MEANING: Injury is anything that happens to your body which prevents you from training normally.
TYPES: Injuries vary from minor ones like blisters, rashes and sores to severe injuries which can take many months (or even years) to fix.
Examples of severe injuries are a broken arm or leg, or whiplash injuries from a car crash.
By far the most common injuries I see as a coach are back (especially lower back), shoulders, knees and ankles.
These are the worst kind because they are spinal or structural injuries and can be extremely limiting and challenging for the sufferer.
Another type of common injuries are muscular or tissue injuries, which are generally less severe although they can also be bad enough in some cases to end an athletic career or disrupt a training schedule for many months or years.
TIPS: Prevention is better than cure. When starting out as a beginner (or trying a different type of training) one of your main priorities should be to think hard about safety and correct technique.
Most injuries are caused by either:
1) Easily avoidable mistakes made by you (about 95%)
2) Mistakes made by other people which cause you to have an accident (about 5%)
Poor technique, too much weight, training when tired or being sloppy with tidiness are all common causes of injury which are all easily avoidable with a bit of care and planning.
But even if you are massively careful to minimize those types of risk in 1), there are always the other idiots who will leave dumbells behind you for you to trip on, or perhaps give you a dangerous tackle in football.
DETAIL: Because there are so many different types of injury, it is not surprising that there are also many types of solutions to aid faster recovery. Which type of soultion is best for your injury depends on many different factors, and you may need to discuss your options with doctors, coaches, physiotherapists, or other athletes.
Here are some good examples of injury solutions plucked from my training and coaching experience, although it must be said that you should always check with Doctors and other experienced professionals before you follow any advice given by me on this website.
Problem : Blisters – considered minor, but this can also have short-term catastrophic effects on the quality of your training or competitive performance.
Solution: Blisters are caused by a mix of 3 factors – friction, heat and moisture. So how can you reduce these 3 things?
Strategic use of vaseline (a.k.a. petroleum jelly) to reduce friction on the sore area
Change your shoes, socks or other clothing which is rubbing
Wear corn plasters (can help with some types of blister)
Wear cotton socks or other cotton clothing (natural cotton is best)
Wear lighter, more breathable clothing, including shoes
Avoid trainnig in very hot and humid weather
Use air conditioning or open windows to reduce heat and improve airflow in your training environment
Problem : General knee pain (not severe types)
Solution: With many types of knee problems the solution can be quite straightforward, although sometimes not, so please be careful to follow my advice carefully and always check with a Doctor if unsure.
Your first step to finding a solution is to understand the cause of the injury. Did you knock it hard? Have you experienced this before? What have you been doing differently lately that might have caused it, for example have you just increased the distances you are running in training? Or have you recently started some knew exercise/s?
What type of pain is it? Is it swollen? Touch it to see where the main point of pain is.
There are some great injury diagnosis sites on the web, so check these out as part of your search for a cause.
Once you understand the most likely cause of the problem, you can decide on a best route to recovery.
Examples of some very effective solutions I have used for some of my students in the past are:
1) Swimming and targetted pool exercises – this helps with circulation and the cool temperature helps reduce swelling. Reduced swelling means reduced friction and reduced pain.
2) Walking up many flights of stairs or steps on long paths if you have any of those near your home.
3) Seated leg extensions in the gym or some suitable variant of this. Basically we are trying to strenghten the muscles involved in supporting the knee in order to reduce stress on the knee whilst it heals.
4) Shoe inserts (like Sorbothane heel inserts)