Preventing Injury IS Improving Performance, By: Brad Walker
Over the past couple of years I've subscribed to many health & fitness newsletters. As I'm sure you have also. Some are good, and some are not so good. Others, you actually look forward to receiving. There are not many of those ones around, but they're well worth it when you find one.
Anyway, one of the newsletters I enjoy receiving is called The StrengthCoach Newsletter, from StrengthCoach.com. David Moore publishes the newsletter, and his articles are informative and to-the-point.
One article I particularly enjoyed a couple of months ago was called, "Preventing Injury IS Improving Performance." It's only a short article, but it embodies a lot of what I believe in, and a lot of what I endeavour to promote and teach. To follows is David's complete article.
Strength and conditioning coach Dave Moore has over 10 years of experience as a collegiate strength and conditioning coach and was instrumental in developing programs for a number of college athletic departments, health clubs, and sports medicine clinics. He holds a master's degree in physical education from the University of Wyoming and a bachelor's degree in exercise physiology from the University of California, Davis.
As a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Moore has worked for the University of California, in Davis, the University of Wyoming, Marquette University, and Loyola Marymount University.
StrengthCoach.com was founded in 2000. Our corporate office is located in Santa Monica, CA. We offer online subscription-based strength and fitness programs that are created based on the ability level and goals that are unique to each member's needs.
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Simply put, an athlete can't reach his or her potential if they're injured. Unfortunately, it seems so many of our strength training and conditioning coaches emphasize so much strength improvement. Coaches press athletes to improve their one-rep max by a few pounds in the hope that the new strength will help performance.
I disagree. For most sports, we should look at how strength training will reduce the likelihood of suffering an injury. Most practices require repetitive movements that often lead to overuse injuries, tendonitis, stress fractures, and others. It's here I think strength training can be a key component in preventing some of these injuries.
For example, volleyball players and tennis players notoriously experience shoulder pain and soreness throughout a season. Weight training should be used to strengthen the shoulder cuff muscles in order to balance strength of the front and back of the shoulder.
You see the front of the shoulder for a volleyball or tennis player is already tremendously strong. Think about it, they strengthen the front of the shoulder each and every time they hit the ball. So, the front of the shoulder needs no extra training in the weight room. What should be strengthened are the muscles on the BACK of the shoulder. These are the muscles that slow the shoulder down after swinging and play a major role in keeping the shoulder healthy.
Just because an athlete uses muscles in their sport doesn't mean that those muscles have to be trained even more so in the weight room. If you do this, it can lead to over training and eventually injury.
Unfortunately, using strength training to prevent injury isn't as exciting to some coaches as lifting for maximum power is. However, I feel strength training to prevent injury is far more important, and safer, than power lifting for maximum strength.
Remember, the goal of your training program is to improve athletic ability. Improving one's strength, speed, endurance, and flexibility will not only set the stage for practice, but aid in preventing injury so one can make it through the entire season without getting hurt. Never do we want our strength and conditioning programs exposing athletes to dangerous or injury causing workouts. Something may look sport-specific, and although it looks tempting, be aware!
Sport-specific training should be implemented during practice. Use weight lifting, conditioning, and stretching to enhance athletic ability and prevent injury.
