What is an Overuse Injury?

Working with professional tennis players with the WTA, Dr. Victoria has treated her fair share of overuse injuries. Although a large amount of professional athlete’s experience this, it can happen to anyone. If you spend a lot of time training or working out, you are susceptible to an overuse injury. Without proper care, those little aches and pains that come and go can quickly develop into more serious overuse injuries.

Overuse injuries often occur when you don’t give your body adequate time to rest and recover after increasing the amount of intensity or activity. Some of the most common workout-related injuries are tendonitis, bursitis, and stress fractures. For those who exercise regularly overuse-related injuries like Achilles tendonitis & plantar fasciitis can be exceptionally frustrating since they can set you for up to weeks or even months.

Here are a few tips to help you avoid overuse injuries and keep you pain free.

• Start out slow. If you’re new to the activity, don’t try to go hard on day one. Avoid over-exercising by gradually working toward your goals, taking baby steps to ensure you’re progressing without overdoing it. Keeping a fitness journal and making notes about your progress is a great way to stay on track while pacing yourself.

• Spread out your activity. Try not to compress all your training into one or two days out of the week. Instead, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day or every other day. By spreading your workouts over the course of the week, you can set yourself up for success and avoid doing too much at one time.

• Take time to warm up and cool down. Easing into your workouts with a warm up is a great way to prep your muscles and ensure you stay injury free. It’s also a good idea to end each workout with a few cool down exercises and stretches to help reduce delayed muscle soreness. Also, add another layer to your recovery routine by foam rolling after your workouts to help increase blood flow and enhance recovery of the tissue.

• Mix up your routine. One of the best ways to keep your body well-balanced and strong is to cross train. Work on strengthening your entire body while focusing on different muscles in every workout. Mix up your cardio days with your strength training days and introduce some variety into your routine. This will not only help you avoid an overuse injury but can also keep you engaged and focused.

• Listen to your body. If you’re dealing with an injury or pain, make sure you take the time to fully recover before getting back into your workout routine. Suffering from an acute or traumatic injury in one part of your body can cause other parts to overcompensate for the loss of strength. If you don’t take adequate time to let your body rest and heal, this overcompensation can lead to muscle imbalances and mechanical issues, causing even more pain.

Recover Faster with DynamicDocs.

If you’ve been sidelined by an overuse injury or pain, please schedule with us at DynamicDocs. Our approach to treating overuse injuries leads to rapid recovery and lasting results. Dr. Victoria is dedicated to fixing your pain fast, so you can get back to doing the things you love most.