Lesson 7

Injury Prevention / Recovery

Diploma in Health and Fitness – Part I

Presented by:

Jonathan Ledden Course Educator

EQF Level 5 Personal Trainer / Strength & Conditioning Coach

• Basic Anatomy Overview?

• Tracking Progress

• Bodyfat + Lifestyle

• Factors Effecting Metabolism

Lesson 6 Recap

Lesson 7

• What is mobility

• Causes of poor mobility

• The role of mobility in recovery

• Warming up / Cooling down

• Planning rest and recovery

• Summary

• Course Interaction

• Q & A

Risks Of Not Knowing Lesson

Increased risk

of injury

Poor mobility

and postural

problems

Slow

progress and

recovery

Poor

circulation

and back

problems

Mobility / Flexibility

MobilityThe ability to move freely and easily

What causes poor mobility?

Causes Of Poor Mobility

No stretching post exercise: Muscle

tightness caused from training

Overtraining: Muscle imbalances caused from

over training

Age / Injury: Causing a muscle or joint to have limited

movement

Sedentary Lifestyle / Desk Job: Causing muscle atrophy, back

problems and muscular imbalances

Repetitive motion: Either in life or career any repetitive daily motion which

may cause a muscular imbalance

Stress: Causing tension build up in certain muscles

Common Injuries From Poor Mobility

Back pain: From

muscular imbalance

and / or a tight

posterior chain.

Joint pain: Caused

from tight muscles

directed connected

to the joint

Hamstring strain:

caused by tight

hamstrings under

too much strain

Headaches / Neck

pain: Caused from

tight upper back /

shoulders

Bulging / Prolapsed

disks: Caused from a

weak back muscles

or imbalances

Knee / Ankle /

Elbow issues:

Caused from weak or

tight muscles around

the joint

Signs Of Sports Injury

• Pre/Post exercise pain: Pain which appears before you warm up or after you cool down

• Intra exercise pain: Pain which is constant throughout exercise

• Muscle tightness/discomfort: Muscles which feels tight all the time

• Immediate sharp pain/discomfort: Pain which appears sharply during exercise sometimes with a loud pop

• Swelling / stiffness / redness: If a joint appears swollen, red or particularly stiff

• Clicking sound with pain: A clicking sound with pain can be a sign of ligament or tendon damage

R.I.C.E.

Rest: Rest the affected area in a pain free

position if possible

Ice: Cold will reduce pain and swelling. Apply

an ice pack A.S.A.P. to affected area for 10-20

minutes 3 time per day for 48-72 hours

Compress: Compress or wrap the injured area.

Don’t wrap it too tight as this can be counter

productive

Elevate: When icing or sitting elevate the

injured area to reduce swelling.

Improving Mobility

What can we do to improve our mobility?

Stretching

• Passive, active and dynamic stretching

• Passive: Using equipment or outside force to generate a stretch (Quad stretch shown in picture)

• Active: Generating the stretch yourself by contracting the opposing muscle you want to stretch

• Dynamic: Using momentum to generate a stretch, used mainly in sport to help mobilize and warm up the specific muscles / joints being used

Foam Rolling• Myofascial release: A fancy term for self massage, helps release knots and

tightness in specific muscles

• Full Body: Can be performed on large and smaller muscle groups

• Equipment: Cheap and effective

• Recovery: Helps muscles repair quicker

• Length: Returns the muscle back to original length post exercise

• Trigger points: Brilliant at targeting specific areas of a muscle

Yoga / Pilates

• Decompression: Helps decompression of the joints with bodyweight movements

• Alignment: Helps balanced alignment which may be effected in a negative way from one form of training or exercise

• C.N.S. connection: Yoga and Plates both involve a huge amount of cooperation between the brain and muscles

• Relieves stress: The mix of breathing, strength, mobility and concentration helps relieve stress in the joints, muscles and boost good hormones

Sports Massage

• D.O.M.S: Sports massage can reduce and even prevent delayed onset muscle soreness cause from training

• Professional relief: As a professional is handling the massage you are guaranteed to get to the exact origin of any muscle tightness

• C.N.S: With the more exact myofascial release comes added psychological benefits from the relaxation of the muscle tension

• Increased mobility: The more professional and exact massage is, the greater range of motion overall improving muscle / joint performance

Benefits Of Good Mobility

Posture: Improves posture and blood flow to muscles

Joint mobility: Improves range of motion in joints and muscles

Reduces injury: Reduces risk of injury from exercise

Reduces stress: Helps reduce physical and mental

Performance: Improves the body’s ability to perform in sport and life

Preventing Injury

PrehabilitationAims to fix muscular imbalances and mobility issues

preventing common injuries before they occur

How can we fix muscle

Imbalances?

4 Stages Of Prehab

Fix your muscular imbalances through planned

strength training

Fix any mobility issues or muscle tightness

Don’t ignore pain or discomfort when it appears

Warm up and cool down properly before and after

exercise

4 Stages Of Warming Up

• Low Intense movements

• Jogging, side stepping, walking lunges, body weight squats

• Use change of direction

Warm up / Loosen up

• Mobilize all joints

• Rotational movements like hip circles, knee circles, lunges with rotation

Mobilize your joints

• High knees, jumping jacks, toe touches

• 5-10 meter sprints

• Dynamic stretches

• Warm up games

Raise the heart rate

• Activate muscles being used in sessions

• Practice exercises being used in session

Activate and warm up specific muscles

groups

4 Stages Of Warming Up

• 3 Minutes: Foam rolling, Jogging (Change direction), bounding, side to side, walking lungesWarm up:

•4 Minutes: Ankle/Knee circles, hip circles, arm swings, walking lunges with twistMobilize the joints:

• 3 Minutes: Jumping jacks, burpees, 5-10 meter sprints, Games (Dodgeball, Tag)Raise the heart rate:

• 2-3 Sets: Practice lighter sets of planned session workSpecific muscle work:

4 Stages Of Cooling Down

• Don’t stop immediately

• Jog, walk or perform bike or rower at slow pace

• Allow breathing and heart rate to relax

Allow heart rate to slow

• Passive static stretching

• Foam rolling

• Massage

Post exercise mobility

• Water

• Post workout shake

• Meal within 2 hours

Rehydrate and Refuel

Quadriceps (Front of thigh)

• Standing with feet together bend your knee on one leg and bring your foot towards your bum

• Grab your toes and slowly pull your heal up to your bum until you feel mild tension in the front part of your thigh

• If you feel unsteady you can hold on to a wall or rail

• Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds or until you feel the muscles tension ease and repeat on other leg

Hamstrings (Back of the thigh)

• Keeping your knee straight elevate your right leg between 45 and 90 degrees

• You may already feel a stretch in the back of your leg, with you right arm slowly reach and try and grab your toe to the point of mild to moderate tension

• If you cannot reach your toe then hold you shin where you feel moderate tension

• Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds or until you feel the muscles tension ease and repeat on other leg

Adductors (Groin)

• Sitting upright pull heals into groin

• Keep back straight and chest high

• Use you elbows on the inside of the knees to gently push towards the floor

• Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds or until you feel the muscles tension ease

Abductors (Outside of hip)

• Sitting on the ground extend one leg flat

• Keep opposite leg bent and cross over extended leg

• Use the opposite elbow on the outside of the knee to gently push the knee across the body

• Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds or until you feel the muscle tension ease

and repeat on other leg

Shoulders

• Standing upright place one arm across the body at shoulder height

• Use the opposite wrist to gently pull the arms towards the body

• Only pull to very mild tension in the inside of the shoulder

• Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds or until you feel the muscle tension ease

Chest

• While sitting join hand behind the back

• Reach up as far as you can until you feel mild tension in the chest

• Do not bend the wrists or lean forward while performing the stretch

• Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds or until you feel the muscle tension ease

Back

• Start by getting on to all fours

• Slowly and gently arch your back until you feel mild tensions throughout

• While arching your back imagine you are sucking your belly button in towards your spine

• Hold the stretch for 15-30 seconds or until you feel the muscle tension ease

Warm Up / Cool Down Benefits

Mobilizes joints and warms up the body

Gets the body ready for exercise

Increases mobility of specific muscles being worked

Speeds up recovery

Helps prevent injury during and after exercise

Improves the body’s ability to perform physical activities

Rest And Recovery

RecoveryDuring a rest period your body repairs your muscles, C.N.S.

and allows your immune system to rest

Why else is it important to take rest days?

Overtraining

Overtraining is the result of giving your body more work or stress than it can handle. It occurs when a person experiences stress and physical trauma from exercises faster than their body can repair it.

Signs of overtraining:

Chronic fatigue

Decreased strength

Frequent illness

Injury

Increased joint and muscle pain and aches

Muscle stiffness

Slow recovery from workouts

Feeling unmotivated and irritable

Slow Recovery

Slow recovery from workouts can often be mistaken for over training however a lot of the time slow recovery is simply a symptom of a bad or non existent recovery plan

Causes of slow recovery:

Bad nutrition

Under eating

Dehydration

Lack of quality sleep

Poor mobility

Stress

D.O.M.S.

Over training: Training the same muscle group before it has fully repaired is considered over training and counter productive

Immune system: Is what triggers the repair of muscle putting stress and work on your immune system

Rest period: Except for L.M.E. all other strength training types need a full 48 hours to recover and all signs of D.O.M.S. to fade

D.O.M.S. Delayed onset muscle soreness – worse on day 2 of recovery and when you are new to training

Planning Your Recovery

Hydration: Drink 3 liters of water per day. You will notice within 7 days that your energy levels, sleep, skin and concentration are all improved.

Sleep: 7-8 hours per night is a must. Any less and the hormones and brain function needed for recovery are not running at optimal levels

Nutrition: Fuel your body don’t deprive it! Food is your fuel and is vital for muscle repair. If you are not recovering within 48 hours eat better and more if necessary.

Active Recovery: Light swim / cycle / row or some relaxing mobility like yoga

Rest Days: My preference is to train 2 days in a row followed by 1 rest day

Rewards Of Knowing Lesson

Reduced risk of injury

Improved mobility and

reduced stress

Optimal recovery and progression

Balanced posture and

good circulation

Your Next Lesson

Lesson 8

• The next lesson is “Barriers Stopping Results”

• Types of Stress

• Stress Management

• Planning and Lifestyle

• Long Term Motivation

• Attend all of the lessons LIVE and your knowledge will grow