Based on my observations of sports there has been a dramatic rise in injuries over the years.
I have noticed it more with college football since that is what I love to watch, but also have done a research project back in college looking at non-contact ACL injuries in high school female athletes. The numbers do not lie. They are getting worse and this is something that concerns me, both from contact and non-contact injuries. For those of you who have been injured in sports or been affected by somebody who has had an injury then it is time to keep reading. It is going to be a bumpy ride for some if you don’t want to make changes, but if you want to stop the injuries and get back on track with your athletic endeavors then you will be happy that you followed through.
There are countless factors that can affect injuries in sports and I see them all in the clinic every day. However, most people are under the assumption that having the proper strength in a group of muscles or full range of motion at a certain joint is the only thing that will help prevent an injury. This is just not so. Muscle strength and joint range of motion are only two small factors in the grand scheme of the whole body. They are important, but will be affected by countless things such as stress, diet, sleep, etcetera that it is time to jump on into.
“My knee just gave out”
This statement and many just like it are used around physical therapy clinics all of the time. I know as I am in one everyday and hear it all the time. Here’s a little hint though. Something doesn’t just give out or snap or tear or pop without there being a whole lot of damage and poor treatment of the body beforehand. At this point the body has been breaking down for years and whatever just happened was the straw that broke the camel’s back. There are major contact injuries that can occur, but these are usually quite more rare.
About 85% of injuries seen in outpatient physical therapy are idiopathic in nature. This means that there was no mechanism of injury and the cause is unknown. All this really means to me is that the real reason does not come down to a contact injury, but that the person has not been giving their body what they really need and it is now using the “pain teacher” to wake them up and let them know that something more serious is going on.
When this person with an idiopathic injury comes in there are always muscle weaknesses as well as joint range of motion restrictions that I brought up before, but there is often much more than that. There is usually severe systemic inflammation, distended abdominals, a sedentary lifestyle, adrenal fatigue from poor sleep and dehydration from simply not drinking enough or any water at all.
After adding all of these up, I usually do not feel that the injury is idiopathic any longer, but merely there was no contact injury that a person is looking to associate with it so that they can blame it on that rather than an unhealthy lifestyle. This is not a quick and easy process to resolve, but given the right food and water, proper sleep, corrective exercise and sufficient rest they may certainly return to athletics or everyday lives pain free. Will it come back is another story and that will be largely dependent on what changes a person is willing to make to help heal their own body.
“You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit”
The amount of wisdom behind this statement cannot be overlooked. I heard it first from a mentor of mine, Paul Chek, when he was talking about nutrition. The main premise is that you cannot make something good out of something bad. Now you may be saying, “Yeah Nick, no shit.” Okay, I get that, but how many people out there are still eating absolute garbage and expecting to be in tip top, or even mediocre athletic shape. If you continue to eat highly inflammatory foods, processed junk and gastrointestinal garbage then how can you expect your muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones and nerves to be functioning optimally?
The straight up answer is YOU CAN’T. This however, is still the case. I’ve spent my time around enough athletes to know that most of them do not eat well. You can even type into your search box right now to find out about the eating habits of many top professionals today. What you will find is a few that have figured it out and are eating well. Unfortunately most did so after a major injury that setback their career. The rest of the articles will usually be about sugar addictions with some alcohol and drugs mixed in there.
Getting back on track…What type of tendon would your rather have holding your Achilles in place? One that used the fuel provided by a nice steak, green beans and sweet potato from a meal or a tendon that is made up of the sugars and artificial colorings of some Swedish Fish and Cheez Its. I hope that by now you are beginning to see my point. The body cannot recover and build itself without the best quality ingredients. Sure anything will do and the body will patch itself with the processed junk foods, but how strong will it be and how long will it last? You can find out the hard way or you can make sure to get your nutrition back on board.
What Type of Protein Do You Eat?
Amongst athletes whey protein seems to still be king. Things have changed a little bit with a lot of new products on the market, but this is still the old standard. What else would you do besides have 50 grams of whey protein after a workout right? Well, then answer to that is…a lot. There certainly can be some decent whey proteins out there, but they are few and far between. Rarely can you find a cold processed, grass-fed, Organic one that doesn’t cost $10 per serving and if you can, can you tolerate it? Go for the goat version and it is $20 per serving. Okay, so this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but there really are a lot of great options out there.
Protein goes a long way in preventing injuries since it is what helps to build up a lot of the connective tissues that often become damaged. A simple way to solve this after a workout would be to have a piece of meat, but I know that is not as sexy as a protein powder. In that case, I’ll bite and give you some other options:
- Collagen: Since the diet is already deficient in glycine why not bump it up a bit right after the workout. This with some fruit or fruit juice is my basic go to after a workout. There are other things that I will use depending on what my body tells me to use, but this is still oftentimes the main staple. Plus who doesn’t want few sore joints and some glistening skin?
- Raw Milk: Why bother with the whey when you can go straight to the source. This is of course provided you can tolerate dairy, or don’t bother
- BCAAs and Glutamine: Sure these are going to be pretty highly processed, but they are also clean and usually non-reactive with people that I have found. I would not make them a main source of protein, but can still help out a bit before and after a workout
- Brown Rice, Pea, Hemp, etc.: Here are always other options. They are not high up on my list, but if they work for you and help you recover then use them. Remember we are all different and must find what works best for us.
These of course are more for right after workouts, but protein requirements should not be glanced over. Getting a great mix of proteins from muscle and organ meats, eggs, cheese and fish are all critical for tissue healing. Four of the five I listed are pretty commonly eaten. The fifth however, not so much. Organ meats with the different amino acid profiles can be essential to the strength and integrity of connective tissue. They are also leaps and bounds ahead of muscle meat in the form of vitamins and minerals. Please do not overlook them. There are lots of different organs so try lots of different recipes. There is going to be something you find that you like. I do encourage you to even hide them in foods if need be. They really are that important to overall health.
Now what would diet be without addressing proper hydration, especially when talking about athletes. The old adage still applies here. You must consume ½ of your bodyweight in ounces of water daily. This is a non-negotiable for anybody looking to recover from or prevent injuries. There are about 6 billion cellular processes that occur every second that are all water dependent. Let that sink in again. Now couple that with trying to recover or prevent injury as well as intense training and you can see how important little old water can be.
Let me be clear as well that when I say water, I mean water. This does not mean high fructose corn syrup, artificial coloring, “filtered” water, crappy salt laden “athletic” drinks. The old standard still is the best here. To spice it up a bit you can use a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt to give a full spectrum of around 80 minerals. This seems a bit better to me than a manufactured 5 (sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride and calcium) that are found in Gatorade that they think are the only ones you need. If you are looking to throw a few carbs in the mix have a piece of fruit or even put a few ounces of fruit juice into your water rather than something that has been colored to look like a fruit juice. Sorry, but the sexy option is often times just that sexy, but not the one you really want to be taking home.
10pm to 2am: No Excuses
Looking back on my college days it seems that most athletes then and probably even in high school miss out on the most important hours for physical recovery. This is probably true for most of the population since 11pm-midnight is around the average bedtime for adults in the United States depending on the study you look at. Interesting to note that Maui and Kauai in Hawaii come in right around 10:30pm. I say interesting because they are far removed from the crazy hustle and bustle of major metropolitan centers as (it is darker and quieter from my experience on both islands). The other thing is that being close to the equator the days are pretty consistent most of the year. This means one thing. FOLLOW THE SUN! Sleep with the sun and you really will recover better, especially during that sweet spot from 10pm-2am. Don’t try to fight Mother Nature. She always wins.
Just Get Stronger
Well if it were that easy, everybody would be doing it. Seriously, if you are not a complete newbie at getting strong, it isn’t that easy. There are a lot of things that come into play and must be well balanced to prevent injury. This is why exercise truly is a PRESCRIPTION and not just something done all willy nilly. This haphazard approach is, unfortunately, the one that is often used and is why there is still an alarming rate of injury.
When exact exercise prescription is overlooked, disaster is not far off. There are 7 Primal Pattern Movements that I have discussed previously that must be taken into account, proper inner unit functioning, total practice vs on the field volume, all other stressors, sets, reps, rest periods, intensity, tempo, how much balance, strength, power, coordination, speed, etc. that are needed and the list goes on. As you can see there is quite a bit and this is why when I or other CHEK Practitioners work with clients it really becomes quite an art.
All that being said, getting stronger is certainly part of it, but being able to recover from the exercise is what it is all about. Here are a few of my favorite recover tools:
- Balancing proper macronutrient ratios (carbs, fats, proteins)
- Eating and drinking both enough as well as the highest quality available
- SLEEP: for physical recovery 10pm-2am is a must and a solid 8 hours or more for higher training athletes
- Working In: It is funny, the more I have others work in or even myself, the stronger they get, myself included
- Keep reading
- Why you can’t just train more
- Why all stress summates!!!
- Basics of recovery and injury prevention: too much stress breaks the body down and leads to injury, illness, etc. Plain and simple. Good stress=strong and healthy
Can’t I Just Train More?
No. Keep reading below and you will learn why. Simply more is not better, simply just more. The body must recover and with countless other stressors this becomes very difficult.
The Student Athlete Conundrum of Stress
You may have heard this a time or two in the past and it still holds true. All stress summates and I do believe that our bodies are under more distress than ever before. This is very different as I feel that in the not so distant past it was more of a eustress or good stress. I say this because now we are always connected to electronics, the lights are always on, toxins and chemicals are ravaging our bodies, sleep is more of an afterthought and pushing ourselves into the ground physically is the only way to make gains.
Well maybe we should then throw some academic stress of having to get straight A’s, get into only the best schools, play every sport under the sun or only one and do it twice a day everyday. On top of that creativity is being taken out of the school environment and only one side of our brain is being worked and worked and worked. Whew!
The point of these last two paragraphs of ranting is that all of these stresses just keep adding up. It is not enough to play some sports in the seasons that they are normally played in and then move onto the next while taking a well-rounded set of classes, but why not! We should not be cramming more and more into teenage and young adult lives. This is when the body needs time to rest, recover and grow. With excessive stress loads this is not allowed to happen and breakdown occurs. This is why you continue to see injury rates go through the roof during the competitive season.
Be realistic with athletic and academic endeavors. Sure pursue your passion, but don’t think that you are the only one going after it. I was aware of my academic and athletic levels in high school. I was both an above average academian and athlete, but was not a superstar in either. This is why I didn’t go to an Ivy League school for academics or a top 10 school for sports. I went were I should and didn’t stress over it. I did my best and continue to strive to be the best in my field, but make sure to use good stressors to get me there. Be sure to know where you are at in school academics and the academics of life. Learning will always continue, but do not let it ruin your physical body.
If you are wondering how the health of your brain is, I have the answer. Check out this FREE Brain Health Quiz to find out where you are at and I will send you my new free book “The 4 Morning Secrets to Perfect Brain Health.” This is important because a healthy, strong brain will mimic itself in a healthy strong body!
Have a Great Day!
Nick Horowski
http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/media/statistics.aspx
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/06/injuries-athletes-kids-sports/2612429/
http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Sports_Injuries/sports_injuries_ff.asp