It’s Brian’s favorite day of the week: International Chest Day – AKA Monday. He arrives early to the gym to beat out the other bros who will be fighting over every bench by 7am. He does a couple warm up sets before loading a couple plates on each side of the bar. Since he started taking a joint supplement a couple months before, he had been feeling great in all of his sessions.
He lays back, grips the bar, lifts it from its resting place, and slowly lowers it down to his chest. As soon as he begins the concentric movement back up, he feels a twinge in his left shoulder. Immediately he racks the bar and sits up to examine his joint. He moves his arm around a couple times and it feels okay, so he tries again. This time it feels alright, but every time he begins to push the bar upward, he feels a little tug on his shoulder.
He continues his routine, but decides to lighten his usual weights to see if his shoulder stops tweaking every time he pushes. After an hour, he finally walks to the locker room to hit the showers, shaking his head as he sits on the bench in front of his locker, massaging his shoulder. He knows he could try taking some over the counter pain meds, but, at 38, he wonders if the stress of years of heavy lifting is finally starting to catch up with him. He doesn’t want to have to rely on something like that every time he works out just to get through the session.
That afternoon he does some research on his shoulder pain. He stumbles across a product called Pain Rx, a nutraceutical pain reliever intended to inhibit COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2), a chemical messenger that causes inflammation and pain. He reads over the ingredients and immediately notices that it contains both Tumeric and Valerian extracts, both of which he recognizes as proved natural anti-inflammatories. He orders a bottle and decides to give it a try.
The following Monday, Brian preps for the gym by chugging some Wild Thing and taking Pain Rx – two tablets as the bottle recommends. Thirty minutes later he feels the tingling of his pre-workout and heads off to give chest day another shot. He warms up on the flat bench as he normally does, and cautiously adds a plate and a quarter to either side. He lowers the bar to his chest and prepares for the familiar twinge of shoulder pain as he pushes the bar back up, but it never comes. He finishes his set and, feeling more confident, adds another plate to each side. Not only does he finish that set with ease, he is able to complete his entire workout with no pain.
“When I was younger I used to rely on ibuprofen for headaches and any sort of joint pain,” Brian explains. “But the relief never lasted and I was taking it all the time. I eventually had to wean myself off of it because I hated needing it all the time. Pain Rx has been great because it is made completely of herbal extracts and it really worked after the first time I used it.”
Pain Rx is made from ten different herbal extracts, many of which date back to traditional Mayan medicine for pain relief. Besides Tumeric and Valerian extracts which are popularly known, it also contains Paullinia Tomentosa and Chioccoca Alba extracts, which in clinical trials have proven extremely effective pain relievers and anti-inflammatories. As a nutraceutical, Pain Rx provides similar effects to other pharmaceuticals but uses elements that occur in nature rather than scientifically engineered compounds.
Brian decides he has found his new go-to pain reliever for lifting, especially since he finds that it works well in conjunction with his joint supplements to improve overall joint health. He no longer worries that he is “getting too old” to do what he loves – he just needed to add some ammo to his arsenal.
