29 April 2020

How to Recover From a Sports Injury With Exercise, Without Making It Worse


Massimo Massaro

From Tightness to Power in 3 easy steps
This is the 3rd post in the movement behind the power series

muscle tightness

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”

― Benjamin Franklin


Have you ever been in the gym and used a piece of equipment because its available rather than the one you need?  When your time short, it can be stressful to wait, and i have seen it happen all to often in the gym.  However, this is what's holding you back. 

Periodization (short-and-long term planning to maximize performance)

I am sure in your work life, every project that is undertaken is done with planning being the number one step, and this paves the way to success.  Exercise should be no different!  

For elite athletes it's so important to implement an annual plan, and I used to prepare one for my sprinters, from pre-season training in October to more specific training which readies them for competitions in February (indoor) and July/August (outdoor). 

1. You should be no different  in your approach and Conditioned fitness shows you how and why

By utilizing cycles of training this better prepares your tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments etc) for the increased stresses to come, reducing the likelihood of injury while significantly improving your strength.  Concurrent training balances mobility, strength, endurance, speed and other factors of fitness, which need to be factored in when working on your conditioning in the short term. 

The intensity, which combines volume and load needs to be monitored with a managed weekly progression and this will lead to significantly improved fat-loss, hypertrophy, strength and fitness.

2. Its easy! (know your diary)

Over the course of the year, you will have:

Planned business trips
Project completions
Board meetings
lock-down
Holidays
injury

These will interfere with your training, but they shouldn't!

We create a program that enables you to train effectively, taking into consideration all of the above, maximizing your progression with weekly improvements (1, 2) so that nothing can get in your way of you reaching your goal.

3. Increasing intensity

After successfully preparing the bodies tissues through concurrent training, you make yourself ready for more advanced and intense challenges enabling you to realize your goal by being more specific.
The plan here is to really develop your motor abilities (whether that's strength, speed, hypertrophy or toning).

The intensity may be expressed as a percentage of 1RM  

(One rep max (1RM) is the maximum amount of weight an individual can lift during a single exercise)

In week 1 it's up to 75% (Hypertrophy), week 2 up to 85% (hypertrophy and strength), week 3 up to 95% (max strength) with week 4 returning back to 75% but of a new percentage max as training improves your maximum lift.  We want you to cover all the bases when it comes to training.
 
You and your trainer should sit down and discuss your goals (whether that's weight-loss, muscle gain, injury rehabilitation or a holiday), where you would like to be in 6 months, where you would like to be at the end of this month, week and at the end of today! Here at Conditioned Fitness we want you to reach your goal as soon as possible and to be ready to make new ones.  It all starts with a plan!

If you would like to know more about anything you've read across these 3 posts or you are interested in finding out more about working with Conditioned Fitness towards your own goals, please contact us via the link at the bottom for a complimentary consultation.


References

1) Bompa, Tudor O.; Haff, Greg (10 August 2009). Periodization: theory and methodology of training. Human Kinetics. pp. 18–. ISBN. Retrieved 30 September 2011

2) Vorobyev AN. International Weightlifting Federation. 1978








 



   

If you've got a persistent sports injury, a dodgy knee, a shoulder that never fully healed, a lower back that flares up every time you try to train, you're probably frustrated.


You might have had physio. You might have rested for months. And yet the problem keeps coming back.


Here's why: rest and passive treatment alone rarely fix the underlying cause of a sports injury.


The root of most recurring injuries is weakness or movement dysfunction and the only way to address those is through progressive, targeted exercise.



The Most Common Mistake in Injury Recovery


Most people either rest completely (which weakens the area further) or return to full training too soon (which re-injures the same structures).


The sweet spot is a structured rehabilitation programme that progressively loads the injured area in a controlled way.


As a Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist (FRCms), I assess joint function before building a programme that specifically targets the movement restrictions and weaknesses driving your injury.




What an Exercise-Based Rehab Programme Looks Like



  • Week 1–2: Joint assessment and movement re-education, teaching the body to move properly around the injury
  • Week 3–4: Controlled strength work at the end of the available range of motion
  • Week 5–8: Progressive loading, building strength and resilience in the injured tissue
  • Week 9–12: Sport or activity-specific conditioning, preparing for return to full training


Why This Works




Tendons, ligaments and muscles respond to load. When you progressively challenge them with controlled exercise, they adapt and become stronger.


When you avoid using them, they weaken. The research is clear: exercise-based rehabilitation produces better long-term outcomes than rest alone for the vast majority of musculoskeletal injuries.



Getting Started in Orpington


Conditioned Fitness in Orpington offers sports injury rehabilitation programmes with Massimo Massaro BSc FRCms.  One of very few personal trainers in South East London with an advanced qualification specifically in joint health and mobility.


Sessions are 100% private, 1:1, and tailored to your injury and your goals.


If you're dealing with a persistent sports injury in the Orpington, Bromley, or Sevenoaks area, call 07950 398025 to book a free assessment.

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