Holy sh@t my legs are killing me!!! Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (episode 2)

 

So I'm now 2 weeks symptom free of covid (for me chills and mild headache) and slowly restarting exercise.  I just spoke with one of my coaches at The Endorphine Effect and mentioned how recovering from "The Vid" has given me a youthful taste different than before.  (Note this IS NOT due to the privilege of getting Regenerons polyclonal antibody cocktail + remdesivir + dexamethasone....in fact I'm still searching for an affordable medical insurance so thank GOD I didn't need hospitalization!)  My timing of recovery finishing off with Thanks Giving has pushed me into the taste of meat again! Since 2018 I went vegan to support my patient Bob who suffered an evolving heart attack in the fall of 18 and essentially remained plant based till my covid 19 infection.  Thursday my gustatory drive culminated in a Roast Beef dinner prepared at home with my wife conjuring up the chef skills Mama.  With every taste of fat/meat/gravy it brought me back to Mt Laurel new jersey for childhood (like the food critic in Rataouille taking a bite and zooming back to his childhood when mom fed him the delicacy after suffering an injury)  

But the rejoicing ends there as my digestive system let me know all the microbiotia ALSO appreciated the onslaught of animal product with bloat burp fart to a degree of a 20 year old fraternity boy day after a keg party!  Suffice it to say...the household olfactory nerves are appreciative of me staying plant based.  But to circle back to the title...I also developed a desire to go run!?  Most of my subscribers on youtube know I like HIIT training 3 days a week to the point of zone 2 heart rate and vo2 max so running can get me a decent heart rate but I haven't run since my drop in attempt at a 2nd marathon back in 2010.  (I just did it to get a shirt saying 10-10-10 marathon).  I knew the intrinsic muscles of the foot, the soleus and gastroc would probably hurt after so I just kept my endeavor to 1 mile at decent pace and finished.  If my mitochondria and actin myosin muscle fibers had any memory from pre covid, I figured 1-2 days of muscle soreness was ok to expect.  WAS I WRONG!!!

So with the 3rd post run day I started hobbling like John Wayne (am I dating myself?) and saying ouch oooch with every step down the stairs.  But soon the kinetic chain began to compensate for the altered gait and I developed an impact tremor of pain that rippled from calves then hit the glutes till finally by this am my traps even screamed - "your a fibromyalgia patient dummy!". So today I broke tradition and started taking tylenol. (I don't like medicine but acknowledge these are desperate times).  And in the midst of trying to find a comfy position in bed with a heating blanket and topical CBD (seehttps://youtu.be/LKLTp3V9Wj4) I wanted to go microscopic and visualize why certain muscle groups distant to my feet were hurting so much.  Theories in the past videos were eccentric muscle contraction, poor warm up (treppe effect) decreased clearance/utilization of lactic acid, muscle fiber shearing, myofascial inflammation or dehydration.  When I started "talking to my muscles" to ask "what are you telling me" and how can I help...one answer came up: 

I should have continued exercise and stretching during my covid 2 week isolation. I essentially did no weight training fearful that I may trigger a cytokine storm.  I did no THC at night (lungs!)  I hardly ate-low appetite and probably added to mild dehydration...and for sure 1 week OFF activity and exercise can translate to whole body muscle atrophy (the amount is estimated but just look at a relative who may have gone through 1-2 weeks of an arm cast or bed rest and you'll see significant shrinkage.  Just like pregnancy, during the time of metabolic change, it is suggested you MAINTAIN your previous exercise as abandoning it will only bring back risk factors you previously kept at bay AND the restart of exercise "when your ego is tired of seeing belly girth increase" will inevitably cause an equal degree of post work out pain equivalent to the time spent rationalizing the idea to just watch netflix.  So already at the time of this journaling, I am feeling more mobile with "tolerable" muscle stiffness.  

ALL MY FREAKS that love exercise know the achey feeling post work out is usually associated with being "swollen" as one of my patients commented. (My claim to fame- Chris Angel during a vegas show got me to stand up in the audience and the comic relief guy started making asian gestures to get a laugh but the Chris said pointing to me... "he's pretty fit, he might kick your ass!" Of course that prompted comic relief guy to start doing karate chops in air...all for good fun!  Bottom line is those who dial in exercise to cause just the right amount of muscle damage usually prompt inflammation at the price of looking buff / swollen / pumped...to the learned behavior is well accepted as most body builders know your look good for a day or two, walk with confidence and look forward to moving more weight, shattering personal records or going a little faster farther with the NEXT time you dive into the pain. 

I honestly have to say, I've crushed my covid infection, I can put away my covid supplements as the more my antibodies swarm my blood stream, the more def-con 4 my immune system stays to chew up any hint of viral contagion.  I love muscle pump, I love not looking 58, I love not having the typical diagnosis my colleagues walk around with and I love knowing my investment in essentially a Blue Zones lifestyle has paid off (usually no one will notice if investment has paid off until all their friends have succumbed to age related diseases ...then its too late to brag as everyone is gone.  Its ok...someone will benefit from my documenting this journey and I hopefully will get to walk down the aisle with my grand kids!!!

This blog is for my warriors and I promise the stories are coming up but I thought it fitting to give you a biography of your "Chief Warrior" (thanks Deb)

-Stay Safe / Stay Healthy / Have Hope

-DrRic

An Argument for Activity (episode 1)

 

With the post election / pre holiday / pandemic disorientation, it is important for me to send out a beacon. During my tenure in Orlando with University of Central Florida and Cirque du Soleil I underwent training for “Mass Casualty Events”.  Who would have thought that part of being a sports medicine physician was to respond to arena catastrophes!!! I was first introduced to such a concept when I served with FIFA during the World Cup Chicago matches in 1995.  The role of medical in the stadium was more to secure random soccer players after the match and test for doping but there was an unwritten addendum in the job description for a protocol just in case of emergency.  Obviously nothing transpired short of halftime performer Jon Secada falling through a platform and injuring his shoulder but just the necessity of mass casualty language in the contract is a sad statement of the world.  

So one of the techniques to trigger after an occurrence is to call out to walking wounded “anyone who can hear my voice come to the goal post for first aid”.  This easy statement sets in motion a triage beacon to have anyone that can walk-start moving to a gathering place.  It also defines (brace yourself) who is dead, who is critical, who can wait and who can help.  Something as easy as the initiation of the call out also allows first responders in the crowd to gather and identify themselves at the designated base camp.  So going back to my first sentence, the public is in a post explosion fog as no one knows what is safe to touch, there’s confusion as to the value of testing, the scientific data has been devalued and the anger post election is igniting a spark between factions with the theme of  “I’m not following the rules because I refuse to acknowledge authority”.  The degree of vagueness of what is right to do is falling to which ever organization has the loudest voice social media voice.

I am here to tell you nothing new, same old message just repackaged to set your confusion straight.  I’ve seen this argument rear its head in the past within the medical community regarding protocols. Science always evolves and stances change regarding best practice advise but OVERALL when it comes to health and wellness suggestions, it cannot be ignored that human populations that live the longest MUST be doing something right.  To the layman it may seem that data is always being confounded with newer studies or deeper mechanistic discoveries.  For example keto vs vegan, new diabetes medicine vs old, suggested reliance on cholesterol guidelines,  egg good vs egg bad!!! Now mask vs no mask, covid is a hoax, the elections were fixed... (I don’t want to make this political but had to throw that last one in as it seems to trigger energetic passion to be unleashed regardless of all the mental fatigue of 2020).  Anti-Inflammatory lifestyle will always withstand time.  It’s a term popularized by my guru Dr Andy Weil, founder of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine Fellowship where I trained and met physicians and nurses from around the world who were also tired of the information stagnation doctors are getting mired down with because of big corporations like the AMA, pharmaceutical industry, medical insurance industry, food industry, tobacco industry.... the list of which industry has their hands up the proverbial ass of your neighborhood doctor is so long that my colon is like a political abyss.

Circling back to the Argument for Activity,  most of my “Warriors” has erased a diagnosis or two from their medical chart by initiating a healthy lifestyle change.  I fondly give this title to anyone who has trusted me with following a personal plan to get out of the medical diagnosis pit.  Being a modern doctor now has boiled down to meeting a person in the clinic, getting blood tests, declaring a diagnosis then prescribing a medicine to treat said diagnosis.  What’s missing is REVERSING the direction of disease. The 30000 foot view amidst all the story telling thus far is healthy living should equal longevity.  Long lifespan should equal long health span.  No one should be handcuffed to a diagnosis or a prescription IF the right personal map is designed out of wilderness of disease.  Exercise, diet and mindful practice seem to be a tough sell to the majority of people that come through my doorway.  I would say 1/3 of patients are willing to learn new techniques to get off medicines or to get rid of suffering.  Unfortunately 2/3’s of patients rationalize on why they cant make a change right now.  “I feel fine” or “I know what to do I just have to do it” or “I cant afford a gym membership” are common excuses I hear in the 2/3’s group.  It’s OK, I am not to judge or force plant based eating or saying the rosary on anyone.  I’m not perfect but I foresee cancer in my own life (my gene pool odds) and I am trying best as I can to not be remiss I didn’t do the best I could with the knowledge I have to steer clear of that destination on my map.  Am I driven to exercise and maintain mindfulness and commune with nature-yes.  Am I just doing it to stack the odds that I will hold hands with my great great grandkids-yes.  BUT I am also convinced “This is the way” (I love the Mandalorian!) BECAUSE I FEEL GREAT!!! 

Coming off an early November covid infection, I have been told I “crushed it” regarding minimizing viral down time to 4 days with NO residual side effects.  My only symptoms were chills (I really took advantage of an old heating blanket) and a mild headache.  I refrained from my usual exercise and fasting as the statistics from Europe showed cytokines storm can be accelerated with adding these 2 facets of healthy living into an active infection. But the flip side is that BECAUSE of my lifestyle, I anecdotally attribute the strength of my immune system to the Warrior lifestyle I have dialed in for myself.  (I’ll be doing a video soon about the value of metabolic flexibility, mitochondrial strength, high lean body ratio and dosing my zone 2 training so subscribe to my YouTube.com/herbal411 site!) 

I’m 59 yrs old in 2021, I love strength training, hate cardio but do it, want alcohol but avoid it, because I honestly feel the majority of my days.  I also compare myself to colleagues and relatives who have died and count my blessings, then acknowledge their suffering and reiterate to myself I must finish this marathon standing up on my own terms and not be tied down to a memory care facility or bimonthly visits to the hospital for another procedure.  

It’s Thanksgiving and cold outside and I’m without a steady paycheck BUT I am going to work out after finishing this blog, I’m going to film a new Quantum Shift video to thank my Warriors for inspiring me and I’m going to get my family together (with covid caution) to give thanks.  

Thank you for reading

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Thank you for trusting me

-your DrRic