Runners focus on running. Cyclists love to be on the bike. Swimmers love to be in the pool.

But what about the gym?

Could spending a bit more time there help to prevent or manage injuries?

Injuries are a pain – in more ways than one!

When you’re in good condition, you’re able to live an active life and participate in your favourite sport.

Sustaining an injury is painful and its effects go further than your fitness. An injury may affect your:

• Social life: You may miss the camaraderie of a team or find it too difficult to haul yourself out to social events
• Mental health: You may miss the feel-good hormones released by exercise and may feel frustrated, demoralised or depressed by your injury or anxious about returning to sport
• Bank balance: Treatment costs can add up after a while.

When you consider all those factors, reducing the risk of injury is a wise move. As Norwegian researchers note,

“While the management of sports injuries can be troublesome, time-consuming and expensive, prevention in the form of strength training has proved to be accessible, effective and cost-effective…”

What is strength training?

Strength training (or resistance training) aims to increase muscle strength by making your muscles work against a progressively increasing weight or force such as:

• Your body weight
• Free weights
• Weight machines
• Resistance bands.

Strength training has many benefits. It may help to:

• Reduce the risk of injury by improving tissue condition
• Improve stamina
• Manage pain
• Increase bone density and strength
• Improve flexibility, mobility and balance
• Improve overall health and aid in managing various chronic diseases.

The good news is that strength training is not hard to do. You don’t need expensive equipment or hours of spare time. But you do need to know what to do.

Guidance on strength training

Strength training progressively improves your body’s condition. Your muscles gradually grow stronger, making them more able to cope with the demands of your sport and consequently lowering the risk of overuse injuries. In this way, strength improvement and injury prevention are closely related.

The ‘right’ approach to strength training depends on your overall health and the specific demands of your chosen sport.

How Gen Health Hamilton can help

At Gen Health Hamilton, we love helping you maintain your health and reduce your risk of injury.

Our physiotherapy, exercise physiology and podiatry teams can all undertake a comprehensive assessment of your current level of function, including underlying health issues or biomechanical factors that may affect your risk of injury in your chosen sport. Armed with that information, we can design a strength training program for you.

We then work with you to show you how to complete the exercises appropriately, adapting them when it is time to progress.

Ready to take a proactive approach to injury prevention? Please book an appointment.

Disclaimer

All information is general and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice.

Sources

• Lauersen JB, Andersen TE, Andersen LBStrength training as superior, dose-dependent and safe prevention of acute and overuse sports injuries: a systematic review, qualitative analysis and meta-analysisBritish Journal of Sports Medicine 2018;52:1557-1563. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/24/1557.citation-tools, [Accessed 6 November 2023]
• Physiopedia, Strength training, https://www.physio-pedia.com/Strength_Training, [Accessed 6 November 2023]