Do you have an athlete that is experiencing heel pain? How about knee pain? Or what about hip pain, lower back pain, upper back pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain or wrist pain?

Unless there was a serious injury that undoubtedly created this pain, these are all types of overuse injuries. These are SO common in sports, so what's the reason?

WHY is this happening?

Let's take a look at our "athletic pyramid" to get some answers…

 

1. They're not getting the right nutrition and hydration. They may be deficient in something like a mineral or some micronutrients, they might not be drinking enough water, or maybe they just aren't eating enough great quality food. The problem is, this slows down recovery and there isn't enough time between practices to get back to their baseline. It becomes a downward spiral that leads directly to overuse injuries.
2. They're not getting enough rest. I may sound like a broken record, but athletes under the age of 12 need 10-12 hours of sleep each night, and athletes over the age of 12 need 8-10 hours of sleep each night. It's not negotiable…you can't say "well, they ate a tomato today, so they only need 6 or 7 hours of sleep." NOPE, doesn't work like that, you can't negotiate with sleep. If your athlete is continually deficient in the recommended amount of sleep, the chance for overuse injury skyrockets.
3. They're practicing their sport with improper movement. They may be landing incorrectly, and believe it or not, their coaches may even be encouraging this! I'm not here to bash any coaches; I just want to help educate on proper movement. Most (not all) coaches are not experts on the anatomy of the human body, and they coach either "how they were taught," or, "how it's always been done." This is a HUGE problem, (especially in gymnastics) because the proper movement techniques of jumping and landing do not change from sport to sport. With the repetitions required in some sports, improper landing is a serious cause of lower back, hip, knee and ankle overuse injuries.
4. They're trying to do skills that they don't have the strength to do. They can get an overuse injury when they keep trying over and over to do something that their body is not physically strong enough for yet.
5. They're doing a skill incorrectly. Just like improper movement, a skill done repetitively and incorrectly will cause an overuse injury.

My athlete has an overuse injury, SO NOW WHAT?

Look at your athlete's BASE, their Nutrition and Hydration, and their Rest and Recovery. Are they getting everything that we've talked about on the Roadmap to Success," proteins, carbs, and fats with every single meal; and are they getting the recommended amount of sleep? Work on this for the next 2 weeks, and you will see a monster difference! Then, we can go up the pyramid and look into proper movement.

Comment below to let me know what overuse injury your athlete is experiencing, and how you're going to look at their BASE to try and get on top of this, and then come back in 2 weeks let me know how it's working.

I guarantee that if you commit to these two things, you will see improvements in your athlete's health. I'm here to encourage you and walk alongside you, let's get rid of these overuse injuries right now!