On the morning of 13th June, many of you stood eagerly waiting for the doors to reopen to the facility that a lot of us would call our “Second Home”. The adrenaline fuelled by the excitement rushed through our bodies as we took that first repetition, first set & first workout back inside the gyms. Whilst you’re in there though, you realise that something is off. I’m not as strong anymore! What’s going on? My glutes aren’t firing like they should be. The tracking of the bar during my squat is off. My muscles & joints are tight. Why?
Many of us have lived quite a sedentary lifestyle the past few months, with many of us working from home and out of our usual physical schedules. Because we are moving less, our muscles naturally decondition, which can decrease our muscle mass, strength & metabolism. All in which may even increase our risk of injury if we don’t take the necessary steps to slowly build our tolerance.
What can we do to prevent injury then?
My personal recommendation is to slow things down & take your time rebuilding your muscular capacity back to pre – closure times. Start for example at a 60% load & intensity.
Example
Exercise: Flat Barbell Bench
5RM: 100kg
Week 1: 4 sets of 5 repetitions at 60kg (weekly increments of 5 – 8% depending on RPE)
Note: RPE is a scale that stands for “repetitions per exertion”
Another simple injury – prevention task you can employ before any exercise is having a proper warm – up circuit and loads of stretching. The pre – activation and lengthening of the muscle not only “wakes up” the muscle but also allows for greater recruitment of the muscle fibres producing maximal voluntary force.
Other contributing factors to stay on top of include the following:
- Sleep (8hours daily)
- Nutrition
- Supplementations (Electrolytes, Magnesium, Multivitamins etc)
- Appropriate rest (Important to listen to your body)
If you would like to know more about injury prevention or would like to be assessed today to prevent injuries yourself, call us today to book in a session with us!
We look forward to helping you achieve your goals.
