Injuries are a big part of any sport. Whether you play soccer, tennis, football , or just hit the weights everyone has experienced some sort of muscle strain, tear, or worse. Nobody goes into a work-out and expects to get hurt. It just happens and it stinks. If we ever saw it coming we would be able to prevent it. Now since most of us can’t see the future the best we can do is prepare to lower the chances of injury. Here are some of my best tips for injury prevention. Warm-up thoroughly. A warmer muscle is a muscle better equipped to generate force and less likely to tear. That means 5-10 minutes on some cardio equipment people. Don’t be lazy. I was one of those guys that wouldn’t do 10 minutes of cardio, but would destroy myself with 2 hours of weights. I’ve had injuries because of my laziness. Now don’t skimp on your lift specific warm-up. Do your bwt. for some reps. Next do the bar for some reps. Try not to make bigger jumps then 10-15% of your max as you increase weight. If you don’t feel like that was a good enough warm-up check out Pavels’ power stretching video. If you don’t want to buy the video go drag a sled before your work-out. Use your stretch reflex of your muscles as a natural spring , but do not abuse your connective tissue and tendons by ballistically dropping with heavy weights. Thoroughly stretch the whole body at the end of a work-out. Do a little cardio for cool down and on off days to promote blood flow and recovery. Low impact cardio can help develop soft tissue in joints. Don’t skimp on it people. You’re bound to get trigger points in the body from hard training. Go get a massage atleast once a month . More often if you can afford it. Also go see a chiropractor and get e-stimulation on any injuries. Ultrasound is great too. Don’t forget you can also work-out knots yourself if you can reach the effected area. Also use a foam roller for myofascial release. Don’t forget about contrast showers either. Now it is time to talk about what happens after you beat the crap out of yourself and end up hurt. No matter what the injury the first thing that needs to happen is you need to put things into perspective. You’re not dead you’re hurt. You will heal and come back again. Do not get negative about it . That will slow down the recovery process dramatically by pumping up cortisol in the body. Get off your lazy butt and get to some active recovery. This will get the blood flowing and speed recovery. Ignore the haters that are happy you are hurt . They think they will take your glory. They are wrong. Karma is a very mean lady. Surround yourself with positive people that have been injured. These people will understand what you are going through. Be mad for a week and then stop crying about it. Use this as an opportunity to bring up other areas if possible. Have a long term plan. Be prepared for road blocks in your plan. Also don’t forget that it’s rest, ice, compression and elevation the first 48 hours after the injury. I hope this helps you guys that are all beat up get going again. Never give up or quit. Regret is a terrible thing. Heal up and Show them what’s up on whatever playing field you display your strength on. Power to the athletes. -- Jimi “The Punisher” Aikey |
Injury
Prevention/Rehabilitation