Stop Injuries before they start.

#1.  Keep Moving

 Overuse injuries seem to appear suddenly, but they’re actually a result of strain or stress building up over the course of days, weeks, or even months.

#2.  Strength Train Year-Round

Strength training should evolve over a competitive season but never stop. When you get closer to competition decrease the number of sets and reps and do more more explosive and power movements.

#3.  Fix Your Gait/Walking Pattern

A common sign of an overuse injury is a change in your stride.  This will result in a limp.  The main way to fix the issue is to re-train your body to do the movement with proper form.  You must specifically target the flaws in form.  Irregular movements and muscle imbalances must be corrected.  A qualified physical therapist or trainer can provide recommendations and exercises on how to correct the problems.

#4.  Focus on Whole Body Movements

Strengthen your entire body.  Make sure all the 400+ muscles work together better.  This is important for both treating and preventing injury.

#5.  Recover and Rest the Right Way

Practice Relative Rest.  Trade in your usual sport for cross-training or light activity.  This allows your body to restore normal motions to your injured muscles and joints without going totally dormant.  It’s important to use the help of a Physical Therapist to help you correct strength, mobility, and mechanical issues that caused the injury in the first place.

Bonus Tip ***  Eat the Right Way

Poor nutrition greatly increases the risk of injuries.  When your body isn’t getting enough of the right calories, it stops producing normal levels of testosterone and estrogen.  This leads to hormonal dysfunction.  When your growth hormone levels go down, muscle mass decreases, which in turn lowers the metabolism and leads to lower bone density. That combined with the pounding he ground movements from high levels of exercise can result in stress fractures.  These problems take months to heal.

So, there you have it, 6 ways to stop injuries before they start.  Practice the above and you will perform better and hurt less!

Physical Therapy Connections, P.C.

(719) 565-6678

www.PT-Connections.com