Inevitable Injury
Inevitable Injury
A dirty, nasty topic that needs to be more openly discussed between athletes and coaches is injury. What is an injury? What can cause an injury? What to do with your training once you sustain and injury? Well here are the answers, short and sweet.
An injury, in the world of fitness can come from a few obvious things. There are acute instances where you feel the mechanism of injury as it happens, and then there are some delayed onset issues that may occur hours or even days later. The acute type can range from stubbing your toe on the rig, to full on muscle tears or tendon ruptures. These acute injuries can most often be prevented through the proper execution of movement in a properly planned and monitored class setting. When technique deteriorates, movements are fast or ballistic in nature, and the body is already under fatigue (stress) then you have a perfect storm building that could lead to an acute injury. These have been uncommon in Max Kane thankfully, and we work to ensure the safest training environment for our athletes.
Now moving on to the delayed onset injury, this type typically comes from overuse or tension built up in fascia or muscle. Overuse we will define as repeating a work effort before fully recovering from a previous work effort. I did 100 box jumps and deadlifts Monday, then went for a 5 mile run that evening. I practiced Double Unders for 45 mins on Tuesday before coming to class because we have Double Unders in the workout. I was sore so I skip Wednesday but go for a 3 mile run instead… In this case I have blown up my feet, ankles, knees and every piece of connective tissue between them. That is a quick way to end up with foot, ankle, or knee pain if not all 3. Now let’s say I squat a heavy 5×5 then do a MetCon with Wall Balls after, my total squat volume will be pretty high which will lead to some good muscle breakdown. Once that tissue breaks down and starts repairing, the new natural state has a lessened range of motion due to the need to protect itself from more damage. This can cause a tight and painful sensation through movement. In some cases if left unattended, it can lead to joint pain as well. This joint pain can really slow you down! So much that it could land you in your Doc’s office looking for answers. Well here is the shocker, your Doc says you have arthritis, degenerative disease, and some tendonitis. Stay off of it, stop squatting, and work out less. Here is the deal; this can all be prevented if you take the time and recover properly. That means, eat, drink water, sleep, and stretch. It is typically that easy to prevent and even fix most of your aches and pains.
But you already have them, so now how do you train? This is not time to be a hero and try to suck it up! That will only make things worse, however you do not need to avoid exercise completely. Usually inactivity will make matters worse as your body develops greater range of motion limitations through lack of use. So you get with your Coach and say “Hey Coach my (fill in the blank) hurts, what can I do?” Coach hopefully replies..”Well that sucks you hurt your (fill in the blank) so today we will have you do this alternative workout instead. If it still bothers you tomorrow we need to look into a long term solution and getting you an appointment with one of our Doctor Friends who specialize in treating athletes like us.” Communication and intelligent training go hand in hand! You might need some special attention for a while, but you will have the opportunity to come back stronger and more resilient after.
