Injuries, injuries, injuries…

This is just a short rant from me on training and injuries. Recently, a lot has been written and discussed on how to train correctly to either improve, avoid injuries or rehab existing ones. From my experience there is one common denominator with persistent injuries or poor rehab. The individual is usually out of touch with themselves.

We all get injured. It happens, because as extreme training and sport enthusiasts we both compete and take physical risks in our training environment. Big deal. It is when injuries become chronic that we need to take a closer look at what is going on. It is great to solicit advice and some of the guys writing for our site offer an incredible resource. But at the end of the day it is your responsibility for how you train and what methodologies you use.

One of the key principles I adhere to is feel. How do I feel? NOT, how should I feel? A lot of people train thinking they should be capable of this or that or because of the 12 hours sleep they had last night they should be able to go hard. They then spend time analysing why they don’t feel fantastic or why they feel sore in a particular body part. I train when I feel like training (which is often) in a way that feels good for me (which is hard, but not always hard). Training becomes more a process of listening to my body and what I feel I can work on at any given time.

At the moment I have 2 areas of physical training I work on. Strength and ‘freak skills’. Things like the one armed chin up are freaky for me at 6’1” and 83kg. But I only attempt these exercises when I feel ready. It’s intuitive and it comes from a lot of time spent training ALONE. I rarely get injured and if so it doesn’t last long. My worst injuries from non-contact related activities have been from trying to force outcomes against my body’s better judgement. As Dan Millman says, “Ask your body gently but ask it often”.

At some point you’ve got to accept that you have a lot of knowledge of what you can do but need to start appplying it. And the only way to start applying it is to start gently and consistently. Do less than what you think you’re capable of. That way you’ll be able to train more often. There will be times when you’ll go all out but that should not be the basis upon which you do all of your training. There will always be particular nuances that only you’ll experience with your body and consequently only you will really know what you are capable of at any given moment.

If you’re injured, get better…

If you’re not then train…

And learn to listen and FEEL…