Most adults reach their peak functioning capacity in their 30’s.
After that, lifestyle habits are the difference that will dictate whether you remain a life-long athlete and someone who enjoys physical activities for the rest of your life.
After each age decade, aches and pains seem to last longer after physical activities. How do we continue to live an active life while managing muscle soreness from activity, and prevent physical injury?
The answer lies in treating the body’s pre-injuries, and we’re not in talking about how the word pre-injury is typically referenced.
Pre-injury is typically talked about in terms of how someone used to be prior to injury, this is one definition.
We are talking about pre-injury as the signs the body sends out to prevent bigger physical injuries. These are the injuries that sideline life and enjoying an active physical lifestyle.
First, you might be surprised to find out that in even something as small as sore muscles can be considered a pre-injury.
What is Pre-injury?
Pre-injury simply means that your muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons or cartilage have become vulnerable and your must take action now to reduce it from ever becoming an injury. At the most basic level, if something doesn’t feel right, then this signal might be a pre-injury and stopping the activity is the best preventative measure.
It’s the signals your body sends out when it recognizes minimal trauma in the affected area. This signal is so important to recognize but normally dismissed.
We’ve all heard about “good” pain verses “bad” pain. Even in this, people are talking about “bad” pain as a pre-injury signal that could lead to a physical injury event. In order to judge what is good pain, you must first know your body and the signals it sends out.
For example, a minor ligament, cartilage, or muscle tears are pre-injuries. They don’t require immediate medical attention since they are not yet serious. At this point, you’re not seriously injured, however if you continue to increase the intensity of a workout or increase the amount of weight you use, you will most likely end up with an injury event. We must learn to listen to pre-injury signals to prevent injury events.
What Is An Injury?
Injury is described as harm or damaged inflicted to a body by an external force so that it is no longer healthy. Injury is obvious and pre-injury is more subtle.
What To Do If You Have A Pre-Injury
If you cannot stop doing physical activities, then resist inflaming and aggravating the pre-injury by doing complementary activities, which are ones where you use the same muscles groups.
Remember you CAN do this. You don’t have to give in to seeing professionals for every small pain.
Most pre-injuries are treatable at home. Like any skill, you have to practice it over and over.
After exercise, use an integrative method of using massage and manual therapy products like the TP BuddieRx to heal and optimize your muscles and body. You will start to notice signals in your body you were not aware of before. Over time, the habit of daily self-treatment, you will be able to identify where your sore spots are. You will start to notice when pains begins. This starts the cascade of a better mind-body collaboration. Identifying and treating them early on is the best practice and only you can do that.
Maintaining a healthy body is not a quick fix. This is a lifestyle change you have to embrace in order for it to be effective in improving the condition of your muscles.