Fixing Potential Injuries

But once we're injured we need a plan. Here's what I've found works well. Again, to reiterate, this is not to replace any type of medical attention or treatment.

1. The puddle often is not the source of the leak. Many times we suffer an injury at a particular joint and we look to address the problem by zeroing in on this area. But sometimes a knee injury might be due to an issue with the glutes. Or a low back issue might be related to improper posture and function of the scapula (shoulder blades). The point here is to avoid having tunnel vision and look to see how the body works as a whole to determine why there is a problem.

2. Continuing with the previous point don't be overly aggressive at the source of the injury. What I mean is that if I have a low back injury I don't necessarily want to work on this area too much. Instead look above and below the source, in this case the low back, and look to increase stability or mobility at the neighbouring joints. For example in this case, we would look to increase the mobility at the hips and thoracic spine to help relieve some of the strain on the low back.

3. Keep moving. When there is strain sometimes our instinct is to lessen our movement. And while we do want to be smart about our movement we can recover more quickly when we initiate activity. And what do I recommend for most as the best way to initiate some activity? Swimming. Especially if the joint in question is load-bearing joint. Placing the body in a horizontal position takes some of the strain of a normally vertical body position. Plus the water itself helps to support the body and allows the limbs to generate a force against the water and thus help stabilize the trunk.

4. As we resume our training it must be with modifications. This may involve reducing the load, the volume or both. If the injury is with the upper body look to add in more lower body exercises. And finally for wherever the injury occurred look to incorporate more lifts to the opposite side of the body. A quick example is for someone who has anterior (front side) shoulder pain whenever they bench should look to incorporate more pulling exercises such as a seated row.