Almost\neveryone has been there at any given point. That time when you did too many\ndouble unders and had to take time off from training because the ankle and calf\nwouldn\u00b4t let you do almost anything. Or that time when you were too tired to\npay attention to your form in that deadlift workout and your back got hurt,\nkeeping you from training for two weeks. And don\u2019t forget that one time when\n100 pull ups followed by 100 toes to bar seemed a good idea, and you ended\nripping your hands and couldn\u00b4t touch a barbell, dumbbell of kettlebell for\nthat sake either. All of the above situations are from my personal injury\nhistory, and they act as a steady reminder of that we\u00b4re not indestructible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the\nmost common things I\u2019m asked about is how to get rid of a certain pain, or how\nto fix an injury that has already occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would be\nawesome if people started to ask me about whether there\u2019s a good way to prevent\ntraining injuries in CrossFit, instead of waiting until after they\u00b4ve injured\nthemselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While we can never expect to prevent 100% of injuries \u2013 sometimes freak accidents just happen \u2013 there are a number of things you can do to improve your odds. Some of these are commonly talked about \u2013 doing a proper warm up, being aware of your environment and who\u2019s around you when you\u2019re training, and NOT<\/strong> letting your ego take over are a few that comes to mind. Here are a few more that may be a little less obvious, but are at least as important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quality is king:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The quality\nof movement is the single independent variable most commonly associated with\ninjury free training. What does that mean? It means: the better you move, the\nless risk of injury. The CrossFit L1 handbook has one of the most overlooked\nstatements regarding this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mechanics \u2013\nConsistency \u2013 Intensity<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mechanics<\/strong> meaning your form or technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consistency<\/strong> meaning your ability to perform several repetitions maintaining form, and also how often you train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intensity<\/strong> meaning how hard you go<\/p>\n\n\n\n Intensity\ncomes last because you\u00b4re not supposed to go hard before you\u00b4ve mastered the\nother two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barbell loading and choices of movement:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Be careful\nwith weight differences. When changing the weights on your barbell or going\nfrom simple movements to more complex ones be aware of the new task at hand.\nThe heavier it gets the smaller the increments should be. If you struggled with\nthat 55kg don\u2019t go for 65kg, try 57.5kg o 60kg. Similarly, when going from hang\npower snatch to full squat snatch, lighten the barbell up slightly before going\nfull out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communicate with your coach \/ therapist:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Your coach\nisn\u2019t psychic! (it\u2019s a shocker, I know!!) \u2013 unless you tell them, they might\nnot know that your back has been giving you slight problems, or that you\u2019ve\nbeen feeling a bit dizzy since you had that cold, or that your asthma has been\nworse this week, or that that technique they\u2019re trying to get you to do makes\nyour shoulder hurt. Sometimes people are reluctant to speak up if something\u2019s\nnot quite right, for fear they\u2019ll look bad; clich\u00e9s like \u201cpain is just weakness\nleaving the body\u201d and \u201cgo hard or go home\u201d can make people feel that they\nshould work through pain and not complain about it. But a good coach knows that\nlooking after their students\u2019 health and wellbeing while they\u2019re training is\npart of their job \u2013 and without good information, they can\u2019t help you to work\naround any problems you\u2019re having.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deal with old injuries intelligently:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the\nbiggest risk factors for future injury to a joint, tendon or muscle is having\nhad a previous injury in that area. Just taking time off, waiting for it to\nfeel better, then getting back on the floor and hoping for the best is usually\na recipe for disaster. Contact a physiotherapist, or similar health professional,\nwho can give you a rehab plan to strengthen the area and reduce your risk of a\nrecurrence is a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Build a good strength and conditioning base:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In my\nexperience, probably the single most effective way to build resilience and\nreduce injury risk is to have a good strength and conditioning programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eat your mobility veggies every day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This brings\nus back to quality is king. If there\u2019s one thing we all need to focus on, this\nis probably it. Moving poorly, or not having your mobility up to par to move\nwell increases the chances of injury. There\u2019s many ways of getting your\nmobility into your daily training. Give yourself 4 minutes before or after the\nclass to just go through some of the positions you struggle with. Or take one\nday and spend 30-40 minutes practising or playing with your difficult\nmovements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Making sure\nyour joints and soft tissues can hit all performance points of any given\ntechnique will greatly reduce your risk of injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like\nSergeant Phil Esterhaus said \u201clet\u2019s be careful out there!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Almost everyone has been there at any given point. That time when you did too many double unders and had to take time off from training because the ankle and calf wouldn\u00b4t let you do almost anything. Or that time when you were too tired to pay attention to your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,14,12],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n