Everyone gets injured once in a while. And, like the saying goes: 'It's not if you get injured, it's when.' Hopefully it ends up just being a temporary setback and not severe to the point of requiring surgery. Even if you've had surgery, don't think your exercise days are over! The human body is truly a magnificent and resilient machine. With the proper guidance, an optimal environment can be created to heal the body.

Exercise Injuries come in all shapes and sizes from:

Strain- taking a muscle or tendon beyond normal length

Sprain- injury to a ligament when the joint is carried through a range of motion greater than normal

Avulsion- tearing away of tissue from bone

Or:

Loss of cartilage, dislocations, joint replacement, fractures, or tearing of a meniscus or a bulging disc.

No body wants any of these but chances are you've had one if you've exercised or played sports in the past. How many times have you heard: "Oh, it's just an old football injury!"

Sure ways to get injured...

and you've heard most of them:

- Hitting the gym and repeating the same exercises in the same order on the same day of the week. (Monday is Chest day, right?)

- Lifting too much weight (It's not how much but how well!)

- Repeating the same Cardio exercises (or too long on those machines)

- Not training for symmetry or balance (if you can't see it in the mirror, it doesn't count!) 

- Dehydration (remember, coffee dehydrates you)

- Poor exercise selection and form (Dips & Upright Rows anyone?)

Though many injuries sound serious, most are recoverable given the right environment to heal, which includes progressive exercise challenge. Our goal at Fitness Alliance is to get you out of the Physical Therapy loop and back on track. My view is that if you rely on therapy, whatever the modality, for too long, someone isn't doing their job right! Even despite structural damage, say a spinal disc rupture, in my personal hands on experience, the body will almost always gain strength, support, stability, mobility and move forward to create a body that is strong, lean, and resilient if the right exercises are implemented and progressed appropriately.

Tools To Get You Back On Track

Preventing overuse injuries is the prime job (and responsibility) of the exercise professional but many times we have clients come to us post surgery, post Rehab, or just wanting to get rid of the pain inflicted by a bad exercise routine.

One of the prime tactics used by the team at Fitness Alliance includes thorough and continual assessment to identify muscular imbalance and joint limitation, or perhaps find lurking structural damage. Muscle Activation Techniques to assess Biomechanical Efficiency, Muscular Capabilities, and Neurological Effectiveness is one such tool which I have been practicing since 2001. For the qualified MAT specialist it enables a quick and accurate glimpse inside the body to identify, activate, and reinforce instability, compensation, and weakness. Even so, lasting results and progression to optimal movement and strength do not happen on the therapy table. No one should be reliant on therapy for too long. As I stated above, our goal is to get you off of the therapy table and progress into effective and efficient exercise.

With regard to Resistance Training Exercise, it is important to understand that Joints and the Muscles that move them are directed by the Nervous System which must be consistently challenged. Most people think it's just heart rate, weight, reps, muscles, and the calories you burn that define exercise when in fact it is the nervous system that overrides everything. The Resistance Training Specialist is trained to understand the ramifications of applying and negotiating forces from a variety of sources to stimulate the nervous system and employ specific tactics to meet the needs and goals of the client. Exercise is strategically challenged and varied promoting a 'Rotating of your Tires' to eliminate specific joint wear patterns, minimize risk and maximize benefit. Through the proper application of Resistance and Precise Production of force, your body will learn to strengthen, stabilize, and move beyond limitation and protection to shelve and hopefully eradicate those nagging aches and pains.

 Our goal at Fitness Alliance goes beyond exercise. We are in the Lifestyle business...not the exercise business. Exercise is but one piece of the puzzle to obtain optimal health or, a body that looks and works as it's suppose to for life. We employ Eating Strategies, multiple exercise disciplines such as Yoga, Pilates, Boxing, and Resistance Training, Therapies and Massage, and even guide you toward possessing the right mindset to put it all into practice for results to happen. All of this under one roof!