Injury Prevention and Optimizing Return to Activity
Bodybuilders load muscles, joints and tendons, then create ideal environments for adaptation to the load by allotting adequate time to rest and recover. This is deemed healthy tissue loading, facilitating increased strength and tissue growth assuming adequate recovery, sleep, and nutritional needs are met. Unfortunately, we are not all bodybuilders! Many of us go through periods of inactivity, so reestablishing a consistent exercise routine that loads tissues in a healthy manner can be a difficult and daunting task. The science behind returning to exercise and the associated risks will be explained in this article.
First and foremost, my advice is to start slowly with a gradual progression in intensity, duration, and frequency.
Whether you wish to attain the perfect beach body, run your first marathon, or become the best version of yourself, it will not happen overnight. Give your body time to adapt to the increased load to minimize injury risk. Gradual return to activity takes the form of monitoring prolonged and/or unilateral soreness/pain, as this is often a red flag for injury to come. Take time off to rehabilitate that area. I recommend icing areas that become swollen or painful for ten minutes on, ten minutes off for a total of 60 minutes daily. Moreover, the dogma “too much too soon” occurs when the load exceeds the tissues capacity/tolerance. This phenomenon discourages many from their return to exercise due to the injury/pain that follows. Vital is to follow a 10% rule: never increase loading by more than 10% per week because the body cannot adapt without risking injury.
Furthermore, have a great warm up, and cool down stretch. Stretching brings blood flow to the area (s) you are working on, promoting a healthy environment for a great workout and recovery. There are many resources that will guide you through stretching, I also encourage you to come into the clinic for assistance!
Finally, when increasing the load on your tissues, you are increasing the risk of injury. To combat this risk spread your exercise routines into separate sessions, as opposed to an hour-long circuit, split the routine into 30 minute sessions. Moreover to this point this ideology allows you to fit exercise into a busy schedule! By fueling/resting adequately between exercise sessions you have the ability to minimize injury risk and maximize muscle growth.
Jon Greig, Clinic Intern, Aktiv Coast Healthcare
