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Reduce Inflammation
This term is thrown around often without a real understanding of what it actually means. In simple terms, inflammation is defined as the initial response of the body to harmful stimuli. Everything from DOMS to having too many of those strong cocktails that didn’t taste like strong cocktails is a form of inflammation. Unfortunately, a lot of people who seek clinical treatment to help them move better and have less joint pain are actually looking in the wrong places. Homeopathy, medication etc., range at best from quackery to expensive Band-Aids in terms of efficacy. If you suffer from the effects of inflammation, you’re far more likely to improve your situation by reducing inflammatory foods in your diet and decreasing inflammatory responses like overproduction of cortisol and histamine. Less inflammation equals better range of movement, and in turn helps activation of under-developed muscle regions.
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Strengthen the Posterior Chain
Easily the most underrated and underused regions of the body. This refers mainly to the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. The ratio for a male should be 70% strength in the hamstrings to 30% in the quadriceps. For females it’s around 60/40. However in the ordinary person we’re looking in the realms of 20/80 in favour of the quads. It’s a simple equation; the average person sits 8-10 hours a day. This negation of the posterior chain through sitting inhibits the glutes, which causes them to not be able to perform their major function of being a hip stabilizer. They’re definitely not the glamour muscles to post on Instagram, but posterior chain exercises pull all of these imbalances back into line. It really is one of those things that you don’t realise you have out of whack until you fix it, and then it all just clicks. Or in this case, doesn’t click or creak anymore.
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Sleep
There’s no substitute for sleep. Its importance is so profound that one bad night’s sleep can lower your testosterone levels by up to 30%. And yes that’s a bad thing, even for women; testosterone helps improved bone density, so you can do the math when it comes to stress fractures and bone related issues. Sleep is essential and without substitute for growth hormone production and muscle recovery. And it means less investment in coffee.
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Yoga and Meditation
While yoga might not have the trumping benefits of increasing posterior chain strength, it does have major benefits in rebalancing neurotransmitters that promote sleep. It also helps dampen the pro-inflammatory effects of a day of endless cortisol production, which in turn gives you a good night’s sleep. Not to mention the huge detoxification benefits, which once again reduce inflammation and promote movement. Remember to increase capacity to move you must increase blood flow! You know when people say they feel really relaxed and chilled after a yoga session? That’s not some hippy delusion, that’s the exercise literally changing the chemistry of the body for the better.
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Improve Ratios in the Body
Everything in the body is about ratios, and structural balance is one of the most important things you can work on. One example is your rotator cuff muscle strength in relationship to your overall ability to push. You should be able to perform external rotator cuff exercises with at least 9.8% of what you can bench press. If you can’t do that then you have some work to do! If you choose not to then it is likely you’ll come across shoulder complications. Again, it’s not an exercise to easily get excited about, but it’s something you have to do to keep your body optimised. Plus it just sucks to wince in pain every time your shoulder moves beyond a certain range.
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Mobilise the Joints
We have been taught to stretch, stretch and then stretch some more! What is the usual outcome? We wake up tight again the next day. We need to mobilise the joints themselves, ideally using bands. However the most important element is that it must be done according to the individual! For example, there’s simply no need to mobilise joints that already have great range of movement.
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Zinc Intake
Which mineral is most responsible for inhibiting pro-inflammatory proteins? You guessed it, it’s zinc! Not only does it have the ability to reduce inflammation and improve the strength of your immune system, it’s vital for ligament and tendon integrity. This also has great carryover to injury prevention. Best of all, there are no exercises needed; just grab a supplement from the supermarket.
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Deadlift & Squat
No two exercises have more carryover to functionality then these two power movements. Unfortunately they are looked at in a very negative light. Why? Because people sometimes get injured. Not all of them, not even most of them. Just a vocal minority that will whinge about it if they do get injured. In reality, they were simply taught poor form, so they lifted with poor form. Done properly, nothing compares with the ability of these two exercises to increase strength through the posterior chain, increase stabilisation in the knees and to improve your core strength. Again, form is key, so don’t lift with your ego, and you’ll be great.
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Magnesium Intake
This super-mineral tops everything. Have your ever had those strange involuntary muscle spasms and those late night bed cramps? This is usually a magnesium deficiency. It’s essential for activating muscles and nerves, so it could be the missing link for a majority of these related injuries. Jump on a magnesium glycinate supplement and your health and injury concerns can only improve.
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Nutrients
Your body’s ability to recover is dependent on nutrients. These are the essential building blocks to help you recover from serious health concerns and injury. Likewise they also prevent us from getting injured in the first place! If you don’t eat enough or don’t absorb the nutrients from your food properly, you could be missing key building blocks for body. In turn this would increase your risk of injury. Be smart and take note of what goes in your body, that’s the fuel for your engine; you can choose to be a Nifty Fifty or an F1 car.
Think again before you just drop your calories by 50%, because you’re also dropping your nutrients by 50%.
