I presented this presentation to my local gym a few weeks ago which prompted me to do a blog post on this topic. It’s an important topic to talk about because unfortunately injuries during this period are quite common. Something about the line “8 week challenge” is enough to get our hearts racing and ready to tackle this challenge head on! And there is prize money!
My tips today will be simple ones that you can follow so that you can get the most out of your 8 week challenge, with minimal strain and an increase in your loading on your body gradually.
Here are my top 6 tips for avoiding injuries during this challenge:
Set realistic goals! If you are someone who hasn’t trained before, then 3 sessions will probably get you great results! You will be pushed out of your comfort zone and if you are following the nutrition program you should expect to see great results. If you are someone who trains regularly, then upping the intensity to include an extra session will be fine! But remember the more you are training the more you have to put in for maintenance. Ill talk about maintenance a little later on.
Get enough sleep! Did you know there is an increased risk of injury with less than the recommended 7-8 hours sleep? Such a simple way to ensure your body is rested and ready to take on the next session.
Its important to note that injury can and will happen. However, they are occasionally the result of little niggles that you carry with you. Something niggles for a short while (either days, weeks or months) and then one day – bang. You hurt yourself. Most of my patients will say that they felt their back for a few weeks before they hurt it. Think of these niggles as “warning” signs. They are your brain telling you “be careful now”. If we push past this we may end up with injury. Not all pain is damage, which is why I call these niggles warning signs. You either have 2 options with your niggles – get help, or let it rest/modify the movements that are causing you to feel your niggles. Help can be in the form of seeing someone, such as an Osteopath or your preferred provider. Sometimes, if you know enough about your body, you may be able to get it right for yourself. If you choose to let it rest, you will invariably settle the area down, but you might notice it re-aggravate as soon as you start to use it again. There are some great resources out there to educate yourself on self treatment, or see a professional. In my experience, when I see someone at the niggle stage, it is easier to treat than someone at the injury stage. Also, if something in your session doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not right. Patients that I see can usually pin point which exercise it was that was the culprit. Chat to your trainers about your niggles – they are extremely knowledgable and can provide advice to help you avoid injury.
Perform the warm up properly! And do the cool down. When you arrive at the gym there is time prior to the actual warm up which I want you to use. Know your niggles, or your tight spots, and get moving. Ideally you should be performing a dynamic warm up – and the BFT warm up is a great example of this. Prior to this warm up – I want you to do a dynamic warm up of your tight spots – think of going into a stretch, and then out of it, and repeat 20-30 times. If you are unsure about dynamic warm ups please check with your trainer. Also – perform the cool down! The screens will go over stretches of the major muscles groups used within that session. This is really important.
Modifying exercises is totally fine! I wouldn’t expect everyone in a session to be able to execute all the exercises properly, with good technique, and with no niggles. The goal of every session is movement, and placing some stress on your body in order for your body to create a change. If you have previous achilles injuries for example, maybe now is not the time to start jumping. Modify the exercises so that they suit your body. There are some patients that Ive simply said “I don’t want you doing that exercise again, it doesn’t suit your body”. Once my patients realise that the end goal isn’t always the exercise, but movement, their outlook changes. Sure maybe one day you can work with someone to rehab something properly so that you can perform the exercises again, but during this challenge I would rather you modify exercises to suit your body.
Maintenance! Maintenance means different things to different people. Put it this way, if you are pushing your body to do 4 or more sessions per week (which invariably involves some back to back sessions) then you need to be committing to maintenance on your own body. Things include:
Stretching/foam rolling/self massage (every day or every second day for 15-20min each time)
Seeing an Osteopath/Chiropractor/Physio/Massage fortnightly to monthly.
Attending a yoga class weekly
Going to an infrared sauna weekly
Swimming – ideally once a week to improve your mobility
