3 Tips for Returning To Exercise 

Its happened to a lot of us…

Plan made

Time allocated

Motivation is high

We get into a flow with exercise

It could be walking a couple of nights a week

Making sure we get that gym class in

Then a the niggling pain starts and you know there’s an injury brewing that could stop that adrenailne high that we have found again

So we have compiled some simple advice for people to follow to reduce their risk of injury as you safely return to the world of sport and exercise.

1. Ease Back In

• We’re all excited to get back to our sports and exercise but jumping straight back into exercise or movements that you haven’t done in the last few months can increase your risk of injury.

• The basis of our exercise advice in physiotherapy is the principle of graded exposure- this entails doing an easy, low intensity movement with good quality and then gradually building the complexity, intensity or speed of the movement in a step by step process over an appropriate amount of time.

• A practical example of this would be going back to the gym and doing a bodyweight squat then progressing to a goblet squat with a dumbbell or kettlebell, then on to front squats with a barbell and then a back squat with the bar on your back.

• It’s very important to prioritise quality movement and good technique over rushing through poorly performed exercises as the latter can increase your risk of injury. You will also make better progress and build more muscle if you maintain a slow, controlled tempo.

• We also want to make sure that we are easing back in when it comes to our exercise frequency as well.

A return to sports or the gym will mean that you will probably be exposing your body to more stressful stimuli in terms of heavier weights or higher speeds of movement. You will need to build back up to doing more sessions at a higher intensity so starting back with 2-3 sessions a week will be better than going 5-6 times just because we are excited to get back into that sporting environment again. 

At Compass Physio, all of our exercise and rehab programs follow this principle of graded exposure and we provide a step by step plan to get you back to the top level of your sport or activity safely and quickly.

2. Work on Change of Direction Exercises

• Twisting and turning to change direction are a huge part of most sports.

• Unfortunately, due to the nature of our day to day activities we tend to spend most of our time moving straight forwards and backwards and up and down. These movements do not prepare us for changing direction at speed on a pitch.

• When sports started up after the last lockdown, we saw alot of ankle and knee injuries due to the fact that people had just been doing straight line running and their home workouts didn’t involve any side to side or twisting movements.

• Our bodies tend to lose efficiency in certain movement patterns when we don’t use them very often. 
• This means that when you change direction while sprinting after a ball or another player, your body won’t be able to coordinate the turn very well.

• This could leave you at a bigger risk of injury.
• It will be vital for you to reintroduce twisting, turning and change of direction skills in a controlled, slow paced environment before returning to sports where you need to be able to perform these movements at speed and under pressure.

At Compass Physio we always include exercises in all planes of movement so that you are fit to return to your chosen sport or exercise after an injury or time away from the sport.