How to avoid injuries

This month's issue of Vogue offers amazing incite into sports injuries. I've always thought it bizarre that top athletes (such as my adorable sister) can get injured while doing mundane activities - pull a hamstring whilst shopping, tear a wrist ligament hitting a ball, etc.. These injuries then stop them from playing their sport. Shouldn't the hours of weekly training stop this from happening? No, and here's why:

We work our big muscles too much - quads, hamstrings and biceps - and forget about what holds us together, stabilizer muscles.

This quote illustrates the issue very nicely : "A body with strong movers and weak, imbalanced stabilizers is like that beautiful purse that does not last."

Thankfully there is something we can do, and no surprise, yoga comes into play. Here is a list of exercises proposed by the author to re-balance our workouts and reduce the risk of injuries.

1- Roll-over Superman

A modified version of Locust Pose (Salambhasana). Lie on your belly with your arms extended in front of you and your legs straight. Exhale and lift your head, upper torso, arms, and legs away from the floor. Maintaining the contraction, roll over onto your back and then roll back onto your belly. Repeat multiple times alternating which way you roll (one may be harder than the other, that's normal, but shouldn't stop you from doing it anyway).

2- Walking Down Dog

Walk from Plank Pose to Downward-facing dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) keeping your hips level and transferring your weight from one hand to the other.

3- Hip, knee and ankle circles

With your feet hip width apart, trace circles with your hips like if you were standing in a barrel and trying to touch the entire rim with your hips. Rotate clockwise and counterclockwise.

With your feet together, bend your knees and place your hands on your thighs. Make little circles with your knees, both ways. Martial Art students should recognize this basic warm up exercise. You can watch this instructional video for help with this exercise: http://www.ehow.com/video_4958081_kung-fu-warm-ups-knee.html

Ankle circles are easy. Pretend you are crushing a cigarette butt (I do not suggest you smoke or throw your butts on the ground, that is littering.

4- Walking lunge

Basic exercise that will strengthen your Gluteus Medius - a stabilizer muscle in the hip.

Here's how to video :



5- Turkish Get Ups

This is a great full body exercise, start with a weight that both sides of your body can lift and make the same amount of repetitions. Start small and work your way up.



6- Feet exercises

Last but not least, these exercises will help with lower back problems and relax your feet after a day of wearing shoes. My teachers at Oceanfront yoga taught me loads of wonderful feet stretching exercises that you can practice while watching TV. They are to explain without visual aids so I'll work on a post just about this in the upcoming days.

In the meantime, here is a video, with a lot of talking but a couple of good exercises :


Feet Stretches: Elsie's Yoga Video Tips
Uploaded by yogeekgirl. - College experience videos.


These are only a few of the exercises you can do to help your body maintain a good balance. Ask your personal trainer or your yoga teacher, they can help you find the right exercises for you.

Namaste!
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References:
Weil, Elizabeth. "Stealth Strength." Vogue Oct. 2010: 230,234.