My worst back injury was from picking up a loaf of bread after a long day of very heavy work. I had been slinging 300 pound pieces of gear all day long. Lots of heavy lifting, bending, pushing, pulling, etc… I handled all of it just fine. Got in the car, baby-wiped my face and arms to clean up a little bit, and headed to the grocery store on my way home.

20 minutes later, I was at the store. I just needed two things: Milk and bread. I headed to the back to grab the milk, then went past the bread aisle on the way to the registers. I stooped down to grab the bread, and felt a little twinge in my lower back. I barely even thought about it. Then the closer I got to the registers, the worse it got. By the time I was to the registers, I was hobbling around like an old man who needed a walker. Hell, I felt like I needed a walker; I was cursing myself for not grabbing a shopping cart, because I had nothing to hold onto.

That was on a Friday at like midnight. I suffered through two days of agony until my doctor opened on Monday. Doc was just like “oh yeah, that just happens sometimes.” Doc, can we make it fucking not happen? He said it was probably because I worked hard and then cooled down.

Apparently it’s an extremely common phenomenon, where industrial athletes will get injured after work. Because they’ll be good about staying safe during work… Then they get injured by something stupid and small after cooling down. Because when you’re warmed up and being mindful about how you lift, your risk of injury is low. But then you head home, cool down in the car, and some muscle or tendon decides “nah, I’m done stretching for the day. Time to rip instead.”