There will be many times in life where our usual routines go out of the window and we take a break from exercise and hobbies. Whether this is an intentional break or forced upon us due to reasons beyond our control (such as an injury or a pandemic) it’s important to know how to return to exercise safely when you are ready to do so.
Unfortunately, in the first few weeks of inactivity we lose a significant amount of muscle strength, neurological awareness and our joints begin to stiffen up. There are also small changes to our digestion, circulation and hormone production.
After a few months off it’s important to phase your return to exercise rather than pick up where you left off as you are not dealing with the same body anymore. Taking a steadier approach allows the body time to readjust and rebuild strength, stamina and coordination comfortably.
It’s always really encouraging to see that people want to keep fit and healthy but as your Osteo’s we want to make sure you’re doing this in a safe and enjoyable way. We don’t want to see any old injuries creeping back in and we certainly don’t want to see you create new ones!
Here are a few insights into the exercise related injuries we often see in the clinic, how we can help you and how you can help yourself to avoid them altogether.
What are the most common exercise related injuries?
1) Shoulder injuries are the most common exercise or sports related injury we see in clinic. The shoulder joint has the most amount of movement of all of the joints in the human body and thus can easily become unstable if not functioning correctly. A rotator cuff tear can quickly lead to subacromial impingement and bursitis, two conditions that can cause a lot of pain and discomfort.
Poor posture and a sedentary lifestyle weaken the muscles that stabilise the shoulder, it then becomes very easy to overload the muscles through sport, especially with any overhead or throwing activities.
2) Lower back pain is a close second, it’s easy to irritate the lower back through high intensity workouts, running, weight training or even by overstretching. Those with a history of back pain or injuries such as a lumbar disc herniation or spinal surgery might be particularly vulnerable. This is because when we experience back pain our body ‘turns off’ certain muscle groups, such as our core, to offload the areas under pressure. If this isn’t rehabilitated correctly these muscles will not turn back on and we are left with an unstable and vulnerable lower back.
We also know that arthritis and degeneration is common in the lower lumbar spine as we age, this is unfortunately irreversible, however, when making the effort to maintain strength and mobility in the area most people will be able to return to exercise pain free.
3) Hip, knee and ankle injuries are also extremely common exercise related injuries. These are conditions such as achilles tendonitis, patella tendonitis, muscle tears, ligament sprains, frayed cartilage or meniscus tear and the irritation of existing arthritic conditions. These injuries are usually linked to running, sports or high intensity workouts and will vary in severity.
What is doing too much?
More often than not if we are recovering from an injury or are highly motivated to get back to peak fitness we do too much too soon.
There are many ways to overload a muscle, ligament or joint without realising until it’s too late. To ‘overload’ means to demand more from the structure than it is physically capable of.
This could come in the form of
- Adding on too much weight in the gym
- Doing too many sets or repetitions
- Exercising too often and not including adequate rest days
- Exercising for too long, for example in long distance running
- Progressing the exercise program too quickly
- Over stretching, for example in hobbies such as yoga, gymnastics or dance
- Focusing too much on one type of fitness, for example only working on building strength and not incorporating any mobility work or cardiovascular fitness into your routine
To avoid doing too much it’s important to listen to your body, set yourself realistic goals and manage your expectations early on. Seek help from a professional trainer or your therapist if you need some guidance with this, we would be happy to help you put a plan together.
What to do if you do get injured
If you do become injured it’s important to address it early on and allow yourself time to heal.
The first priority is to figure out what you’ve injured and the true extent of the injury. Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and Chiropractors are all musculoskeletal experts who will be able to perform a detailed case history and examination to help you get to the bottom of your injury and highlight any compensatory or predisposing factors. Once you have a diagnosis you can begin to build a treatment plan together, make judgement on the steps needed and how long this will take.
It can often feel frustrating to be forced to slow down when you’re enjoying your hobbies or just getting into the rhythm of excising, but if you rush through or ignore steps in your rehabilitation progress you run the risk or re-injuring yourself, causing more damage and extending your recovery time. It is far more beneficial to dedicate time to treatments and rehabilitation the first time around, so that there is no second time.
Recovery times
No two injuries are the same and therefore it is impossible to say how long it would take to recover from any injury without a thorough and personalised examination and diagnosis. For soft tissue injuries recovery can span anything from 1 month to 1 year.
Factors that might affect your recovery:
- Severity of the trauma and complexity of the injury
- Pre-existing health conditions
- Age
- General health and wellbeing
- Environmental demands such as work or family life
- Medication
- Stress
- Compliance to rehabilitation program
Osteopaths pride themselves on being holistic therapists, this means we look at the bigger picture and view our patients as a whole. For example, what might initially appear a simple lower back strain may actually be the result of an old ankle injury and the resulting altered biomechanics of the leg. Without addressing these wider patterns of dysfunction, the lower back strain will keep returning.
This is why it is vital to seek advice from a trained health professional as soon as you become injured. They will take all of the above into consideration and help you put together a treatment plan that is realistic and tailored to your specific needs.
Our top tips to avoid injury when returning to exercise
– DO start gently and gradually build your exercise program up over the course of a few weeks. It’s important to listen to your body and be patient. Suddenly ramping up the intensity or frequency of your training program will result in you overloading joints or muscles that simply aren’t strong enough yet and this results in injury.
– DONT skip your warmups and cool downs. This is an essential process for getting the body ready to work out (especially if you’ve been sat on the sofa or at a desk all day long) and vital for muscle repair and recovery.
– DO make sure you’ve got the correct the equipment and space around you. Simple things like having the correct footwear make a huge difference in high impact exercise and when running.
– DO focus on your technique/form. If this means doing less reps or slowing down a workout that’s fine. Quality over quantity! Always think about keeping the correct posture and engaging your core throughout the exercise.
– DON’T (this is a big one). Please, please, please do not train through pain or injury. If something starts to hurt, stop immediately and seek a professional opinion. It is so much easier to fix a problem in its early stages rather than 6 months down the line.
– DO have recovery days. Days off are essential for tissue repair, regeneration, and energy levels. I would recommend a rest day every 2 days.
– DO – Keep your NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) up. Regular and gentle movement is great way to keep the body in motion and burn calories without stressing the body out. Regular breaks, stretches and movement counteracts the negative effects activities like sitting which is a big predisposing factor in most injuries and postural issues. This is a great tip for those who still want to exercise but are struggling with pre-existing injuries.
If you have any further questions about the topics covered above or any other questions on how Osteopathy can help you, then please do not hesitate to reach out.
Our Osteopathic clinic is situated on the North Shore in Auckland. A list below are the areas we serve:
- Albany
- Rosedale
- Glenfield
- Browns Bay
- Takapuna
- Milford
- Wairau Valley
- Mairangi Bay
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👉 About Us
About The Author
Hannah Williams, Osteopath at Inline Osteo who is an enthusiastic and empathic practitioner with a history of treating a variety of musculoskeletal dysfunctions and conditions.
Masters of Osteopathy (UK), with multiple years of clinical experience
