A couple days ago I tweaked my back. I was walking on the treadmill with a weighted vest and afterwards when taking the vest off I felt a twinge in my upper back. I did a light leg workout and was done for the day. That night and yesterday morning my back felt felt sore.

That morning after (yesterday) I did a really slow walk (without my weight vest) and then had a long stretch. Rather than continue with my plan to work out my upper body, I just did a bit more legs, and spent time stretching my back and massaging it on the corner of a doorway. The whole day my back felt tight. It didn’t hurt but it felt like I was trying to show off my lats even when my back was as relaxed as I could get it.

Today I’m almost back to normal.

A decade ago if something like this had happened I would have spent a week in pain. I would have had to spend days feeling like a knife was stuck in my back. I would have had to completely stop working out, and I might even have had to miss some work.

This is probably the greatest reward for building a regular fitness regime. I recover from an injury so much faster. My muscles still protect my back by tightening up, but not to the point where they seize. I don’t go into a full back crash because I slipped and missed a stair, or because I took off a weight vest in an awkward position.

My back is far from 100%. It will always be a work in progress. But my ability to avoid injury or to reduce the long term effects of an injury are so much better. And I know this is because of the work I’ve put in… and will continue to put in.

Maintaining good fitness habits has paid incredible dividends to my overall wellbeing and my ability ti keep pain at bay.