Exactly a month ago, I had an injury and had to take a break from my training. Since it was the first injury I had in my sports life, I w...
Exactly a month ago, I had an injury and had to take a break from my training. Since it was the first injury I had in my sports life, I was inexperienced and made certain mistakes.In this article, I would like to talk about topics such as "how does injury occur in sports and what actions should be taken when injured?"
Difference between Athletes and Individuals Doing Normal Exercise:
Compared to normal individuals, athletes train performance-oriented and therefore may need to push their bodies from time to time. In such cases, our risk of injury is higher than a normal individual.
What Does Pain Happen in Injury Cases and How I Experienced It:
After doing powerlifting for about a year, I started CrossFit on January 6th. Although there are certain similarities between the two sports, different training parameters are actually applied. There are many exercises such as jumping and jumping in Crossfit, and my injury was partly caused by these exercises.
The name of the injury I suffered is "patellar tendinitis", also known as "jumpers knee" in the literature. Patellar tendinitis is manifested by pain in the patellar tendon in the photo you see below.
When I came home from sports, that is, when my knee was cold, I felt a pain between my kneecap and shin bone. I watched this pain for a day and tried to see how its intensity changed. After a few days, I noticed that its severity increased. I asked my teachers at the gym I went to if there was a physiotherapist they trusted and they told me Fzt. They suggested Melih Yuna.
The mistake I made here was not to go to a sports physician first. If we experience an injury and our pain becomes severe, the first person we should consult is a sports physician. Afterwards, it is necessary to consult a physiotherapist.
I met with my physiotherapist and explained my injury. We talked about issues such as where exactly the pain is, to what extent its intensity has changed, and when the pain occurs. Afterwards, my physiotherapist performed certain tests and said that I was in the early stages of the injury because the pain was not during training but when I cooled down.
“If you experience pain during training after warming up, you should stop training and consult a specialist immediately, as this indicates that your injury is progressing and may be dangerous.”
Causes of Injuries:
Injuries; It may be caused by muscular imbalances, tension of some muscles, postural disorders and mobility deficiencies.
The reasons for my injury were that my quadriceps muscles were too tight, my ankle mobility was inadequate, and my hamstring muscles were weak compared to my quadriceps muscles.
We had a session with my physiotherapist regarding these situations. We stretched my quadriceps muscles and then created an exercise plan. I took a break from my old training routine and did the exercises given every day.
By the end of the week I saw the physical therapist, my pain was mostly gone and I thought I could go for a run. Even though I ran at a light pace, the pain started again after a few hours.
“The second mistake I made here was to think, “Okay, my pain is gone, I can run even at a light pace,” and my pain recurred.”
I continued the exercises for the next week and my pain was gone. My physiotherapist said that I could start WODs (workout of the day) at 50% level.
Afterwards, I applied to a sports physician with the idea of securing my job. Unfortunately, the doctor I went to did not listen to me, was prejudiced and belittled the physiotherapists. Anyway, while the sports medicine doctor was examining me, he made a move on my knee and cracked it. When I returned home, the pain started again and I incredibly regretted leaving.
I shyly explained this situation to my physiotherapist, and he very understandingly told me to continue the exercises he gave me without going into exercises.
As a result, two weeks have passed after these events and thankfully I have regained my health. Now I can enter WODs, but I am working with 50-60% of my skills. I will try to increase these percentages week by week and return to my old capacity.
People's Reactions:
When you're dealing with an injury, you're also faced with people's reactions. Since my family trusted me, I did not have any problems from that side. They said that injuries may occur in sports and that it is necessary to approach carefully.
On the other hand, at the gym you go to, without any expertise and with hearsay information, you may be subjected to waves such as "Is it an injury? Never mind, continue training or what, are you a pilates player now?" In this case, of course, it is necessary to ignore them and continue with the exercises and follow-up given by your physiotherapist.
To Avoid Injury:
1- We Should Not Push Ourselves Too Much:
First of all, it is very wrong to go to the gym 4 days out of 5 with the thought that we are athletes, we need to push our bodies, or to push too hard in workouts that you are not used to, as I did. Improvement happens not only by training but also by resting well.
2- We must attach importance to warming up and cooling down:
To avoid injury, we should be careful to warm up well before training and stretch our muscles after training. People skip cooling down after training, and this is one of the most common causes of injury.
3- We Should Be Aware of Our Mobility Level:
We should be aware of how good our mobility is and work to improve it.
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