Preventing Injuries: Optimize Your Physical Performance

At one point or other in our lives, we have seen a sign on a building that prohibits entry due to an unstable foundation or construction. Our body, much like a building needs a solid foundation in order to perform optimally. The human body very quickly learns how to compensate for muscles that are weak, injured or are tight; and can function for quite a while with these compensations. Unfortunately, once the body has reached its limit for how many compensations/dysfunctions it can take, injuries without accidents occur. We all held our breath watching Usain Bolt injure himself during the World championship relay race, the final race of his career. While the world-renowned sprinter admits that lack of a proper warm-up was a contributor, imbalances in the body contribute a great deal to injuries such as his.

Preventing Injuries

Every season has sports associated with it, and adults and children alike enjoy participating in an array of those sports. How many of us truly consider our or our children’s’ physical state before enrollment into the various sports teams? Not many! And we should. I once heard a therapist say that the best form of injury treatment is prevention. If we can help strengthen the body to avoid and prevent most injuries, we could save a lot of money, time and pain. Sprained ankles often occur because the leg lacks proper strength and stability. Balance problems occur due to weak ankles, knees and hips and sometimes weak eyesight.

How do we prevent injuries?

Many people would say that engaging in a physical fitness program will prevent injuries, but that is only step two. The first step in injury prevention is identifying the risk of injury. How do we do that? In our clinic, the athletic therapist does an injury risk assessment by asking the person to perform various movements, checking stability, range of motion, reaction time and strength. Once the athletic therapist is able to see what weak points the body might have, he/she will be able to either build a training program to fix the weaknesses or make recommendations to a kinesiologist or team trainer. Being strong isn’t about how much a person can squat. It is the job of the athletic therapist to not only treat the body with manual therapy but to also guide the athlete through a proper execution of exercises.

What are some of the tests done to see body movement?

• Test reaction time
• Squats
• Hamstring flexibility
• Abdominal strength
• Range of motion of each joint
• Strength of muscles at various ranges
• Balance tests
• Specialized tests depending on the particular sport requirements

If you or your child will be or are already playing a sport, remember, prevention is the best form of treatment. Book your injury risk assessment test with us today.