How Acupuncture Can Help You Stay Healthy and Get Back in the Gym Quicker After an Injury
By Dylan Stein, MS, L.Ac.
Bodybuilding is an incredibly rewarding pursui
t, but lifting heavy weights puts stress on your bones, tendons, ligaments and certainly your muscles. That doesn’t mean you should stop lifting, but it does mean you should know how to lift safely and smartly.
Enter acupuncture! This 2,000-year-old medicine can help you prevent injuries and also help you recover more quickly if you do get injured.
Acupuncture is the insertion of needles only slightly thicker than a hair into shallow points on the body which then help to move the body’s vital energy, allowing it to flow smoothly. Disease arises when there are blockages in the flow. Think about a highway with heavy traffic versus a highway with only a few cars on it. No one is happy sitting in traffic.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
So, what can you do to keep yourself in good shape?
First off, make 
sure you’re eating right. In addition to your usual diet program, consider Chinese medicine’s Law of Signatures – similarities in appearance link two things. Having a problem with your neck? Eat chicken or turkey necks. Have low back pain? Use beef bones to make a broth to drink alongside your meal. It sounds strange, but it makes good sense. These two foods in particular are rich in gelatin, a complex of proteins that lubricate the joints and soothes inflammation. Just be sure to buy organic. The examples go on and on.
Secondly, make sure you’re taking enough rest days. Give your body a chance to recuperate. Make sure you’re getting adequate sleep. In acupuncture theory, sleep is the time when the blood is restored, which allows the tendons and ligaments to remain supple. You can further nourish the blood by eating beets (Law of Signatures again; red beets, red blood) and black sesame seeds. Coincidentally, guys, sesame seeds will also keep your prostate healthy.
Thirdly, make sure your form is spot-on. Learn how to keep a natural form while preventing unnecessary strain on joints. Acupuncture is about making sure the body’s energy is flowing smoothly. If you’re contorting yourself into unnatural positions or making your joints bend at odd angles, you’re blocking the flow of energy. Acupuncture can help fix problematic blockages, which manifest as pain. The ancient art of Tai Chi is a fighting martial art, but it’s practiced mindfully, slowly and smoothly. You can keep this principle in
mind when you’re lifting, too.
What to do if you do get injured
The most common bodybuilding-related injuries – knee pain, neck and back problems, elbow tendinitis, and shoulder/rotator cuff injuries – are also some of the most common pain problems we see in the acupuncture clinic.
People of all types, not just bodybuilders, come for acupuncture for its amazing ability to stop pain. In addition, acupuncture helps to increase circulation to an injured area, which will help speed healing. For parts of the body that are poorly vascularized, like the shoulder, this increase in circulation can make a huge difference in recovery time.
At the first signs of an injury, my best advice is to stop pushing yourself and give your body some time to rest. Never try to work through pain. It usually just lands you in worse shape than you would have been otherwise. A sprain can easily become a complete tear. If the pain doesn’t resolve on its own, get it evaluated. It’s better to know.
There’s no reason to wait to see a doctor before you visit for some acupunctur
e. We can treat an injury at any stage. Treatments will vary depending on how recently you were injured.
In addition to an acupuncture treatment, an acupuncturist may give you an herbal remedy to apply to the skin over the affected area, herbs to take internally and even some Tai Chi or Qi Gong exercises to help support recovery.
Keep in mind, acupuncture isn’t a miracle cure and it won’t resolve injuries overnight. Be willing to commit at least 4-6 weeks of weekly treatments to get back to where you want to be. Long-standing issues will take longer to get better. Also, acupuncture works cumulatively, so each subsequent treatment will be more effective and last longer. So stick with it.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me through my website. I’d be happy to answer them. If you’re in the New York area, you’re welcome to come in for a treatment. If you live elsewhere, check out www.nccaom.org to find a practitioner near you.
All the best,
Dylan
BE SURE TO WATCH AS DAVE PALUMBO GOES FOR ACCUPUNTURE AND CUPPING THERAPY:
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Dylan Stein, MS, Lac
is a licensed acupuncturist in New York City specializing in men’s health, pain management and sports medicine, and dermatology. Dylan's background in Western biomedical science and Master's degree in Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine allow him to integrate his work into any healthcare plan. For more information about Dylan, check out his website or on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.
