Bodyline Fitness is very proud to be one of the sponsors of the Ealing Half Marathon which takes place on Sunday 30th September 2012.  Also, as a keen runner and general sports person I have been incredibly proud that my home city has just hosted an amazing Olympic & Paralympic games!

Now, you may be asking yourself how are these two things connected, and the answer is........ training injuries for the common man and woman!

Let's take the Ealing Half Marathon first; in the last 3-4 months I have spoken to and met several participants who had signed up for the race but have since pulled out through injuring themselves during their training.

It struck me that maybe there is something happening here and that these people have something in common; they are not seeking the right advice at the start of their training or are not planning their training properly.

So, where does the Olympics come in.............??

Well, I have been thinking that, just maybe, the roaring success of the Olympics and Paralympics will take the common man and woman off their sofas and into their local fitness centres or parks to try a new sport. Apparently the number of people playing handball post Olympics has increased hugely!

I have no experience of playing Olympic sports particularly but I have run a few races in my time and know just how frustrating it can be to get injured when you have just started playing a new sport or a new training regime.

Now, as the Ealing Half Marathon is so close it is clearly too late to start training now, but my sources tell me it is likely to become an annual event and there are always plenty of other races organised throughout the year.

So if you started to train for the half marathon and got injured what went wrong? If you have taken up a new activity or sport post Olympics, have you strained a  muscle and stopped playing?

Before you start any new fitness regime for an event or a sport you must prepare and I have listed below the top ten tips to avoid injury in this situation:

1. Get a health &  fitness check from a Fitness Professional; gyms and Personal Trainers will often offer these for free.
2. Prepare your body for general fitness no matter how "specific" the event/sport is
3. Improve your base level of fitness initially, just for a few weeks, before you undertake serious training or play the new sport
4. Work on your Core muscles; try Pilates or Yoga. Strong Core muscles can help prevent injuries later on

1. Be realistic about how much training you can do or how often you can play the sport, build it up gradually
2. Once a base level of fitness is achieved do cross-training. ie don't just do the sport itself; if you are playing badminton 1xweek, do a gym session or swim on a weekly basis as well
3. Seek professional advice which is relevant to your new sport or goal, again most fitness professionals will offer a consultation for free or a small fee.
4. If you feel a strain or muscle tightness, have it looked at straight away by a qualified therapist. Nipping the injury in the bud early will save bigger problems later.
5. If you are taking your sport or event more seriously than before, speak to a professional who can help you with the extra demands on your body as you run faster,play for longer or at a higher level.
6. Most importantly put a little bit of effort in "behind the scenes" so that you can ENJOY what you are doing on the day!

If there are any points raised here that you would like to discuss in more detail please contact me here for a free, no obligation consultation or call me, Roy, directly on 07921 777477

 

17th September 2012