Sports Injury
Why do athletes often suffer with overuse injuries?
Whether your a weekend athlete or professional, you want to perform at your peak ability. This requires you to be free from any nagging injuries.
As you participate in athletics, you have likely realized that many athletes seem to be plagued with injuries. Many of these injuries are the result of pre-existing problems with their muscles and joints./p>
Athletes often have imbalances in their muscles. Some muscles are weaker than they normally should be, while other muscles are tighter than normal.
Muscles that are either abnormally tight, weak, or both, create imbalances in the body, causing pulling, jarring, or other stresses throughout the body. With use, through running, jumping, or other physical activities, these abnormal stresses can result in more than normal amounts of wear and tear on the body and thus an increased chance for injury.
For example, if the muscles on the front of the thigh become too tight, they will cause extra stress around the knee and knee cap that can lead to knee pain.
Muscle imbalances are often the reason for the overuse injuries that plague both athletes and exercise enthusiasts.
How can I tell if I have muscle imbalances?
As you stretch, you can tell which muscles are tight and need to be lengthened, but finding your weak muscles is more difficult. Many people are not aware of their weak muscles. Why? Because the body is a good compensator.
Weak muscles are assisted by the surrounding muscles, so that when performing everyday activities, there isn't a noticed lack of ability. The problem with weak muscles, is that with compensation, the body changes the biomechanics of it's movements and the body is subjected to types of stresses that it was not designed to handle, and this leads to injury.
If you get knee pain when running, have you ever wondered why it always seems to be the same knee that gets irritated?
Why doesn't the the other knee ever become irritated with your running?
The answer...You have muscle and joint imbalances that put too much stress on the bad knee when you run.
Any imbalances that you have will create excessive stress.
Correct the imbalances and you will make your body more resilient and less likely to become injured or stay injured.
What injuries are a result of imbalances in the body?
Some of the injuries that are a result of muscle imbalances are:
- Plantar Fascitis
- Iliotibibial band syndrome
- Hip bursitis
- Knee pain
- Shoulder pain / rotator cuff problems
What starts these imbalances?
Muscles can become weak or strong when they undergo certain stresses. Some of the more common reasons for muscle imbalances are:
- Posture
- Exercising too fast too soon
- Letting the muscles get too tight
Posture
When a person has bad posture, they cause many of their muscles to be either held in a stretched or shortened position. If a muscle is stretched or shortened for a long period of time, it will react by becoming either tight, or weak, or both. Once muscles have changed, a result of bad posture, they now cause muscle imbalances and increased wear and tear on the body.
It is important to try to maintain a good natural posture throughout your daily activities. Your mother was right...Don’t slouch, it’s not good for you.
Exercising too fast too soon
When some people begin an exercise program, they try to exercise harder than they can handle. This over zealous attitude results in placing too much stress on the muscles before they are ready for it. As the person continues, the body begins to compensate for the muscles that are not able to perform as they are asked.
This compensation creates a harmful pattern, the weak muscle remains weak while the compensating muscles become stronger. Eventually, these compensations become ingrained. Muscle compensations cause imbalances and increased wear and tear.
Letting the muscles get too tight
When you use your muscles they get microscopic tears. When the muscle repairs, the muscle will get tighter. If you never do anything to help correct the tightness that happens when a muscle repairs, then you may end up with muscles that are tighter than they should normally be.
Many people understand the importance of warming up before exercising, but cooling down and stretching after exercising is also important. The stretching that is done after doing the exercise helps to keep the recuperating muscles from getting tighter than the other surrounding muscles. If you never stretch to restore the normal extensibility of the muscles then you are creating muscle imbalances.
Stop those injuries
When you correct those imbalances that you may suffer with, you are much less likely to get the nagging overuse conditions.
Whether you are weekend warrior or all the way up to a professional athlete, your ability to perform at a higher level can be enhanced, as the compensations that you have, are corrected.
Our treatment includes a special method of locating and treating the imbalances found in your body.
We utilize a specialized treatment system known as Trigenics® to help correct the weak and tight muscles that are keeping you from being your best.
Call us today, we can help you reach your sports or athletic goals . The sooner you call, the sooner your conditions can get better.
