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Wednesday, 27 November 2013 00:10

Injury-Prevention Checklist

By Jason Gootman and Will Kirousis

You hear stuff every day about things you can do to stay injury-free and keep swimming, cycling and running consistently. But, be honest, do you actually do this stuff? Do you put it off hoping that you won’t get hurt? Action works better than hope. And most type-A triathletes thrive with to-do lists. We know the athletes we coach thrive off getting their training plans and checking off the workouts. So how about to-do lists for injury prevention—an injury-prevention checklist? ...

We’ve got a three-part checklist for you that contains more than the surface-level injury-prevention stuff you hear all the time. Do this stuff and you will create a deep well of wellness and ward off injuries proactively. Have at it—check off as many items as you can!

Daily or Near-Daily Checklist
(Aim to check most of these off daily or close to daily.)

* Get to bed by 10 p.m. and sleep at least eight hours in a very dark (free of artificial light) bedroom. Sleep is your most rejuvenative state. While sleeping, your body repairs itself through a cascade of hormonal reactions. With good sleep (quantity and quality), your body literally builds itself back up from the breakdown of your workouts and work.
* Spend at least one hour resting (reading a book for fun, watching a funny movie or doing something similar). When resting, you are awake, but not putting out energy. If you are putting out energy from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep, you are wearing down every cell in your body. You must balance putting energy out with taking energy in. Rest is one of the keys to taking energy in. Take a break for crying out loud. READ MORE