Everything In The Body Is Connected

Many times, when an injury occurs, the athlete is dumbfounded. The pain seems to come out of nowhere. And in a quest to figure out why, the person is often left with more questions than answers. 

Common things I hear in these situations are: 

“Nothing has changed with my training.” 

“I don’t remember doing anything to cause it.” 

“The pain just started randomly.” 

“I’ve been running for 20 years without an issue and now this for no reason.” 

“I just keep getting injured. I don’t understand why.” 

There is always a reason! 

Most of the injuries we sustain (not counting those traumatic events) are due to compensations and improper movement patterns our bodies have been making for years or even decades. The ankle sprain when you were in high school, the shoulder injury at work in your 20s, the minor car accident that you felt fine after, the sustained postures you have been maintaining for the past 20 years. Yep, all relevant! 

Past Injuries 

When you experience an injury, the body quickly learns to compensate around it in order to allow you to function with as little pain as possible. Even if you go through rehab and feel you have restored everything possible, there are often some compensations present in some fashion that go unnoticed because they are very subtle or possibly because they only occur at certain times, such as when you hit a certain range of motion, are fatigued, or add speed or power. 

You get back to training, no pain, and feeling normal again, but every time you move your body is compensating without you realizing it. Over time, this creates stress and strain on different areas of the body, resulting in pain at some point in time. 

Sustained postures 

Sitting has gotten a bad reputation in the past several years. Yes, while sitting does have its downfalls and can contribute to injuries, so does standing in the same position for long periods of time. Truth is that the body likes to move! Regardless of if you are sitting, standing, or kneeling for long hours every day, your body is not going to like it. Each sustained posture has its learned patterns of movement that you get stuck in and can create issues. These learned patterns of movement can over time create injury situations because of areas of tightness and stiffness needing to work harder or poor mechanics due to postural faults. 

You are better of moving often during the day rather than being in one position. Personally, when I stand, I often have one leg on the floor and the other is resting up on something. And I switch sides often. I also go between sitting and standing throughout my time on the computer. The more fidgety you can be, the better! 

All of this to say…there is a reason for your injury and/or injury cycle! Now it is a matter of working with someone who will take the deep dive with you to search for the ultimate cause and restore normal movement again. 

Do you have more questions than answers? Great! Let’s chat and help you find some answers. Schedule a Free Discovery Call with Brianne Showman to get your questions answered.