Rehab or even prehab, (more on that later), often conjures thoughts of physio based exercise (nothing wrong with these) and a break from training which, let’s face it, kinda feels like someone’s pulled the exercise mat from under us.
Whilst a lot will depend on the extent of the injury, there will still be other options that we can pursue, with the right planning, we can use this time to work on other areas, movements and strengthening the underlying architecture of our bodies.
The prime driver may be to rehabilitate the original injury, however, we have an opportunity to look into the surround area’s, work on them and develop a more cohesive setup.
A quick couple of examples before I get too carried away:
Shoulder rehab – one of the most common, are we looking into how the lats, pec’s and mid back are integrating with the shoulder movements or were we just expecting the shoulder to take all the heat?
Knee rehab – how are the quads and hamstrings supporting the movements, do we have good mobility/flexibility within hip to allow them move properly and support the knees, have we strengthened our calves to provide stability from beneath?
One of the key assessments is to look above and below the problem area, what caused the area in question to have to take that force, now I’m not saying that it’s always the case, however, through working with individuals, I’ve found that identifying how to strengthen the surrounding (and supporting) area’s always helps to reduce the load and come back stronger.
A few weeks ago, we were looking at training for performance, I mentioned accessory work, this can also form our own little prehab section (for those who have an accessory program from me, its already in there!).
In the case of deadlifts, we may choose a few movements with a lighter weight where we look at a single part of the movement, for example deficit deadlifts (we stand on a plate with the bar at normal height increasing the depth required to start the movement), this assists with breaking the weight off of the ground, it also adds overload (hence the lighter weight) to the posterior chain strengthening it at an angle of attack greater than that of the required movement.
Prehab can also be introduced in a warmup, or as a working set within a workout, for example, using resistance bands to warm shoulders up before a workout, regardless of the type of workout making it second nature and continuously topping it up. During a workout, we may use hip circle or slingshot to have a focus on correct form.
Circling back to rehab, when considering what to include:
- Ensure that we are following any direct medical advice we have received (i.e. Dr or Physio, not Dr Google),
- If we are clear to start working the area again, have we included exercises that support that area.
- Have we established how to warm the area up correctly and using this to create good form.
- Remember to start out light, it’s easy to add weight as we progress.
- Be symmetrical (if it’s a sided rehab) whilst we are improving, it would be silly not to take precaution on the other side.
- Listen to our bodies, there are many things that can influence a workout, such as hydration, nutrition how sedentary we have been and many more
We always want to be back to fighting fit asap, we want you back as quickly as possible AND stronger than before, it just might take a little bit more time than we’d like, but better a few extra weeks than having to take backwards steps.
Need help with improving mobility and strength after an injury, or just want to double-check you’re on the right track? – give a member of Team SF a shout, info@spikefitness.co.uk