Do you get the same aches and pains every time you work out? Does it seem like the more consistent and diligent you are about your workout, the more all those same aches and pains come back in the same places?
Maybe your knee, hip, back?
Most of our workouts (especially the structured workouts) are done doing the same movements over and over again. You’ve seen or done this! With the elliptical, biking, running, spin class, treadmill, walking, and even lifting, the body does the same repetitive motion over and over again.
And It’s Worse Than That.
These repetitive motions feed on each other. Why? Because all these exercises are done in the same plane of motion, going front to back, front to back, front to back (The sagittal plane), the body gets injured from doing the same motion all the time.
Why Does This Happen?
To put it simply, the same muscles are worked all the time in the same way. The same muscles get stronger, shorter, and tighter. The muscles that should be balancing us out, if never get worked, get weaker. Over time, our body can even become misaligned, kind of like the frame of a building that is not stacked up on top of itself. Tension is going to build up on the hinges!
What To Do?
Be sure to involve side to side movements into your workout routine. To do this you can roller blade or skate, swim doing the breast or side stroke, sideways walking against resistance bands, agility ladder using side to side movements, sideways lunges or squats, etc. There are even cardiovascular machines that are dedicated to this type of motion (a skating motion).
So dedicate a workout or two a week to side to side movements, be sure to include sideways (lateral) squats or lunges into your lifting routine, or take a day off from running and roller-blade that day instead. All these strategies will help prevent injuries caused by your body overworking itself in the same way over and over and over again.
