My last post left me wondering: did I have a particular personality that would cause me to continually become injured during workouts/training? Let's examine the evidence:
1. When I was a swimmer, I trained from the ages of 11-19 without injury; the only surgeries I had (on my knees at 16) were because of a genetic mutation in the plica folds behind my knees. Two weeks after surgery I was back to normal.
2. My Injuries started at 19 and 20 (swimming: rotator cuff tear, knee breakage) then again in my 30s at 35 (hernia, during gym workout), 36 (hip cartilage tear while running), and 38 (Achilles tendon pulls, left leg; calf tear, right leg) all in succession. Part of the problem, I know, was an oblivious coach who didn't notice stroke changes in favor of speed workouts; my association coach in high school would have easily spotted the problem that led to the shoulder injury. Swimming butterfly with hips low in the water--causes "dragging" of the lower body through the water, creating more resistance and, thus, puts more stress on the shoulders/rotator cuffs. The knee break was from an accident running stadiums and cannot specifically be attributed to poor coaching but a mix of distraction, condensation on the seats, exhaustion, etc.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'm injured all the time. I need to buy stock in Icy-Hot and Aleve. So I keep wondering: is it in my adult personality that leads me to be injured all the time? I've read the article "The Influence of Psychological Factors on Sports Injuries" from The American Journal of Sports Medicine and author Astrid Junge suggests that through a review of the prevailing literature and research, that
In the article from the Sports Science Exchange Roundtable, Daniel Gould and Linda Petlichkof suggest that "The stress of daily life and a lack of social support are more important than an athlete’s personality in contributing to the risk of sports injuries." Hmmmm. Sure, I'm stressed in my daily life: I have work, a 16-month-old daughter, a dissertation to finish, papers to grade, dinner to make, dogs to walk, sleep to attempt, and a dozen other actions to take in any given day. But I also have social support: husband, sister and brothers, mom, family, friends. So could this mean that my personality tics are so strong as to outweigh all other factors? Or is this in issue of "correlation does not imply causation"?
1. When I was a swimmer, I trained from the ages of 11-19 without injury; the only surgeries I had (on my knees at 16) were because of a genetic mutation in the plica folds behind my knees. Two weeks after surgery I was back to normal.
2. My Injuries started at 19 and 20 (swimming: rotator cuff tear, knee breakage) then again in my 30s at 35 (hernia, during gym workout), 36 (hip cartilage tear while running), and 38 (Achilles tendon pulls, left leg; calf tear, right leg) all in succession. Part of the problem, I know, was an oblivious coach who didn't notice stroke changes in favor of speed workouts; my association coach in high school would have easily spotted the problem that led to the shoulder injury. Swimming butterfly with hips low in the water--causes "dragging" of the lower body through the water, creating more resistance and, thus, puts more stress on the shoulders/rotator cuffs. The knee break was from an accident running stadiums and cannot specifically be attributed to poor coaching but a mix of distraction, condensation on the seats, exhaustion, etc.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I'm injured all the time. I need to buy stock in Icy-Hot and Aleve. So I keep wondering: is it in my adult personality that leads me to be injured all the time? I've read the article "The Influence of Psychological Factors on Sports Injuries" from The American Journal of Sports Medicine and author Astrid Junge suggests that through a review of the prevailing literature and research, that
A personality profile typical of the “injury-prone” athlete does not exist. However, several studies have shown a certain readiness to take risks (lack of caution, adventurous spirit) on the part of injured athletes.So could it be my adventurous spirit? Possibly. But I'm not running at 4 a.m. in the dead of winter or solo hiking, so I don't know if that's it. A certain readiness to take risks? We're getting warmer. I also think there are aspects of my personality that lead to injury: I'm impatient, I'm undisciplined, and I have a tendency to ignore long-term plans for short-term adrenalin highs. For example: if like last week I'm running an "easy hour," I ratchet up the "easy" to "beat my time from X race." I don't think of the consequences because I need to see results that show improvement. I revel in pain, maybe because I'm used to it? And I attempt to run 100% when I'm not 100% ready, like I did today (but, hey, at least I ran .15 total this time, totally up from .10 a few days ago).
In the article from the Sports Science Exchange Roundtable, Daniel Gould and Linda Petlichkof suggest that "The stress of daily life and a lack of social support are more important than an athlete’s personality in contributing to the risk of sports injuries." Hmmmm. Sure, I'm stressed in my daily life: I have work, a 16-month-old daughter, a dissertation to finish, papers to grade, dinner to make, dogs to walk, sleep to attempt, and a dozen other actions to take in any given day. But I also have social support: husband, sister and brothers, mom, family, friends. So could this mean that my personality tics are so strong as to outweigh all other factors? Or is this in issue of "correlation does not imply causation"?
No comments:
Post a Comment