Read This If You Want Your Pain Gone Now!

There's no shortage of quick fixes in the world of rehab and recovery, all aimed at getting us healed now with the least amount of work.

However, this suggests that we all want the easy way out, which isn't the most accurate.

Sure, we would all like to e-stim, massage, or rub some lotion on our pain to make it go away rather than a regiment of exercises, but as followers of Crossover Symmetry, I'm sure you're not afraid of doing a little work.

Therefore, the real culprit here is impatience rather than laziness.

We want the fix to be quick so we can return to our activities and perform at our best without losing our fitness.

Unfortunately, even with advanced medicine and scientific advancements, our physiology has limits that we can't outrun.

This chart demonstrates what I mean.

I originally published this to show the rates of tissue adaptation and why it's essential to progress steadily with training (as you can see, muscles get stronger much faster than ligaments and tendons).

However, this graph also shows that recovery is not an on/off switch but a progression. 

Inflammation takes time to resolve, and cells must proliferate and remodel before you're back to your old self. We can certainly do things to support this process, but there is an inevitable waiting game we must endure.

That brings us back to the benefits of active over passive recovery.

Not only does the proper dose of movement support the recovery process, but it can also scratch the itch for doing something.

And if you've ever walked through one of our 30-Day Fix Programs, Active Rest is one of the critical pieces.

Active rest means finding modifications and workarounds to continue to pursue an activity while the body gets better.

So again, don't sit around and wait for the healing to happen, but find a way to keep yourself moving.