injury was not from a direct trauma, the sore bit is very unlikely to be the actual cause.

Real recovery means going back through your entire injury history and working out which dimmer switches were turned down and never turned back up. It means fixing the old problems one by one so the entire system can run properly again.

This is why I spend a huge part of my assessment going deep into injury history. Every rolled ankle. Every pulled muscle. Every knee niggle. Every weird one you forgot about.

Because your body certainly has not forgotten.

This is what we did with Rob Thirlby, ex England 7's superstar, whose old injuries had finally caught up with him. The fuse box blew.

In it we discuss the process we went through to rebuild him, how we took a step back, started slow, and fixed every injury one by one. We also discuss the emotional toll the injuries took on him, how he feels now, and the exponential improvement he felt in the last 2 months of his programme.

Link to the episode - https://share.transistor.fm/s/3badb17d

If this resonates and you feel like you are stuck in the same cycle of injuries flaring for no clear reason, this is exactly what I help men in their thirties, forties and fifties solve.

Its been a massive week for Razor Performance.

1. My elite marathon client finally ran below 2.30. I can't even explain how pleased I am for him, as this has been years in the making, and follows two failed attempts over the last 2 years. This is a huge lesson in dedication, bloody mindedness and sheer determination. At this level the margins are fine, injuries play a huge part, and nutrition needs to be perfect. JUST AMAZING!!

2. My client who came to me 6 months ago with pretty crippling back pain completed a Hyrox in London in 1.22. This was his first attempt and it puts him in the Top 25% for his age. Being honest the time is amazing, but the fact that he did it and his back was fine was amazing!!

3. Another client ran a PB in a half marathon, but more importantly she said 'this is the first time in years that I have finished a race and my knees weren't in agony.' This was a result of a mere 4 weeks of FOCUSSED strength training.

4. Another client did Hyrox, but we were not aiming for a time, just to make it through and smile crossing the line. We have a marathon incoming, and thats the real focus, but she absolutely loved doing it, and I love that.

5. We had a first outdoor run in 3 months for my duathlon client, who came to me with a goal just to be able to sit down and move comfortably again (it was that bad). Now we have a duathlon booked in March, she increased her FTP by 5% without even being on the bike (strength training for the win), and is loving being back outside.

6. Its been a busy few months for new clients, and their results will be coming soon!!

The coaching programme is currently closed, and next year the prices will be increasing.

If you are planning to finally fix up your old injuries and feel like you again, you can book a free call here. If its right we can get you set up on this years prices for January, but I would need to speak before the end of next week.

https://calendly.com/razorperformance/30min

See you in the next one

Andy