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Training Tips & Injury Prevention - Army Health

This is an extract from the Army Health and Promotion website...

Training Tips & Injury Prevention

Injury Prevention

Keeping fit goes a long way to maintaining a healthy lifestyle but also being more effective at your job.

To do this you need to know about effective exercise techniques but also what to do to remain injury free - an issue in the Army. Here you can find training tips to maximise your fitness as well as advice on how to avoid getting injured.

How often should I exercise?

As a soldier, you are advised to exercise for a minimum of 3, 40 minute sessions per week. Cardiovascular exercises maintain and improve your endurance and stamina, helping you to go for longer!

LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD
If you are trying to lose weight or get fitter, ideally you should exercise your heart and lungs five times a week, with workouts such as cycling, swimming, running or rowing. This lessens the likelihood of getting injured or suffering back pain.

TAKE YOUR TIME
Gradually increase the number of exercise sessions that you do each week especially after a slack period. This will give your body time to adapt to the changes. More soldiers are referred to physiotherapy with an injury following a period of leave than at any other time.

CHILL OUT
Always have at least one rest day per week to prevent overuse injuries.

SLOW DOWN
If you are muscle sore, tired, dehydrated or stressed it is better to avoid a hard training session, as you are more likely to pick up injuries or become ill at this time.

TIME TO RECOVER
If you have an injury or are unwell do not do any exercise that will make it worse. Seek help from your medical centre.

FLEX YOUR MUSCLES
For maximum strength gains, it is advisable to work all the muscle groups at least twice a week. This can be split into upper or lower body sessions on alternate days if you do not have enough time to train the whole body at once. A strong body is less likely to get injured!

MAKE THE INTENSITY DIFFERENT EVERY TIME
Training should be easy, medium and hard on different days because it takes 36 – 72 hours for your body to make adaptations and fully recover after a hard training session. Therefore, working at different exercise intensities will progress your fitness level, as well as allow your body plenty of time to recover.

MEASURE IT
In order to determine how hard athletes are working, some coaches and fitness experts use ‘The Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale’. You can use this when you are training: ask yourself how hard you are working between a scale of 6 and 20. Then add a zero on the end and this number will relate to your estimated heart rate.

BREATHE
Working in the easy range, you should have a heart rate of about 60 – 120, medium intensity exercise is generally around 130 – 160 and anything above this is considered hard work! At an easy pace, you should be able to speak at the same time, similarly with moderate exercise. You know when you are working extremely hard if you cannot speak and can only just about breathe!

RACING PULSE
A more accurate method of measuring how hard you are working requires a bit of maths! To save you the trouble, invest in a heart rate monitor, you can more accurately measure your exercise intensity, helping you stay within your chosen training zone for that session.

FIT BUILDER
Include exercises that strengthen individual muscle groups such as abdominal and pectorals, this helps in keeping the whole body fit for any task. Ensure that you gradually increase the amount of weight lifted, the number of repetitions and number of sets. Ask your PTI for guidance on a training programme, or get a good training guide.

LET’S START OVER
Your muscles will lose strength if not used, therefore, if a training programme is stopped, you will not be able to work at the same intensity after a four week break simply out of habit or because that is what you always do. Go back to the basics and build up again.

How long do you need?

The amount of time that you spend exercising should reflect what it is that you want to achieve. This might be keeping fit for your job or running a marathon.

GOAL
Set yourself a goals to build up the amount of time that you exercise.

READY FOR ACTION
Setting and meeting goals that you make ensures your immediate readiness for action when it is required!

PLAN OF ATTACK
If you have a goal to run a marathon, you need to make a training plan to build up the amount of time spent training each week. The event itself would mean running for more than 3 hours, therefore time spent training has to be increased gradually to prevent exhaustion or injuries. It is suggested by coaches and trainers that you would actually have to spend three times as much time in training for that specific sport per week, that is at least 9 hours a week running when leading up to the event! (Who suggested a marathon anyway?)

How long do you have?

To increase the strength of specific groups of muscles you will need to build up the amount of weight that you lift. You may also want to build up from one set of exercises to three or more. Bear in mind that this will take more time to complete and that 75% of strength gains can be made by performing only one single set.

FIT FOR THE TASK
By increasing your overall body strength you will be fit for any task that might be required of you and are more likely to stay injury-free!

KEEP IT INTERESTING
It is important to have a wide number of sports or training methods so that you can use all the different muscles and joints of the body in different ways. Too much of the same not only gets boring, but can also lead to an injury or pain.

NOT SO HARD
Running is a quick and efficient form of exercise for the heart and lungs and good endurance training for the leg muscles. Too much pounding the concrete however, can cause ankle, knee and hip problems.

BE GOOD TO YOURSELF
Non-impact sports or exercises are those that do not cause repeated force through the joints of the body. These include swimming, cycling, rowing and table tennis.

WARM UP AND COOL DOWN
Warming up prior to a training session and a gentle cooling down period at the end followed by some gentle stretching activity is as important as your main theme, therefore, it is vitally important that you include it in your training plan. It will prevent you getting avoidable injuries, which would set you back in achieving your gaol.

THE SOFT OPTION
When possible, stick to running on mud trails, grass or sand as it reduces the amount of shock that goes through the leg each time the foot hits the ground.

WORK IN PAIRS
You need to train all of your muscle groups in your strength-training program. Most muscles work in pairs to provide movement, if only one muscle is strengthened, becoming shorter and the opposing one is not, the bones and other soft tissue structures may be pulled out of place. This may alter your posture and the way that you move which can increase the potential for injury.

How full should I be?

THIRSTY WORK
Aim to drink a minimum of 2 litres of fluid a day. Our bodies use that much just to function, even if we stayed in bed all day!

PEAK PERFORMANCE
Nutrition experts recommend that athletes should take on an extra litre of fluid for each hour of hard exercise. This will prevent the body from becoming dehydrated, leading to poor performance for the rest of the day and night.

FILL UP
Keeping the body well hydrated is known to help prevent illness and injury. It is especially important in hot and dry climates where you should drink considerably more fluid.

MAGIC
Isotonic sports drink can also be taken after a hard training session of more than one hour, this also replaces the body’s energy stores and some minerals required for optimum performance.

YOU’LL REGRET IT IN THE MORNING
Alcohol and exercise do not mix. Keep them separate. Even if you train the following day, you will still have some alcohol left in your body, causing dehydration, poor co-ordination, lack of concentration, dizziness and a 10% decrease in performance. That is a BFT run in 11mins instead of 10mins.

MAINTAIN STAMINA
It is important to eat a well balanced diet to maintain your energy levels and protect yourself from illness and injury. This includes plenty of carbohydrates for energy, proteins for growth and repair of muscles, some fat from healthy sources such as nuts, seeds and oily fish, and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables to provide the essential vitamins and minerals.

How hot should I be?

TURN UP THE HEAT
Muscles that are gradually warmed and taken through their full range of movement before exercise will be more efficient and less likely to get injured during the workout.

PULSE RAISER
The heart rate should also be raised gradually by starting with small simple movements such as shoulder rolls and building up to marching or walking before finally running or jumping. This gives the blood a chance to shunt to the muscles where it is needed to deliver the oxygen.

IT’S ABOUT JOINT ACTION
Ensure all of the joints are fully warmed and mobilised before beginning your weight lifting program. The fluids within the joint become more viscous and help to protect it from injuries.

HEAD UP, SHOULDERS BACK
Muscles can become tight and shortened with strength training which can cause some people to become round shouldered. To maintain and develop good posture, it is important that following any exercise, the muscles are stretched.

LOOK LIVELY
In order to maintain the length and flexibility of a muscle, you need to stretch out after all exercise. Start by getting into the stretch position, take the muscle to the point of tension and hold it for 6 – 10 seconds. If you want to increase your agility so that you can touch your toes, for example, you need to hold certain muscle stretches for a longer time, from 30 to 60 seconds to gradually increase your range of movement.

COOL IT
If you suddenly stop exercising, blood may pool in the muscles causing muscle stiffness and soreness. It is better to cool your body down gradually, walk around; loosen off and take time to allow the blood to return to all the other parts of the body.

Putting your foot in it!

WHAT’S YOUR SHOE TYPE?
You need to have a basic knowledge about the type of foot you have and the way that you run in order to choose the correct shoe. There is a simple test that you can do to determine what foot type you have which will help you to decide which training shoe is best for you:

THE WET TEST
This is an easy test that you can do to determine what sort of shoe is best for you.

1. Step in water
2. Step onto a piece of cardboard or any surface that will leave an imprint of your foot.
3. If you can see most of your foot, then you have a flat foot, if you see less of your foot, then you have a high arch.

THE HIGH ARCHED FOOT
This type of foot does not roll inward enough, so it is not an effective shock absorber. These feet require a cushioned shoe with plenty of flexibility to encourage foot motion. Stay away from stability or motion control shoes.

THE NORMAL FOOT
Runners who land on the outside of the heel and then roll inwards slightly to absorb shock are most efficient when running. They require moderate control features.

THE FLAT FOOT
This type of foot rolls inwards and can cause many different types of over use injuries over time. Motion control shoes or stability shoes with firm mid soles and control features are needed to reduce the amount of inward roll

DRESS APPROPRIATELY
Wearing the wrong types of shoes can cause many injuries. Keep your leisure shoes for leisure and sports shoes for sport!

What's wrong with my performance?

GET READY
As a soldier you need to stay fit for your fighting roles all year round.

DON’T STOP
Once you have started on a program of fitness, it is important that you continue training to maintain your fitness or progress it further.

USE IT OR LOSE IT
If muscles are not used, they will begin to break down, causing you loss of strength and endurance.

ARE YOU UP TO IT?
If your level of fitness decreases whilst you are on exercise or deployment, re-start your program at a suitable level. Do not train beyond your capabilities.

PRIOR PLANNING
Get yourself a training program and set yourself goals to stay motivated all year round. Ask your PTI for advice.

IMPROVISE
If you find yourself in a place with no gym equipment, make do with the items that you have around you such as bungees; bergen or water jerry can.

FINALLY - A WORD OF WARNING
If while you are exercising you become injured or hurt, DON'T struggle on or 'run it off', just stop! If you continue, the injury will become much worse and increase the amount of time you spend recovering and being 'unfit' to serve. Treat injury seriously and get help from the medical staff.