Five golden rules from a physio!

During my time as a physio, I have developed a few golden rules that I follow (and tell my family and friends to follow) to help avoid injury or improve your recovery times! Continue reading to find out what they are and feel free to save this for later in case you need it down the track!

Gradually increase load.

My number one rule! And something that I tell everyone time and time again - is to gradually increase load. 

But firstly, what is load? Load is any type of exertion you place on your body. This may be a new type of exercise, an increase in distance or speed when running or even the number of times you exercise per week. 

If you increase your load too quickly, it puts more strain on your tissues than they are used to and can result in overload. Doing it as a once off is normally fine, you may get some DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and it will improve within a few days. But if you do it continually and don’t listen to your body, that’s when injuries appear. 

Address niggles early.

As a general rule, the longer you’ve put up with an ache/pain or injury, the longer it can take to get better. We like to go by the two day rule. If your niggle lasts longer than a few days to a week, chances are it may need some help (by a physio or other allied health professional) to help it settle. 

Strength and mobility is key. 

Strength and mobility are two very important factors when it comes to rehabilitation (and treatment of an injury). We find that injuries often happen when you’re stiff (eg. sitting at a desk all day long or only participating in exercise that doesn’t push your joints to the end of range such as walking) or when there’s weakness. 

Photo: The Loft Collab

Keeping strong and mobile is key! That’s why we love pilates (and yoga) as they both address these factors. Our favourite place to go is The Loft (which is above Summertown Studio).

Having variation in your training is also ideal, as it means your body is constantly being challenged in different ways. So don’t be afraid to add something new if you’re feeling a bit stuck in your gym or exercise routine. 

Improvement isn’t linear.

When you’re going through rehab of an injury (especially one that’s been there for a while) the improvement will rarely be linear. You will often have small flare ups, as that’s life and we don’t want you to avoid doing things you love. The most important factors to consider are:

• The flare ups are getting further and further apart (decrease in frequency)

• The intensity is reducing (they aren’t as severe as they once were, eg. maybe you no longer need pain relief and can manage them with stretches, spiky ball, heat etc)

• The flare up are settling down quicker. 

If these three things are happening, then it still means you’re improving even if the pain may still be there!

Beware of the boom-bust pattern:

We’ve all been there, including me! A boom-bust pattern is when you have an injury and you overdo it, causing you to ‘bust’.

As a result, you take a few days (or weeks) off exercise until it settles again. Then rather than easing back into it gradually, you go straight back to the load you were doing before and it aggravates your pain or injury again! Causing you to go bust (again!).

This can happen over and over again and is much more common than you think! I was stuck in this trap when running with a meniscus injury and about 3 months later I was wondering why it hadn’t improved. 

If you’re into running or riding, the graph on Strava provides a great visual to see your overall kms (or load) and this was what made me realise I was doing exactly what I was warning everyone else not to do!

If you found this blog helpful, feel free to let us know, share it with your friends and family  or save it for later!

If you need some help and guidance, feel free to book online to come and see us! We look forward to helping you rehab your injury at Sunny Side!