Injury prevention for champions: Make sure you have the right strategy

Injury preventions and recovery strategies can be very expensive, but you need to understand, if you are embarking on a journey of training, competitiveness or competition, it is something you need to budget for. If you are a runner, you would never dream of running a marathon in flip flops because it is the wrong tools for the job. A Proteas cricket player won’t use a bark from a tree to go into bat and expect to score many runs. Recovery and recovery tools are part and parcel of your journey in looking after your body.

If you are going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or compete in an important multi-match football weekend tournament you need to have the right strategy for the battle ahead. You need to change your mindset as to why recovery is so important to you. Do you want a journey of constant pain or do you want a journey that is enjoyable?

Here are some powerful tips you need to add to your training to help reduce injuries.

Start off with Good Nutrition:

Your journey to a healthy sporting and fitness career starts with what is at the end of the fork. If you want to build a car that can handle stress and perform at a high level, you need to give it the right fuels for the job. You would never dream of putting inferior quality fuel into a high performance sports car because you know you will probably harm the engine, so then why would you ever dream of putting junk food, sweets, excessive alcohol and cigarettes into your system, especially before a big climb or tournament. What do you think is going to happen? I can guarantee you, you won’t perform at your best!

Reduce muscle cramps:

One important reason why we need the right nutrients is to limit the risks of getting cramps, which can occur for several reasons such as muscle fatigue, lack of nutrients, hydration and poor flexibility.

Your body is made of up 60% water which is important for cooling your body down, cellular activity and wellbeing. This is why during big tournaments it is important to hydrate frequently. One can hydrate by drinking normal water or one can hydrate through consuming liquids that contain electrolytes. Electrolytes contain important nutrients such as sodium, chloride, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. These minerals are needed for cellular functioning and when your body lacks these minerals, spasms and cramps occur.

The myth that eating a small packet of salt or a banana will fix your cramps most probably won’t. It is more complex than that. If you are missing one mineral, it is normally not in isolation but rather missing a few others. Consuming a banana is part of the puzzle of why you are getting repeated cramps. Here are a list of foods that will help with essential electrolytes.

• Bananas – Potassium
• Sweet Potato/Pumpkin – contains potassium, calcium and magnesium
• Avocado – twice the amount of potassium than banana and sweet potato and good essential fats; great the night before or for breakfast on the day of a big tournament
• Beans & Lentils – high fibre and research links it to reduced stomach cramps because it controls blood sugar levels
• Melons – great source of potassium & calcium (when the body sweats it gets rid of sodium or salt during exercise; and this increases the risk of cramps)
• Full Cream Milk – great source of electrolytes: calcium, potassium and sodium. If you add a teaspoon of coca powder, then you have a powerful recovery drink.
• Pickle Juice – stops cramps quickly; not because it is high in sodium but rather it sends a signal to the nervous system
• Mix nuts – keep them natural and raw, but not roasted
• Yellow Mustard – helps in reducing muscle inflammation

Improve Core, Mobility and Flexibility

The fastest way to reducing injuries is practicing a daily routine of core, mobility and flexibility drills. Injuries primarily occur due to overloading of your muscles during movement and either the stress or load is too much and tears occur. Think of your core as the ability to control your centre mass.

Injuries occur when you are not in control. Let’s say you have a weak core; you are in the second half of your match and you go in for a crutching tackle. Even if you win that tackle, you are not in control of your mass entirely and this places you in a high-risk zone for injury.

Mobility refers to your range of motion and, strangely enough, the more you train the worse your range of motion becomes. Therefore, it is important to keep working on your ROM which will allow muscles and joints that need extra range when your body is pushed to the limits. Flexibility can be seen at the elasticity of the muscles. The more you gym, the tighter and shorter your muscles become, and therefore it is important to dedicate time to stretching or adding daily yoga routines to your game plan.

If you take your exercise, sport or sports performance seriously, enjoy your journey by adding these simple yet powerful tips to your daily routine and see the improvements in injury prevention, energy levels and sports performance.

Sean van Staden.

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