Don’t Just Patch the Cracks, Check Your Foundation!
One day a homeowner came home and noticed there were cracks in the walls of the house. The homeowner said “Egad! Those cracks look terrible, so I must patch them.” And so the homeowner patched the cracks.
A month later, the homeowner came home and there were cracks again. The homeowner said “Crikey, I just patched those cracks, and here they are again! I guess I did not patch them well enough and need to do a better job.” And so the homeowner patched the cracks.
A month later, the homeowner came home and there were cracks yet again! And not only cracks this time, but the door that was located where the cracks were would not latch without giving it a full body slam and holding it in place while throwing the deadbolt (which was the only way the door would stay latched). The homeowner said “Huh? More cracks! And now the door won’t latch either?!” And so the homeowner called the maintenance man, who came over and scraped some wood off the door, moved the striker plate, and did some other jimmying of the door to get it to latch again without the body slam/deadbolt move. Then the homeowner patched the cracks. Again.
The next month: more cracks, doors not latching. “WTF? Here we go again?!” The homeowner was quite upset and befuddled about the doors not closing and the walls cracking all over the place, and decided to go ask the Wise Woman what to do.
The Wise Woman heard the story and explained to the homeowner what was wrong: You must first make sure the foundation is solid. Get the foundation stabilized, and then patch the cracks.
So the homeowner called the Foundation Repair Company and they came out to the house and re-leveled it, causing a few smallish new cracks, but closing up the old ones. All of a sudden the doors opened and closed properly! The homeowner patched the cracks, and the problem was fixed! Oh glorious day! Months later, still no cracks! Doors opening and closing as they should!
The same advice goes for athletes: don’t just patch the cracks, check your foundation!
Do you have a nagging issue when you swim, bike, or run? Maybe there is some nagging shin pain or a bothersome heel. Sure, stretching and massage and using the foam roller at home are all terrific, highly recommended preventive measures to keep your body moving well. Sometimes these methods fully resolve a minor problem, too. But sometimes, doing some stretches or getting a massage is the same thing as “painting the cracks.” You seem to be fixing the problem in the short term, and yet it keeps coming back, over and over! In these instances, there may be some other underlying issue in your “foundation” that is causing the problem, such as inflexibility, or a muscle imbalance that results in the wrong muscles overcompensating for the muscles that should be doing the job.
FOR EXAMPLE: For awhile, I was cursed with chronic illiotibial band syndrome (ITBS), which is tightness in the fascia tissue that connects from the outside of the knee to the hip (IT band) which assists with stabilization of the leg. ITBS can be a very painful condition, characterized often by severe pain on the outside of the knee, with every step (or pedal revolution). One flare-up took me out of running for an entire month. The online advice I found for how to deal with ITBS was to stretch and massage the area, ice the knee, and use ibuprofen to bring down the inflammation. Well, that’s all fine and good, and maybe it works for some people, but for me it was painting the cracks. The real issue, it turns out, was a strength imbalance between my left and right hips. To resolve the imbalance, I started doing one-legged squats to build strength in my hips. My doing one hip at a time, it forced my weak hip to do work rather than letting other muscles overcompensate. I focused on shoring up my foundation, and the problem was solved. No ITBS issues since.
Remember when you start to see cracks in yourself that you also need to take the time to check your foundation. Consult with a fitness professional to find out how to resolve problems early, rather than being like the homeowner who keeps patching the cracks without really addressing the root cause of the problem.
