A Better You: A game-plan for the (injured) active warriors out there

There is nothing worse than training your gluteas maximus off (buttock for short) and then the dreaded happens: you get injured.

And all you can think of is: “all that hard work, blood sweat, and tears gone down the toilet.”

It is impossible to stop injuries from happening, but it is possible to help prevent the severity of them through proper training strategies.

The question that every active training person that has gets injured asks their physiotherapist is “when can I start training again?”

The more you love your training the more you just want to get back and do what you love.

How you go about treating a freshly injured body part?

If you sprained your ankle in a pick-up game, it is always advised not to continue with further play especially if there is a lot of swelling, for fear of damaging the area further with varied degrees of additional complications.

We have covered the traditional methods on what steps to take when you get hurt, like rest and ice compression elevation, but for the purpose of this article I want to focus on steps that will help speed up recovery.

After the doctor has assessed that your limbs are still intact and that you have a grade one sprain with no serious damage and will be out for up to 14 days.

With your never give up attitude you quickly spring into action and apply the warrior’s rules to faster recover.

Here is a game-plan for you active warriors out there.

Seven ways to help you recover faster from injury 

Turn to ice

Ice packs or ice baths has proven time and time again to be hugely successful in reducing inflammation, increasing endorphins and flushing out toxins. The golden rules for injury is, the minute it happens, put ice on it and don’t take your shoes off immediately.

Quality strapping

The beauty of kinesiology tape is that it helps lift the skin from the tissue which aids in pain relief and increased circulation and blood flow. This is very important in an area that has swelling and bleeding. By flushing out the old blood and fluids, it helps in speeding up recovery

Eat more protein

Increased protein intake is essential in the repair process. Proteins contain amino acids and function as the cells’ building block to help repair and build muscle throughout the body. By eating more quality proteins during an injury, it allows for ample supply of amino acids to help with the repair process.

Hydrate

It might sound a little too simple to say to an injured athlete, drink more water and it will help you repair faster. The truth of the matter is your entire body needs water to function and do it daily task efficiently. Water helps convert food into energy and helps to absorb nutrients faster. During a repair process, lack of adequate water in your body will slow the recovery process down.

Get more sleep

There is one area that most active adults need more of and that is to get more sleep, but the problem is, where does one find the time? Studies have shown that sleep deprived athletes have a great risk of injury because of the slower reflects, balance, responsiveness of the tired nervous system. If your brain is fatigued, then your thoughts that need to transpire into movement and action will be progressively slower. When playing a sport like basketball defending a man that is cross over with the ball happens at a fraction of a second and the difference between you defending your man or not responding fast enough and potentially rolling your ankle.

Look to alternative treatments

At the end of the day, you are a creature of habit and believe in what you know. You need to educate yourself and then experiment with what works for you. Whether it is needling and meditation or physiotherapy and biokinetics or cryotherapy and ice baths, there is a place for all therapies, it’s the ability to use them that best suits your needs. If you do not know much about needling, then there within lies the problem, set on a journey to find out what it is, why it works, and the go try it out. You will be amazed.

Slow down but don’t stop

Just because you have injured your ankle doesn’t mean your whole body is a mess and you can’t do anything. See your ankle in isolation and get back on the court and start working on your shooting, seated dribbling and full ankle conditioning excluding movements that will flare up your ankle. I see a lot of athletes with the mind-set that I need to sit on a couch because the toe is sore. I am being facetious of course but you get my point. Work on all the other areas of your body that you might have neglected to focus on and when your ankle starts to feel stronger, then you can direct all your attention and focus on that area.

Sean van Staden is a sport scientist. Follow him on Twitter at @SeanVStaden or visit advancedsp.co.za.

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