The three MOST IMPORTANT things you can do to stay pain and injury free!
We have all had our fair share of aches and pains; some have had it worse than others. Most of us just accept it as a part of life and many people blame things like ‘getting older’ as the reason they develop these niggles. While there are some injuries we can’t do much about (think collisions and other injuries involving external factors), there are plenty of other aches, pains and injuries that we definitely could have avoided!
Below we have listed our three BIGGEST tips to avoid pain and injury. This applies whether you are an athlete, someone who probably needs to start moving a little bit more, you have a physical job or you have a sedentary job. The same principles apply to a whole range of people but just might be scaled accordingly depending on the individual.
#1 Avoid sharp changes in your routine
You will hear this a lot from me and I make no apologies. Injuries normally occur due to an increase (or sometimes decrease) in load. Your load is basically anything that uses energy and can be things like exercise, physical activity, lack of sleep, stress, worry, and overthinking etc. – these all contribute to our load. When we are running at normal levels of all these things, our body is happy and content and is comfortable with these normal stresses. When we throw a new load into the mix – such as taking up running as an example, we need to give our body time to adapt to this load. Small increments added into your routine will allow the joints, muscles, and other body tissues to get used to that load before you increase it again. When we don’t allow this ‘adjustment time’ our body will overload and breakdown leading to a much higher risk of injury.
#2 Warm Up Properly – Movement Preparation
Always warm up. And your warm up should always involve a lighter intensity of the activity you are about to do. For example, if you are about to lift heavy weights in the gym, a light walk on the treadmill is not going to prepare your muscles, joints and tendons for a 100kg squat. It can help generally and maybe get your head into what you are about to do, but you need to do specific exercises to target the muscles you are going to work out on top of this. The best warm up for weights is practicing the movement you are doing, but with a lighter weight and gradually increasing that weight to your target weight over a few sets. Alternatively, if you are about to run, go for a really light jog/fast walk and gradually ramp up your intensity to meet your working level. Always include a specific warm up!
#3 Recover Well
Recovery can encompass many things from sleep, eating well, hydration and rest. The amount of these things will differ between age groups, sports levels, training loads and training activities. On a really basic level, you need to sleep 7-8 hours every night (non negotiable). You need to eat a balanced diet to ensure you are getting in all your nutrients to assist with muscle, bone, tendon and other tissues growth and repair. Hydration – mainly water, is crucial for so many of our body’s functions and obviously we cant live without it! Start off by aiming for 30-35mls per kg of body weight daily. So if you weigh 60kg x 35ml = 2100ml or 2L a day. This will need to be increased if you play sport or do a lot of vigorous activity.
Rest days or incorporating rest into your routine is crucial in allowing our body to adapt, grow and prepare for our next bout of whatever it is we need to do. Rest does not mean bed rest, or sit on the couch and watch Netflix all day… Rest is basically a lighter day with a mix up in the regular routine. Some examples might include going for an easy walk, an easy swim, or a light bike ride – anything that is low intensity and is a change up to your normal activities.
So there you have it. The three most important things you can do, and start doing from today to reduce your risk of injury! And they don’t cost anything
If you are in pain, or would like more info on preventing injuries – Call our Physiotherapist Dan on 0451 366 694 today!
All info in this blog is general in nature. Always seek assistance from a health professional if you are in pain or need something specific.