Our last post had to do with the overwhelming number of
injuries that occur during exercise and recreational activity. What initiated the thought were the following
two articles, which suggest that the associated costs of these injuries may
exceed the associated costs of obesity.
And following the next logical sequence, maybe we’re better off if we
just stay fat.
I posted the two articles we mentioned below - check them out when you're done here.
Of particular note, I noticed that in one of the tables that
football, soccer and combat sports had lower injury rates than regular
exercise. Huh?!?
But to answer the original question of whether or not
exercise is “worth it” given injury rates, obviously I think it’s worth it. The reason I began to exercise is so I would
look better and feel better both physically and mentally. I went so far as to choose a career helping
people look better, feel better and be healthier.
However, the articles do not underestimate the severity of
the issue: we as a society need to have better judgment when exercising and
participating in recreational activities.
Because to me, the overwhelming majority of both chronic and acute
injuries are avoidable. And as I’ve said
many times, if you’re injured, you can’t exercise. And if you can’t exercise, you can’t be
healthy and fit.
This seems so simple, but many people just don’t get it:
We should NOT exercise until we are injured then try to fix
it.
We should exercise so we DON’T get injured.
Having said that, I’ve observed some commonalities over the
years among both people who are injured and people who tend to stay healthy
during their exercise and recreational activities. With that, I’ve compiled a quick list of
“dos” and “don’ts” for you that, if followed, will help you stay fit, healthy
and injury free:
1st the “DO!”s…
·
DO: have a movement screen and/or assessment done
by a fitness professional
Go to a training facility where you are either screened
and/or assessed for movement limitations and asymmetries before working
out. There are particular movement
patterns, limitations and asymmetries that often lead to musculoskeletal issues. Many of these problems can be identified and
either improved or worked around so you can exercise safely. But not if someone doesn’t do a screen 1st
– randomly jumping into a program without doing so is asking for a problem.
At The Training Rim we perform a modified assessment created
by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and every member receives a
Functional Movement Screen (FMS). The
FMS has statistically been shown to identify areas of risk for exercisers and
allows us to train each member as hard as he/she can safely handle.
·
DO: pay attention to what YOU are doing
Here’s a news flash for you: you are not a special and
unique snowflake. There are some things
you can’t do. I know this sounds
obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked someone why are they
doing a particular exercise only to have them tell me that they saw someone
else do it. (Huh?!?!)
Choose exercises that allow you to succeed and offer the
chance to improve so you can do more advanced things at some point. Someone else who has more exercise
experience, more mobility, more time to work out, etc than you do can obviously
do more. This doesn’t make you a bad
person – it just means to need to focus on what’s going to get you to improve,
not what your neighbor’s sister in law told you to do because that’s what she
does.
·
DO: know when to progress and regress
Be honest with yourself.
There are times you can do more.
This may mean more of the same exercises, or more advanced versions of
the same exercises. Conversely, more is
not better. “Do not do a more advanced
version of an exercise unless you do the basic version perfectly” is a mantra
I’m sure TR members are tired of hearing from me. Additionally, if 10 reps of a particular
exercise are making you stronger, that doesn’t mean doing 13 reps will make you
30% stronger. It more likely means you’re
doing 3 extra shitty reps that are causing stress on your joints.
OK, go ahead and start those 3 “dos”. Next time I’ll give you the things to avoid –
the “don’ts”. And boy are they some
doozies…
Here are the referenced articles:
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/9/2/99.full
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/9/2/117.full.pdf+html
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