By Andrea Domenichini
Hello, I am Dre. For those who don’t know me, I provide some of the technical hocus pocus that helps keep the show running and have even appeared on one episode.
I have been an amateur bodybuilder for twelve years and even came second in a competition once. However my training has been seriously hampered in the last two years or so by degenerating chronic injuries and muscle imbalances that were cumulatively restricting my mobility to the point that I couldn’t turn my neck properly.
Thanks to reading Tim Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Body I had discovered ART, or Active Release Techniques, an advanced and integrated combination approach to injury reversal via trigger points, massage, scar tissue breakdown and much more.
This was a great first step towards rehabilitation but I just couldn’t sustain the costs so I ended up discontinuing the appointments when I thought I was ‘cured’. The problem was that what I hadn’t actually fixed was my muscle imbalances and poor biomechanics posture especially in certain lifts like the bench press; so one rep at a time I fell back into a gnarly mess of stuck tissues and stiff tendons.
What I really needed was an effective way to perform self maintenance and repair on my poor body and to slowly re-train my body to move correctly.
Once again it was Tim Ferriss who came to my rescue by introducing me to Mr MobilityWOD, Kelly Starrett.
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Tim had introduced Kelly via The 4-Hour Body but it was their CreativeLive collaboration Healthy, Wealthy & Wise that really made me stand up and pay attention (incidentally one of the best takeaway lessons). It was this seminar that made me obsessed with repairing myself much the same way Bruce Wayne was after his back-breaking encounter with Bane.
So I watched all the videos I could find (and boy Kelly sure does have a lot of them) and got myself some lacrosse balls to show my muscles who’s boss.
Once again though life got in the way and I didn’t make any major breakthroughs for a while due to lack of consistency. It really is true that practice makes permanent, you wouldn’t try to brush your teeth for one hour once a month, a little bit every day is what keeps your mouth in order… think of your muscles in the same way, a little exercise and a little maintenance every day.
Even though my mobility progress had stagnated my love for Kelly and his teachings had not waned and I had been arranging to have him as a guest on the show for a few months.
Finally seeing him in the studio and getting to shake his hand and take his picture was the final push I needed.
Kelly Starrett Supple Leopard
From Wikipedia
I began a meticulous analysis of my body’s shortcomings by following the chain of deactivated muscles and sore muscles upstream in a Lewis and Clark style exploration of hitherto unknown tissues and expanding out and destroying each new spot with the mercilessness of Genghis Khan’s campaign of conquest.
But freeing up the tissues is not enough so I took a new and incredibly humbling step…I started back with basics and very light weights to re-learn how to lift once more but correctly. There is little that feels more humiliating than being unable to lift weights that would be too light for a senior citizen pilates class, but it had to be done.
It’s been a month since we taped Kelly’s episode and I feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel, my lifts are getting stronger every day, my pain and fatigue diminishing and I feel ready to tackle the challenge of getting into the best shape of my life yet.
This was the first instalment of Becoming Batman, a featured column in which I utilise the knowledge and lessons provided by London Real’s guests to undergo a journey towards the achievement of top human performance and capability in a range of fields.
