Injury can be a frustrating and painful experience. This is something that is a part of the human condition, and one of the insights from being injured is the improvements that can be made after the injury process has finished.

Many people have asked me; why am I injured? and what can I do to stop getting injured? These questions are the reason I enjoy doing what I do, and they are challenging to understand and often involve many components:

  1. Overuse; the body hates surprises, an increase in load and volume can mean that certain structures get sensitised. This can be a heavy weekend of DIY or running too far too soon.
  2. Poor sleep and other lifestyle factors, such as stress. This has been shown to decrease pain tolerance and heighten this sensory experience.
  3. Reduced muscle strength and conditioning, this will increase the load on the joint and increase the chances of becoming injured.
  4. Plus many more!

To reduce the chances of getting injured, you need to cope with the above problems and recognise these where possible. Put a plan in place to prevent regularly exposing yourself to these problems. This can help, but it will not make you immune to getting injured.