Injury Prevention Training:
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If this is the case why are there an increasing number of injuries in professional sport where large amounts of time and money are invested in injury prevention? I would argue we are missing a vital factor in the causes of injury and it's because of its nature that we do not see it.
What's the best sports
injury prevention training?
When you begin a sport there are a number of new moves to learn. It may be the ever challenging golf swing, how to catch a ball or swim like a fish, but what do we use to acquire these new skills? Whatever the technique, no matter how complex, they involve movements such as flexing, turning and jumping. These are your 'basic building blocks' for all movement. But what if the building blocks you use for your movement are incorrect? How would you know? It is not possible to feel what Michael Johnson felt like when sprinting so how would we know if our running was not as efficient as his, well okay I can't run 200 meters in under 20 seconds so that's a pretty good indicator, but how do I know if there is an easier way to run?
The way you move is determined by habit and if you want to know how influential habits are try my Ultimate Fitness Test and then try the experiment and take a look at the photograph below.
Everyday inefficient movement patterns in action
I want you to start observing what people do when they get out of a chair. Do they use the actions you see above? Do they push down on their legs? Do they pull the lower back in? Do they hold their breath? Is the head pulled back? Is the movement completed with a grunt or other sound effect?
All these actions are totally unnecessary and interfere with the body mechanics making it far harder than it should be. Now ask someone to watch you. How do you perform this fairly basic movement? I was dreadful and didn't even realise it! If I couldn't do this simple exercise efficiently, what was I doing in my sport? It's no surprise I was suffering so many injuries.
None of the injury prevention training recommended by coaches and therapists had touched on this aspect. They assumed that I already knew how to move!
Do we need exercise to prevent injury?
Or are they the cause?
I would argue that proper injury prevention training involves assessing your movement and whether you are putting the brake on when training. Once your movement is efficient and free of inappropriate tension you do not need functional exercise or specific measures to prevent injury. The more you participate in your sport with good movement the better you will become at performing the necessary techniques without stress. Functional or sports specific exercises can only destroy the natural poise of a gifted athlete by breaking down the movements into individual muscle actions that they would never use in the course of their sport. Why not keep it simple.
Check whether you are using effort where it isn't needed and ask yourself what impact is that having on your movement. What stress is that placing on your muscles and bones?
Make this the focus for your injury prevention training and cut back on the inappropriate exercises we feel obliged to do.
I have worked with many sports people over the last ten years and have devised a program of basic movements to help re-educate them about efficient movement and the common habits that prevent it. If you would like more information see a new approach to injury prevention training and you might learn some very interesting lessons about yourself in the process. I did over fifteen years ago and have not suffered anything like the sort of injuries I had when I was younger even though I am still doing the same level of physical activity today!
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