So we’ve gone pretty far in depth recently about technique and how it may influence your risk of getting injured. What else is really important when it comes to injury prevention? Moderating training volume is incredibly important. As human beings our body’s can only handle so much volume of a given movement before we start to break down.
What’s cool about being a human being is that we’re adaptable and can build our body’s ability to handle additional training stress. We’ll refer to this as our “capacity”. Having a higher capacity is actually beneficial from an injury prevention standpoint. This simply means that the more an athlete is prepared for a given activity, the less likely they are to get hurt in that activity.
What are Training Volume Spikes and Why are They Important?
So from an injury prevention standpoint we certainly want to build capacity. However, there’s a challenge, we know that if we have any spikes in our training volume (a quick rise in training volume compared to what we’re used to) we’re more likely to get injured. I’ve written about this a bit in the past and if you want a more in depth explanation with some research, click HERE.
So the goal becomes a nice slow and progressive increase in training volumes to allow our bodies to fully adapt without succumbing to injury.
In general we want to make sure we slowly progress:
- Exposure to end range positions (deep squats, bottom of dips, overhead positions)
- Exposure to specific movements (volume of pressing, squatting, deadlifting, pulling, running, olympic lifts etc.)
We can also build some additional capacity by adding in accessory work for muscle groups that are being stressed greatly in training:
- Additional achilles strength work in runners
- Rotator cuff strength work for overhead athletes
- Lower back and core strength work for powerlifters
- Single leg strength work for knee health in CrossFit and Olympic Lifting Athletes
Lastly, we’ll want to make sure we avoid training spikes. I made a quick video below to show some of the common mistakes I see that end up in jury. Check it out:
If you enjoyed this short clip then I wanted to let you know it’s part of a much longer webinar series included with subscription into my Fitness Pain Free Insiders Online Mentoring Program:
“Essential Coaches Series – What Every Coach Needs to Know About Pain and Injury”
I created this series because coaches and personal trainers everywhere are working with athletes in pain every day of the week. This series will tell you exactly what to do (and what not to do) with these athletes so they can continue working towards their goals and prevent injuries in the long haul.
- 7 Reasons Why Athletes Get Hurt in the Gym and What to do About It
- Evidence Based Guide to Mobility Prescription
- What is Pain and What You Need to Know When Dealing with Athletes in Pain
- How to Modify Exercises for Athletes with Knee, Lower Back, Shoulder and Hip Pain
- Plus 30+ hours of webinars about all things fitness and rehabilitation
Click HERE to Learn More About Fitness Pain Free Online Mentoring Program
Gotta spike your training,
Dan Pope DPT, OCS, CSCS, CF L1