THE TOP 4 “THOUGHT VIRUSES” THAT GET YOU INJURED

THE TOP 4 “THOUGHT VIRUSES” THAT GET YOU INJURED

Coming fresh off a self improvement retreat got me thinking about some of the beliefs that fog up my head. Some of them are bat shit crazy hence the retreat (i’ve never done one, but would recommend it for everyone). Apparently a lot of these beliefs are formed by the time we are 7 years old…and with two kids not yet 7,  this freaks me out more. The retreat really got me thinking about the pre-conceived ideas, or beliefs people have about running or exercise in general. A lot of them are misinformed and lead to overtraining and injury.

I was interviewed recently by the Sydney Morning Herald and I mentioned my catch phrase of “thought viruses”. Why? Because that is exactly what they are!

They are bloody unhelpful beliefs we walk around telling ourselves, that essentially stop us from reaching our full potential as athletes. Whether you love your weekly HIIT sessions or are trying to finish your first CTS/ Half Marathon.

I wanted to list my faves and try and explain why they are bat shit crazy and why if you can reframe or delete them you will go a long way to preventing injury or at least make them less severe.

“GO HARD OR GO HOME!”

“REST IS FOR PUSSIES”

I will lump these together. Number 1 loves high intensity. Hill sprints, track sessions and more hill sprints. Ideally most days. “That’s what my body loves” With the explosion of High-intensity Interval Training and minimal dosage for maximum bang there has been a significant increase in calf tears and tendon injuries from overdoing this. I love HIIT but when it becomes your daily exercise you are in trouble. Physically it significantly overloads your tendons without adequate recovery and physiologically the large release of daily cortisone just adds more stress to your body.  If Olympians and professional athletes aren’t doing it you probably shouldn’t be either. 

Number two hates rest. “Rest is Rust”. There is now research to suggest that if more than 20% of your running weekly load is high intensity you have a significant increase in risk of getting injured. Recovery running at a low intensity and rest (good quality sleep, relaxation, meditation, yoga) are crucial in body repair.

IF YOU DO HURT YOURSELF AND YOU ARE IN THE ABOVE CATEGORY PLEASE DON’T RUN AGAIN UNTIL YOU SEE US.

“RUNNING GIVES YOU OSTEO ARTHRITIS”

There is no known study to show you can get arthritis from running. EXCEPT if you have a previous significant injury to your ankle, knee or hip eg a meniscal tear in your knee. My advice to you would be to reduce your running load. For the rest of us IT DOESN’T! Keep running. Running does more than keep you fit, for many of us it is more for mental health. It is my time to myself to get away, think process and chill. I would argue you are more likely to get Osteoarthritis sitting on the couch eating doritos.

“MY BODY DOESN’T LIKE TAPERING I NEED TO TRAIN HARD RIGHT UNTIL THE RACE”

I don’t know how many mind games I have played with myself over the years during taper week. A 3 km run only. WTF! A 3km run. How am I going to make it to the finish? Knowing full well you lways have a great race if you have tapered well. Do not go hard if your program says not to!

“I KNOW THE RACE WAS YESTERDAY BUT IF I HAVE ANY MORE DAYS OFF I’M GOING TO LOSE MY FITNESS”

I don’t know how many calf tears I’ve seen from those individuals who don’t want to lose their fitness gains by having a day off after a race. OR think they lost a tremendous amount of fitness by tapering. You just raced and no doubt left nothing in the tank and smashed your PB. Now give your body a couple of days to recover and repair to prevent overtraining.

So no doubt you have had some of the above thoughts running through your head. I certainly have. Remember they are beliefs. Beliefs getting in the way of your potential. No one likes being injured. It is even worse when you are injured because of something silly you had been running around in your head.

Remember we all have injuries. It is a part of exercising. If you get stuck call us sooner rather than later on 02 93650004