Have you ever injured yourself and though to yourself, ‘maybe if I just rest for a month then my injury will fix itself’? Did it work? In some cases, we have a bad accident such as a fall, or a bad tackle in football. These weren’t necessarily your fault, and your current strength, fitness, control, or body composition was unlikely to blame. In these cases, resting for a few days, or even a week or two may get you over the injury and you’ll be back to your normal life in no time at all. However, if you get injured while running, jumping, lifting, changing direction, or have a non-contact injury in sport, then rest may not be the best option for you.

Doing Too Much

Some injuries don’t stem form doing a ‘bad’ exercise, or something wrong, but from doing too much, too soon. Everyone’s body has a limit of what it can do without getting injured. There’s a certain amount of miles you can run in a week, how many kilos your knees want to move per workout, and how many shoulder presses that your body can handle on any given day. The limit or ‘capacity’, can be positively affected by progressive training, getting quality sleep, eating well, and managing weekly load. This capacity can be negatively affected by not getting good sleep, being recovered, and training too much. Getting hurt by doing too much, taking 2 weeks off, and then trying to do that same volume again after 2 weeks of getting less fit/strong will likely reaggravate the injury.

Not Having Adequate Strength

Although we think of runners as a more slim demographic, and muscular isn’t the first word you’d use to describe Mo Farah, your body needs a level of strength to run. Every time you take a stride on cement, your body needs to absorb your bodyweight, and also propel it forward. The faster and longer you run for, the more force has to be absorbed and generated by your body. Shin splints, knee pain, and hip pain are all signs that your body isn’t strong enough to do what you’re asking it to do. Resting in the presence of this pain and then going running the same pace and distances again next month probably won’t yield good results as once again, you’re less string than you were now that you’ve rested.

Not Fit Enough

Injuries happen more frequently when you are fatigued. Once your body becomes fatigued and glycogen levels begin to decrease, we begin to become sloppy with form, have bad control, and make mental mistakes. If you’re struggling to keep up with other players in the second half of a game, then you’re more likely to get injured, even if you lift the same weights as them. Cardiovascular fitness is often overlooked in amateur sports. If you get injured because you were gassed and take two weeks off of football training and come back to the same intensity, you’re more likely to get injured now as your cardiovascular fitness is 14 days worse than it was at the time of injury.

If you have any questions on whether physio is the best option for you, or you have any questions about MVMNT in general, feel free to contact via email.

- Jay Towolawi, Specialist Sports Physiotherapist and MVMNT Founder.