I don't know whether I have been tough, stubborn, or stupid, but I have trained and lived with pain for decades. I'm not trying to be a martyr either, a lot of us do it. The question is "When is enough, enough?"

That time has finally come for me.  For far too long I have been able to stay just ahead of the pain enough to train. I'd never really feel great unless I was training and greasing the wheel. Sure, there'd be days where I'd actually feel ok, but they'd be few and far between.

I could go on ranting, but you all get the point. So, what's the plan? Well, I guess I have two options. One is, quit training. We know that's not going to happen. Two is, get myself better. Funny, the latter sounds harder than the former.

Luckily my wife hasn't divorced me yet and has listened to me drone on and on about this. I have been bouncing plans around and I have come up with the following.

First, I need to spend whatever time is necessary for mobility, rehab, and recovery. I train at a minimum of six hours a week. I don't spend nearly that much time actively (not counting passive time of contrast showers, icing, heating, and consistent sleep) addressing the pain I have in my back, hips, and shoulders. My time will be prioritized to healing up my body above training.

Regarding training, I set a rule this year that states "If it hurts, don't do it." I have not done a good job abiding by that. I can't be trusted. I need to systematically come up with a plan to do that. It will probably take a little trial and error, but I need to focus on what I can do and not what I can't, or at least, shouldn't.

We have tentatively discussed my having to be pain-free for three weeks before I can put a barbell on my back or in my hands. A small sacrifice that seems much larger than it is for this old meathead.

Hopefully, this will pan out, or the next option is to start seeing some professionals. The sad part is before my sports doctor retired, it's the first thing I would have done. Now I don't have a doctor I can trust and my affordable health care ain't so affordable anymore. I have to drop $2,000.00 before insurance will even touch a bill.

I bet I'd rifle through the two grand before I could even find a doctor who's answer wouldn't be "Quit training." The whole thing seems like too much of a hassle especially because it's not like having a broken arm that's easy to see. What I have are an abundance of beaten up, unbalanced, and overused soft tissue issues. So we'll see what Doctor Google and Physical Therapist Youtube can do first.

Stay tuned...