Sponsor: RePowerU -- a free fitness practices assessment (a 10-minute questionnaire)
Matthew Smith, DC, CES
Dr. Matt Smith is a sports chiropractor, strength coach, and the founder of EverAthlete, an online strength training, injury prevention, and recovery resource for outdoor enthusiasts. Matt has been a trusted coach and consultant to some of the best athletes and highest performers in the world, helping them navigate injuries and perform at their best.
Part 1 — Breathwork for Recovery (episode 48) -- https://www.wiseathletes.com/podcast/48-breathwork-for-faster-recovery-matthew-smith-everathlete/
Part 2 — Injury Prevention for Older Athletes
Older Athlete are particularly vulnerable to injuries:
- Many years to accumulate movement problems and muscle imbalances
- Past injuries from accidents
- Too much time sitting
- Too little cross-training
- Slower healing
Summary
(1) Do assessments to identify body areas that need work
Example: Lunge Movement Assessment:
Lowering the body down so the back knee comes close to touching the floor. Then stepping back to the original position.
A few things we look for in a test like that are:
- (1) torso control: Does the torso stay upright or does it drop down towards the floor, towards the knee as you go through the movement.
- (2) lower body: are the hips (and torso above) shifting from side to side, and do the hips stay level?
- (3) front foot points straight ahead
- (4) front knee to point straight ahead in line with 2nd and 3rd toe (vs. pointing inward our outward relative to the foot)
- (5) overall movement should look smooth and stable
When we see a problem, we do further breakout tests to fine tune the finding. Do they struggle with hip or ankle mobility or lumbar stability? Deficiencies in those areas can lead to a “messy” lunge.
(2) How to avoid injuries:
- Focused efforts on individual muscles that need to be addressed (based on assessments) in order to allow proper movement patterns:
- tissue work (foam roller)
- stretching (lengthening tight muscles)
- activation (such as using bands to turn on muscles creating muscle imbalances)
- Practice standard movements until competent (check out Matt's Instagram or Website for details)
- Mix up training: use of strength training as cross-training: healthy exercise to build balanced strength into the body for greater resilience as well as to learn proper movements that don’t lead to stressful movements (and pain or poor performance). Force the body to adapt to a variety of movements…to bring the body back to balance.&n
