Injuries and Smart Training

Happy Monday everyone, hope all are feeling good after their weekends and are ready to attack the week ahead. Today’s babbling discusses training to help cut down injuries and still finding a balance so to stay in the game, not on the sidelines.
 
For those that are often injured or find themselves dealing with some sort of nagging issues, especially of the soft tissue variety, they’re often told to “just take it easy”, especially athletes (youth or otherwise). Most strength coaches and physical therapists that have been around the block more than once will call this absolute nonsense. I personally would say if they are picking up injuries that are constantly nagging, with the previously mentioned soft tissue variety usually being the biggest culprit, the athlete needs to get themselves in the weight room. If they’re their already, up the frequency, especially if it’s less than 3 training sessions a week in the off-season.
 
A balanced strength training program will give an athlete more confidence out on the playing surface (ice, field, court, etc…) and that they aren’t going to just pull up lame for the 10th time in 5 years. More confidence means they become better players and they reach their full potential, to some extent at least, and I don’t see a downside to that. Of course, there is absolutely no way to prevent an athlete from ever picking up an injury, but you want to keep the nagging ones at bay as best as you can.

I do want to say, there is a balance to all this though, because as much as many strength coaches and such, would nod their head to the above, they’d likely also agree with this. Athletes (youth, recreational and everywhere between) need to remember that if you are training to get better at your given sport/activity, you’re there to do just that, not see how much weight you can pile on to the bar before you crumble. I know I’ve had to stare a hole through some of my players to remind them of this when they’re lifting more than their current strength and technique level allows them to.
 
Finally, building on the above, there is such thing as too much of a good thing. Coaches and athletes should keep in mind volume and intensity is going to have different thresholds for different people. You’ll often see athletes that are monsters in the gym, but can’t stay healthy because let’s face it, they probably left it all in the gym. All that training doesn’t do you a ton of good if you pick up an injury because your body gave out too soon in the season, no?
 
In the end, train so your body can handle the stressors of your sport or activity, find yourself a coach that’ll help you manage the balance of too much & too little, and enjoy the confidence that comes with having a resilient body that’s not going to give you a new tweak every other contest.
 
Hope this all found folks nodding to some degree and if there’s something you want to discuss, I’m all for discussing and learning from each other. Have a great week everyone!