Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Tip to Ward Off Injury

Here's a free tip to help you avoid injury. They say starting a weight program will help you prevent running injuries. I'll even go a little bit further and say that if you seem to be having a nagging problem that doesn't seem to go away in a few days then start lifting weights near that problem area. I'll use myself as an example.

Recently I had increased my mileage a little bit and I had also increased my intensity as well. During the following weeks I started to get a little tendinitis and my shins were hurting a bit. I also started to feel a few niggles around the groin area. So what did I do? I started to do calf raises, adductor, and abductor workouts. The problems were gone the next day. Granted, I have a history of lifting in the past so I really didn't have to do much, but the lifting helped nonetheless. You see, your problem areas have supporting muscles and when that problem area gets out of whack then your supporting muscles come to the rescue. I would even go so far as saying that strengthening your legs through a weight program can help ward off stress fractures. When your muscles fatigue your bones pay the price and absorb more than their share of punishement.

So remember, if you start having issues that don't go away after a few days, then think about strenghthening that area. It worked for me and maybe it will work for you.

1 comment:

Sam said...

Amen, brutha! I can vouche for the same thing... calf raises and other leg exercises are really coming in handy in helping the old feelings of nagging injuries feel less and less prominent. Good post.