Injuries suck. They suck because of the pain, they suck because of the recovery time and everything that goes into recovery, and they suck because they put a pause on your training and development. Avoiding injuries is key for the enjoyment of the sport, your physical progression, and the longevity of your training. So here are 7 ways to avoid injuries in OCR:
We're going to cover basic things you can do throughout your training to help prevent injuries. None of these things are guarantees, but they will certainly go a long way.
1: Shoulder Strengthening
A lot of shoulder injuries happen in OCR due to the amount of strain place on them during Obstacles like Monkey Bars, Rigs, Rope Climbs, and so on. In order to prevent these injuries, it's important to strengthen all 3 muscles around your shoulder, and to also do the little things with bands. Some helpful exercises are:
-Dumbbell Shoulder Press
-TRX Y Fly
-Band Reverse Fly
-Band External Rotation
2: Running Form
There has never been a runner (someone who runs regularly) in the history of the world who hasn't become injured at some point to some degree. Injuries with running occur for multiple reasons. It could be bad running form. It could be overuse. It could be shoes that are worn out and causing issues with form. It could be strength imbalances. However, if you can develop proper running form, it will go a very long way toward injury prevention. If you need to work with a running coach for a few sessions, do it. It's worth it.
3: Cross Training
A great way to prevent overuse injuries from running (since running comprises so much of the time on course at an OCR) is to cross train. To cross train for running, using a rower, bike, air bike, ski erg, or swimming are all great ways to reduce the impact on your body and get your muscles moving through different ranges of movement. Reducing impact and reducing the risk of overuse should be help keep you healthy.
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4: Foam Roll, Massage, Stretch
The idea here is to take care of your muscles/tissue. There are other things you can use beside the 3 listed, but make sure you are consistently taking care of your muscles. The less knotted, tight, and inhibited they are, the less likely you are to have an injury occur because of those things.
5: Hydrate Properly
You wouldn't think it necessarily, but being dehydrated can contribute to your risk for injury. No matter what aspect of training we are talking about, proper hydration equates to better performance. Dehydration is not something you want.
6: Sleep
Your body repairs itself when it rests. Sleep is the best rest you can get, and it's where most of the important work for recovery and repair is done. If you slack on sleep, your body won't have the time to recovery, and then you add sleep deprivation to your list of issues. Get enough sleep.
7: Proper Warmups
A proper warmup means preparing your body for the task it is about to complete. No matter what type of training you are doing (endurance, power, strength), you need to warm up your tissue, begin elevating your heart rate for increased blood flow, and make sure you are able to work through necessary ranges of movement for your workout. Your warmup should be at least 5 minutes long typically. I'd personally recommend shooting for to 7-10 minutes.
There you have it! Stay healthy, train hard, race hard, and let us know if you want coaching!
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