Injuries are an unfortunate but common occurrence in the world of sports and fitness. Therefore it is important to prepare in advance to mitigate future injures. We at Betterfromtoday account for this, future injury prevention; how we do that is a mixture of proper technique, which is established in preliminary screening, identification of problems in bike fit & GAIT, progressive loading, targeted & optimal recovery practice; all combined with proper nutrition and lifestyle practice.
Besides these we also:
Train tendons and build power in end range of motion.
Quick lesson: Tendons are tough and flexible bands of connective tissue that attach muscles to bones. They allow the muscles to move the bones by transmitting the force generated by the muscle contraction.
Most common Injuries usually occur at Tendon-Bone junction, or at Tendon Muscle Junction.
As evident in the photo also, tendons have limited blood supply, therefore they take longer to adapt, aka get stronger.
We looked into the latest research published by Keith Baar, Ph.D. and Jill Cook, which gives us a brief insight to how tendons work.*
Stress relaxation: Tendons are viscoelastic tissues, when a sudden strong force exerted by the muscles, tendons stiffen up rapidly to ensure maximal force transfer from muscle to bone. However, in case of isometric exercises wherein the tendons are under a constant load, the tendon tends to relax, a process called stress relaxation. This concept allows us to train the tendons; how? by increasing time under tension. Usually 30 seconds is the minimal amount of time needed for an adequate degree of stress relaxation to occur. During the process of stress relaxation, the force applied by the muscles gets transferred to "weak links" or scarred spots within a tendon; this acts like a stimulus for the body to act upon the scarred areas, repair and fix them.
Refer to this video published by Keith Baar to understand the concept better: https://twitter.com/MuscleScience/status/1220832259827126272
This is why most rehabilitation protocols have isometric exercise protocols in them. Based on the existing research a stimulus of just 10 minutes on a tendon (10 minutes of targeted isometric exersise) is enough to create long lasting adaptation and improve tendon health.
If you are suffering from a tendon based injury, maybe 10 to 20 minutes of regular work would have been enough to avoid the injury.
Strength within end range of motion: While most rehabilitation clinics and strength experts do focus on isometric exercise, they don't realise that isometric exercise in itself leads to soft tissue stiffness. Basically you lose your muscle flexibility when you do regular isometric exercise. Therefore the very act of "BULLETPROOFING" via isometric training becomes a cause of injury due to muscle tightness and limited flexibility. Therefore it is essential to incorporate strength and function at the end range of motion.
The split squat, allows us to get into the end ranges of the knee flexion and hip extension. Thereby allowing us to train the Quadriceps and the Hip flexors at their end ranges. The reason why this exercise is genius is because it allows us to achieve these extreme joint ranges without requiring immense amount of mobility/ROM in our lower backs and hips(Glutes), which would be required for example, in a deep squat.
The very act of training our joints and muscles in their end ranges along with Isometric exercise allows us to remain injury free, and because most of these exercise are done with little weight, especially the exercises at end ranges, most of these exercise can be done at home or even at the office when you get a quick break.
Caution: Exercise in end ranges must be performed with care, and gradual progression as they as quite taxing for the tendons and the muscles.
Besides this, we at Betterfromtoday also account for Facia health. What is facia?
Imagine your body as a well-coordinated dance troupe, where every member needs to move in perfect harmony. Fascia is like the backstage crew that connects and supports all the dancers, ensuring they glide smoothly without any hiccups. This unsung hero of the body weaves a flexible, interconnected web that holds our muscles, organs, and bones together. Like an elastic superhero suit, fascia keeps everything in place while still allowing us to twist, bend, and jump with ease. So, next time you're in awe of your body's abilities, don't forget to give a nod to the amazing fascia working behind the scenes!
Find more about Facia health in our incoming posts so stay connected.
*SOURCES:
YouTube link for basic understanding:
Baar K. Stress Relaxation and Targeted Nutrition to Treat Patellar Tendinopathy. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2019 Jul 1;29(4):453–457. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0231. PMID: 30299199.
Lis DM, Baar K. Effects of Different Vitamin C-Enriched Collagen Derivatives on Collagen Synthesis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2019 Sep 1;29(5):526-531. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0385. PMID: 30859848.
Close GL, Sale C, Baar K, Bermon S. Nutrition for the Prevention and Treatment of Injuries in Track and Field Athletes. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2019 Mar 1;29(2):189-197. doi: 10.1123/ijsnem.2018-0290. Epub 2019 Mar 8. PMID: 30676133.
Hughes DC, Ellefsen S, Baar K. Adaptations to Endurance and Strength Training. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2018 Jun 1;8(6):a029769. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a029769. PMID: 28490537; PMCID: PMC5983157.
Timothy Miller et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2021 359 Serum vitamin D levels and risk of musculoskeletal injury in university track and field athletes http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-IOC.326
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