The Wounded Warrior!

Training hard can sometimes, but hopefully not often, lead to an injury. Most athletes have suffered some type of injury which is often associated with the high frequency and intensity of training. In fact, if you are interested in getting your body into great shape, it is important to understand the more often you train with vigorous effort, the greater your chance for injury will occur. However, being afraid to work to your maximum capacity because the threat of injury scares you, should not occur! The occurrence and severity of these injuries can diminish greatly by paying attention to a few key points during exercise.

Focus on Form!
When doing most exercises, take your time to focus on the form of the exercise. Try to take twice as long to lower the weight as it does to contract the weight. There are multiple studies that show the slower a repetition is executed, the more muscle is actually developed. In addition to that, the slower the repetition, the less likely you will use momentum. Using momentum is a great way to achieve only half the results and more than double your risk for injury!

There are two parts to an exercise repetition. There is the "eccentric" motion and the "concentric" motion. The concentric motion is when the muscle you are working is contracting or getting tighter. For example, if you are doing a bicep curl, this is the part where your arm is "curled" and your bicep muscles are very tight. The eccentric motion of an arm curl is when you are lowering the weight and the bicep muscles are getting longer.

By taking your time with the eccentric motion of an exercise, you can actually produce greater results faster because you will more thoroughly work the muscle, allowing more blood and lactic acid to build up faster which will help to fatigue the muscle more quickly. More lactic acid leads to greater deterioration of muscle, which will lead to a greater amount of muscle rebuilt! Also, controlling the lowering phase of the exercise significantly decreases the likelihood of injury since you won't be putting your joints at risk for injury with momentum.

Improper form with the use of momentum is usually the culprit of many ligament tears. Momentum will rapidly cause the deterioration of joints!

Stretch!
Stretching is another great way to help prevent significant injuries. This is often one of the aspects of exercise that is overlooked by a good majority of exercisers from the amateurs to the professionals! Stretching is typically placed in the "if I have time for it" category. We all know that we never have "time for it", so it often never gets done! Avoiding stretching will greatly increase the chance of a torn muscle. Exercising with tight muscles greatly increases the risk for injury because your body may not be mobile enough to perform a proper exercise. Stretching and massage are very helpful tools in loosening the very tight muscles that occur through regular strength training and cardiovascular exercise.

Stretching and holding the stretch ("static stretching") for 20 seconds is a great way to help lengthen the muscle so it can allow greater blood flow and mobility of the muscle. It may require multiple "reps" (20 second holds) to thoroughly loosen up the muscle.

Most everyone has some area of their body that is tighter than other parts. If you workout regularly (3-5x's/week) then your chance of having some muscle that is tighter than another is extremely high. It's just a normal part of exercise and recovery. However, continuing to train major muscle groups without consistent stretching will increase the likelihood of an injury to one of the major muscles since your mobility is decreasing.

Vigorous stretching prior to strength training or cardiovascular exercise is generally not a good idea. Doing so can create small tears in the muscle and increase the chance of an injury to that muscle during your workout session. However, by spending approximately 40 seconds (but not much more) between exercise sets, stretching the muscles that you worked can help delay fatigue and decrease muscle tension allowing you to push yourself a little harder to achieve greater results. Then, after your exercise session is over, spend approximately 10 minutes stretching all the muscles that you worked that day. Doing this will help to not only prevent further injury, but it will help to increase (not just maintain) mobility and flexibility.

For some people who have significantly tight muscles (determined by exercise testing), it may be a good idea to make use of a foam roller before and after you exercise. A foam roller is a hard foam roll that you lay on for 30 seconds to 1 minute that helps to release tension in a muscle which will then allow you to stretch the muscle more effectively. The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) highly recommends foam rolling or "self-myofacial release" for tight muscle groups before and after exercise. If you have any questions about using a foam roller, I would recommend speaking with a personal trainer before using one for the first time, since using one inappropriately may lead to further injury.


Even by following the above steps, there is still the probability of an injury. This is especially true if you continue to train vigorously quite often (5+ days/week). However, the severity of the injury and how often you get injured will significantly decrease in likelihood. Doing these above steps should help you feel comfortable in knowing you are doing your best to protect your body, now it's time to push it as hard as you can! :-)

"Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him deeds are weighed. The bows of warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength." 1 Samuel 2:3-4 (NIV)