6 Tips for Injury Reduction

I wasn’t blessed with the foresight of predicting the future. I know, shocking! But if I did, I probably wouldn’t be a Personal Trainer (I wish I could say I’d use my powers for only the greater good of mankind but I’d probably use them to impress the ladies and make a killing in the stock market. Yup, don’t really care what Back to the Future or the Butterfly Effect taught us about altering the future). However; injuries are a very real possibility in training and in sports. Unfortunately, this is unavoidable because there is no such thing as injury prevention. However, this does not mean you can’t drastically reduce the possibility of injury. Here are 6 tips to help keep you from losing important training time.

1)   Warming-up: Spend some time and choose exercises that reflect the exercises in your program or sport that will prime the body for those movements. Assess how the body feels, don’t go into your training session with a cranky body!

2)   If you have a goal, have a plan: For example, if your goal is to lift heavy weight, understand the basic body mechanics. You’ll learn valuable information from researching and being able to apply the information (and this means books! If you find a credible blogger you like, they will no doubt have lots of literature on the subject from some of the greats). 

3)   Learn to use your body properly: Exercise isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. For example, poor running mechanics will lead to poor running habits. Over time this will lead to a compensatory pattern with nagging aches and pains (and potentially missed training time from injuries). Take the time to learn how to do things well.

4)   Listening to your body: Be responsible by becoming in tune with your body. If something doesn’t feel right, STOP. If there’s pain, please consult your physician.

5)   Massage: We abuse our bodies in training, in sports and in our daily movements (or lack thereof). Be kind and treat your body to some TLC. The right kind of massage has many wonderful restorative qualities such as: increase in blood flow, reduction in inflammation, alleviating muscle tension and helping muscles to relax, reducing mental stress, etc. Notice how your body responds with improvement in how it feels and moves (and I mean Deep Tissue or therapeutic massage)

6)   Rest: Allow your body to heal and recover from the training session or sport. This includes a nutrition plan, drinking water and getting 6-8 hours of sleep (late night binges will seriously hinder the body’s ability to recover).

The future will be the present sooner than you realize, so don’t pay for the sins of your past when you could have done something about it now. These simple tips will help to ensure a healthier relationship with training, sports, and more importantly, the demands of daily life stresses.  Whether it’s in the weight room, the field or court, improve your performance and reduce the potential for injury and missed training time. Best of luck in your training!

Great Family, Great Coaches=Great Accomplishments: Why 2014 was my Greatest Training year

This blog is long overdue. But I had a great 2014. Why? Because, I set both personal and professional goals and I achieved high levels of performance in both. I managed to successfully train for the SFG (StrongFirst Kettlebell) Level II Instructor and 12 weeks later successfully became certified as an SFL (StrongFirst Lift) Instructor. Oh yeah, and later in the year, I competed in 3 natural bodybuilding competitions, nearly winning a pro-card in the process. On the surface these look like individual accolades because I received the trophies and certifications but it’s the behind the scenes support and guidance that positioned me to get there.

The biggest reasons why I succeed can be
found from the values my parents imparted
on me.

Yes, I am self-motivated. So doing things I don’t necessarily want to do are things I tend to think are the most important things to do, so I do them (twisted way to look at it, I know). I like to believe I get this self-motivation trait from my mother and father. And I get it, maybe it’s not so easy for you for various reasons. But I like to think if it were easy, it wouldn’t be much of a challenge (if you want a participation medal, talk to Pittsburgh Steelers, linebacker, James Harrison). However, this success could not be achieved on my own (and anyone’s success is always a direct result of others assistance and/or contributions). I owe much of my success to my family and the coaches involved that supported or directed me along each individual journey. Hopefully, my achievements are something they can be proud of because I always aspire to represent them the best I can.

You'd think I trained more and ate
less to get these results. But I ate more 
and trained less. Funny how that works. 
Find a knowledgable coach! 

There are many ways to quantify success. Maybe, your goal was to climb Mt. Everest. Or maybe your goal was completing a marathon. Maybe, your success is more modest and simpler, maybe you were pain free or didn’t miss a training session for an entire year (sure, that sounds simple but it’s not easy). Or maybe you want to be the next American Ninja Warrior (I wasn’t aware an American could be a ninja). Regardless, whatever the goal, if it’s important to you, your inner circle understand it’s important to you. If you’ve ever triumphed in your personal goals, be sure to thank your family, friends and coaches that got you there. Thanks Mom, Dad, Becs, Brian, Mike and Evan . Best of luck in your training!