This is my super duper secret blog page. If you find it, congratulations on being perceptive. There’s more to come. One day, I will figure out how to put a secret password to this blog. Mwahahahaha!
Greetings
returning to training after a tendon strain injury
You have had a good warmup, had a couple turns up the silks, and on your third turn you wrap in and drop into a front split. Just before you hit your max stretch you feel an uncomfortable and maybe painful pull at the top of your hamstring. Since you are used to the odd ache and pain during training you shrug side this acute sensation thinking “I’m sure that was nothing”. As you pull yourself out of this position and make your descent to the ground you realize that sudden pain has developed into a deep ache in the back of your buttock and high in the hamstring.
High hamstring injuries are very common in athletes that require quick lengthening of their muscles and tendons especially when that same tissue is under an eccentric load. An eccentric load occurs when a muscle such as your hamstring is contracted to stabilize the hip and pelvis while it lengthens into motions such as a penché, or splits in the silks. If the tissue is lengthened further that its normal ability or the strength of the tissue is decreased due to fatigue of the hamstring, the muscle tendon fibers will tear or at the very least lose some structural integrity. The body creates inflammation which results in pain.
With a twenty-year career as a dancer and ten of those years as an aerialist, believe me, I’ve seen and done some silly things in regards to strains mostly likely due to impatience. So, I’ve learned first hand what not to do. For most athletes, inappropriate management of these injuries comes from a lack of understanding of how long this tissue takes to heal and when each form of rehab is appropriate.
The question is, what does the aerialist do next? Here is a step by step approach to handling this situation:
1) Stop training immediately and ICE for 20 minutes. Research is back and forth on if and for how long icing should be done especially since it’s the body’s natural inflammatory response that starts the healing process. That being said, any injury I’ve ever managed that I have ICED within a couple of hours after the injury always seemed like less of an imposition the next day.
2) Generally, the protocol for icing is 3-5X/ day for 2 days then contrasting heat and cold for another two days to promote blood flow/ circulation.
3) DON’T keep stretching the injured tissue or even test it for a couple of weeks. Each time you push the tissue the muscle fibers that are trying to heal are being pulled apart, and likely increasing the healing time and furthering scar tissue formation.
4) Have your injury assessed. Knowing which structure is injured is important. Is it one of your hamstring muscles, or is it actually an adductor muscle issue? Chiropractors, Physio/Athletic therapists, and certain massage therapists will have the experience to assess and give you a treatment plan that will most likely include hands-on therapy such as (ART ®, massage, laser, acupuncture, Graston etc…). As the tissue can handle more load, core strengthening, glute and hamstring strengthening for both concentric and eccentric loads will be prescribed.
Your flexibility will resume slowly assuming you don’t go too hard, too fast. Usually, premature aggressive stretching leads to more pain, dysfunction and subsequent injury along the same fascial pathway. A question that I am asked often is “How could this happen if I was warm before I started training?” There are a few possibilities. The body’s core muscles may have been fatigued from the previous day’s activities, or perhaps the tissue had been mildly strained on another training day but below the threshold to be aware of it. This is why periodization within training (appropriate rest) needs to be scheduled during training. Age and nutrition will also affect the pliability of our tendons. Micro injuries over the decades causes the tendons to slowly become less supple which means it will take less force to cause damage compared to a young athlete.
Dr. Amber Wiens is a Chiropractor in Calgary AB treats dancers, gymnasts and aerialists in her practice. For more information about Dr. Wiens visit www.ayhcalgary.com
Acrobats in Ancient Crete
Before the circus was born and the Olympics was created, people would see organized spectator events such as wrestling and boxing. Such sport requires the contestants to train for many hours to have these athletic abilities. One of the sports is called bull-leaping.
This requires all contestants to have acrobatic abilities. In this artefact, the fair-skinned people represent women and the dark-skinned person represent a man. These athletes made a dangerous leap over the horns and back of a charging bull. If you thought a front somersault was challenging, these contestants definitely took it up to another level.
Evry, France – Unicycle
Address: 3 Impasse Jules Dalou
Website: unicycle.fr
Many moons ago when I was living in London, I’ve heard about a manufacturer called Unicycle. They have been selling all sorts of circus equipment for over 20 years.
One of their products was stretchy aerial silk that was quite durable via wear and tear. I had one and it lasted for 8 years. That’s considered really old for silks (the average life span for silk in a circus studio is a few years). Unfortunately, this product is no longer available. I have always wanted to go to their headquarters and see what it looks like. At the time, I was imagining that it would be as amazing as Charlie’s Chocolate Factory.
In reality, it was very different from what I expected. The warehouse was located behind a mini-mall. It was tricky to find because there was only one tiny little sign and the entrance look like the back door.
When I went inside, the warehouse was spacious and had boxes stacked on top of each other. So, to my disappointment, it looked like any warehouse. Overall, you wouldn’t have known that it was a circus equipment warehouse (Sorry folks, it’s not the chocolate factory, but they do have a cool painting of a circus girl (see below)). Even if that was the case, I still overdid with my shopping because the office on the second floor had samples of different products and it was hard to resist not to buy. Let’s just say that carrying heavy circus equipment via public transit was not the highlight of my trip.
variety is the spice of life
On my second year going to the wonderful Aerial Dance Festival, I had a lovely chat with Nancy Smith, Artistic Director. She mentioned, “Instructors come in with different ideas. Sometimes in festival, one will have two instructors who are absolutely against each other’s ideals.” I truly believe that everyone has their own path of aerial arts whether you’re a beginner or not. Not one path is “the only way”. Circus is a blend of so many areas – dance, athleticism, traditional circus, modern movement and etc. It’s inclusive to everyone. It was fascinating being at this festival as you would see an aerial performer working with digital media to another performer doing an aerial performance with a bicycle hanging in the air. The instructors at the festival teach in a safe and creative environment. It’s amazing to be there and I hope to pass down two observations that will learn from the festival.
Respect the art. As much as I encourage people to be creative and finding their path, I also encourage people to be open to what your instructors are sharing with you. Instructors all come from different background: whether it’s from traditional circus or circus from a dancer’s view or a mixture of everything. Please respect the instructors in taking in what they teach.
Although one teacher may teach a different way to get into a move, it doesn’t mean that they are wrong. It just means that it’s a different approach. Whether this skill will be part of
your path or your “bag of tricks” will be up to you. In my path, I must have learnt at least 4 to 5 different ways to go into an ankle hang. Whether I do all of them or I do one of them is clearly my choice. However, when I am in a class, I will try to respect the instructor’s perspective by at least, trying out the move.
Safety. You all know that it’s important to put crash mats underneath equipment, grab a spotter when you need it or work at a lower height when you are learning new tricks. Here’s a question: when you go to the gym, would you do bicep curls on your right arm only? Then, why would you do it with aerials?
Although, there are professional performers who may work only their good side, they also do other cross training methods or seek health practitioners to help correct the muscle imbalances. I’ve also met performers who have injured themselves due to repetitive strain and lack of care with their body. I’ve met enough fitness instructors, massage therapist, pilates instructors and other health practitioners to stress the importance of working both sides. This will become beneficial in your training. Personally, if I did work too much on one side, I will still make an effort to go to my regular massage sessions and pilates practice. I can’t express that what we are doing could lead to repetitive strain injury on one arm, torso, hips if we keep working on one side. We love the art. It hurts and it’s tough on our body. Please try to be kind and compassionate to yourself.
There are so many ways to get on an aerial apparatus. Quite often, students can surprise and inspire us with their transitions. If the students are mindful of these two observations, it will help further the students’ growth in the art.