Wow! What wonderful support - and so quickly, too!
In no particular order:
I have not tried hot/cold baths with any regularity. Perhaps a regular practice would help.
I use both a ball and a foam roller for trigger point self-release. I just forgot to mention the ball. Both provide very temporary relief.
These days, my other strength training primarily consists of single KB clean & presses, pull-ups and some pistols. In the past, I have worked on S&S and the ROP, but in both cases the volume of hinging aggravated a QL injury from early 2014 and which has resulted in now two bouts of physical therapy. Interestingly, the physical therapist discharged me during my last about when he discovered I could do more, cleaner pistols than he could, saying he didn't think there was much more you could do for me. A couple time a year, I train barbell lifts with a friend as a form of hanging out. Last time I went to the gym with him a few months back, he was working on heavy singles as PL meet prep, and I worked up to 320x1 in the DL at a BW of 175. But that was a haphazard "test", not training.
Regarding the aforementioned QL injury, I should note that the diagnosis was a severe strain of the muscle, if I recall correctly. I had practiced with kettlebells for about eight years up until the injury, and that injury effectively halted my practice, leading to some fairly bizarre movement adaptations. I have had a FMS screening, and although I do not remember all of the measurements, I was cleared for training and took several sessions with a local SFG. He approved my technique but the discomfort became too great and I had to cease training for a time. When I resumed, I found that volume hinges aggravate the injury, settling on frequent rucking and KB grinds to maintain strength, as already mentioned.
I do, however, have chronically tight hip flexors – especially the psoas. These come mostly from jockeying a desk and I probably don't do enough to fix them.
The 90/90 stretch helps my hips somewhat, although they do occasionally lock uncomfortably during that stretch. I have learned to take it easy. I have not noticed the stretch helping with tension and stiffness in my legs.
The QL stretch is.... not my favorite. I also have to take this one very gently or it will aggravate the old injury. I haven't ever noticed it helping my hips much, but it does stretch out the sides of my legs a bit. Perhaps it helps with that during my daily life and I just haven't noticed. I confess that I have been irregular with the stretches since not ceasing my last round of S&S. These might be a good place to start.
When I ruck, I wear Adidas Sambas, a fairly minimalist soccer shoe. Perhaps they are not appropriate footwear?
Steve, which type of shoe by that manufacturer do you use? I see they have a number of them....
As for my gait, I have never had it checked out by anyone. I don't actually even know who I would go to to do so. I am mindful of how I walk, trying to stay within Al's guidelines, but perhaps I am not doing so very well? Or perhaps my idea of what my gait should be like isn't correct?
I do not use any kind of walking stick. I ruck mostly on asphalt roads. I basically wear a loaded pack while walking my dogs. My pack is a GR1 from GoRuck and I use the GoRuck plates, worn in the pocket of the pack closest to my back. I wear the pack itself somewhat high and tight, so it doesn't interfere with torso rotation, and the pack has no chest strap.
For what it's worth, I love rucking these short distances with this frequency. It is an efficient use of my time, dramatically improved my heart rate (I worked down to a resting HR of 56 from the upper 60s with nothing but this approach to rucking), goes a long way toward keeping me lean and is, quite frankly, the best sleeping pill I've ever known.
Thank you all for the feedback!
