5 Tips To Help Prevent Injury

​After many years working as a Therapist, Pilates Instructor and Fitness Instructor, one thing I have noticed is that most of us don’t spend enough time trying helping prevent injury. I don’t just mean injury on the sports picture or in the gym, I’m also talking about preventing injury through every day activities, back pain from sitting in the office to long, the dull shoulder ache we have been doing our best to pretend isn’t there.. You get the picture.
 
Normally we only seek help once it’s a bit too late, when the injury has occurred or when we can’t ignore that dull ache anymore.

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In regards to injury prevention the hardest part is properly knowing the right things to do. A few stretches after our workouts won’t quite do it!
 
Here are 5 tips you will find useful:
 
1.Don’t ignore pain: Usually its ok to be a bit achy after a workout... but if you have suffered pain that’s been there for a while it needs to checked out.  By simply ignoring pain your body might start to compensate in other areas, this can then cause muscle imbalances, after time these muscles imbalance can lead to dysfunction and dysfunction almost always leads to pain (which will probably be a lot worse than the original pain we had). This will probably then take a lot longer to correct compared to the original pain.
 
2.Try a conditioning class like Pilates: In my Pilates class our aim is quite simple “Strengthen the weak muscles, stretch the short muscles and mobilise the joints”. By following this simple technique we have helped correct a number of imbalances and helped members perform normal routines with less pain. It’s worth remembering not every Pilates class is the same so choose wisely.
 
3.Build up steady: Just because we use to be able to run 10 miles with no problem some years ago, doesn’t we can straight away now. The biggest reason I see people with injuries in my studio is that they have done too much too soon. Ease back into it to begin. You will be surprised how quickly you can build back up (and your body will probably thank you too!)
 
4.Biomechanics assessment: Knowing what to stretch and what strengthen can be quite a challenge (stretching what feels “tight” won’t always work). A full assessment from a biomechanics coach will be able to help identify what potential biomechanical issues are, and they will also be able to give corrective exercises and Therapy to help with these.
 
5.Cross train: Mix it up. Doing lots of cardio? Add some strength work (you don’t have to go to the weight room for this, Pilates is perfect for strengthening weaker muscles). Lifting too much? Try some stretching to help aid recover and add flexibility.

You might find this video helpful. How to help prevent injury.

Remember we can never fully prevent injury... but we can do our best to help prevent it. These are just a couple of suggestions, if you need any more please feel free to ask. 

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About the author
I am a Manual Therapist covering a range of different disciplines including massage & Biomechanics. I also run small specialist Pilates classes around Corfe Mullen, Broadstone, Wareham, Wimborne & Poole. Instead of just purely rubbing the pain, I always look to see if I can find a potential cause (or causes of the pain) and then work on treating this.