Injuries not only limit performance, they can also limit our mental accomplishments & therefore quality of life. When a non-contact injury occurs the big question people will ask themselves is WHY?
- We start to question “How did I train” or “What did I do wrong?”
- Then we may ask “What is wrong with my body?”
- We start to think “Did I warm up/cool down enough?”
- Even consider “Do I just have bad luck?”
- How about “Is it my shoes/equipment?”
- Finally, “Did I not train enough?”
Let’s take a look at the 3 top issues we find ourselves asking.
Mistake #1:
“If only I had trained more/harder”
We constantly tell ourselves this fib in order to justify our injury. We think if we had just worked that bit harder “no pain, no gain” then we can somehow out wit our movement/performance errors. If only we were that bit stronger, that bit fitter or faster then everything would be ok. Please STOP telling yourselves this big fat fib.
Yes, to achieve our goals & accomplishments we must work hard. We need to put the work in to achieve success. However, all too often, this type of mentality alone will only work for a short time until the injury usually re-occurs once again. The KEY to training is to work smarter. In short, smarter training reduces our risk of injury.
Mistake #2:
“Do I need to recover?”
Injury often occurs when we are pushing our limits. Our body takes on stress on a daily basis. Whether this be physically or mentally. If we do not allow time for our body to recover, injuries will happen. Think back to the times when you have become sick or injured. Were you pushing your limits? This is what happens when we overdue our training without allowing downtime for our body to fully recuperate. We work our bodies too hard, for too long.
In order to train well, we must accept that we need to allow time for our bodies to recover. Recovery is just as important as our training schedule. In conclusion, success happens when we not only train hard, train smart, but how we recover from our training. This must be a major focal point. If not, injury will continue to repeat itself.
Mistake #3:
“I’ve been training for years; I know how my body works”
Imagine starting a complex jigsaw without the picture, or even knowing if you have all the pieces. You know it is a jigsaw, & you know how it works, but you need a picture (screening process) to know for sure. When it comes to our body & how it moves correctly, we need to look at movement patterns. If these patterns are not considered, then it is impossible to truly know how our body moves & even harder to implement a ‘smart’ training schedule.
Let’s talk about movement patterns & what they are in relation to our body. Movement patterns are fundamental motions our body should be able to go through in order to fully function on a biomechanical basis.
We start to develop these as a baby such as when we begin to roll, & eventually crawl & walk. It is essential in order to help prevent injury that training & exercises are selected on their function to each individual. Not just what is on trend, what looks good or even how difficult it is.
Hopefully, by incorporating these tips into your training it may help you to avoid common mistakes that may potentially increase the chance of an injury occurring.
To understand more about movement screens please read our NEXT BLOG.
For more information contact Mern Chiropractic on 07469205041 or [email protected]
