I Bought a Car and Now I’m Injured

The last time I was driving was in 2010 and 2011. It was right around the start of our park program that later became DEUCE Gym. I was making money by coaching at a baseball academy in San Juan Capistrano and I was generally injured with nagging back issues stemming from misaligned hips and exceptionally tight hip flexors.

Once the gym got going, I made a goal to commute only by bike or on foot. I sold my truck and I was out of pain shortly after.

With the additions of DEUCE Athletics and DEUCE Backlot, I was taking dozens of Ubers per week and finally did the thing I thought I never would. I got a car. Just a few weeks into this new driving habit brought back familiar tight hips and discomfort under load. When I drive I find myself in odd, compromised positions, usually with my left knee pull up high and my hips rotated off to the side.

Now, as someone who is generally mobile, healthy, and able to get into just about anything without any warm up, I need to do specific things to open my hips or suffer the consequences. Training almost never hurts me. Driving does every time.

This experience is a reminder of two important lessons. Firstly, while in today’s day and age we generally place stretching and mobility on a pedestal, remember that these things are a reaction to dysfunctional living. If I don’t sit like hell in the car, I don’t need a specific mobility practice to be functional. Secondly, the function (or dysfunction) of your lifestyle is molding you in every way.

Logan Gelbrich   

@functionalcoach