There are four reasons why we get injured in sports. Most injuries happen by accident.
Hitting an unseen pothole on your bike, tripping on a rock when trail running or twisting an ankle during a tennis match are all unforeseeable accidents.
Knowing that these accidents can happen may make you more cautious but they aren’t 100 per cent preventable.
Overuse or misuse of your body is a common cause for injury, especially in endurance sports and one that is 95 per cent avoidable. I don’t say 100 per cent because there is a fine line between overuse and peaking for performance.
Misuse is avoidable through proper coaching and instruction.
But mistakes do happen which is almost the same as an accident but one that was avoidable.
When looking back on a mistake you can see where you went wrong and how you could change your actions in future training or performance.
Some injuries occur simply due to the nature of the game. Football, hockey, rugby and contact sports accept that injuries are common to the game.
But for whatever reason you got injured, the outcome is still the same. You are out of commission, on the sidelines, placed on hold.
For many athletes, this is enough to slam them quickly into depression or at least into an extremely unhappy state of being.
Not being able to participate in an activity that gave your life excitement and meaning disrupts the balance and leaves you wondering what you are going to do with all of your extra time.
If you are an athlete, you will at some point get injured. The more you play, the greater the chance that at some point in your life you will be forced to take a step back, stop your sport and recover.
At the time of the injury you may think that your life is over and turn to the latest series of Netflix originals to wait out your time.
But being injured doesn’t mean that you stop being an athlete and you could be missing out on a huge opportunity.
In life we are so busy with work, friends, family obligations and our sport that there is very little time to add in more things.
Once you become injured, you have hours of free time on your hands.
This time can be wasted in depression and a multitude of TV hours or you can choose to use this time to improve your skills so when you are healthy again you can return with a competitive
advantage.
Of course every injury will have its limitations so not all of these suggestions will work.
Head injuries and severe injuries are two of the exceptions as rest and rehabilitation will be your only focus.
Once you are past the most acute stage of injury, you should be able to read and watch videos.
Researching and learning more about your sport could include new equipment, new training programs or tips, future trips or races, other motivational athletes, nutrition, mental strength and imagery.
Depending on where the injury is, it might be possible to continue training other parts of your body.
If it is your knee or leg, you can work on upper body strength and flexibility.
No matter what sport you play, being fitter and healthier is always an advantage. Learning what foods are good for you and when you should be eating them will greatly affect your performance.
If you are willing to take your nutrition to the next level, this would also be a good time to learn how to cook those healthy foods and snacks for yourself.
If you are already a chef, trying out new recipes or refining old favorites might be a game changer.
Once you have exhausted all avenues of perfecting your sport from the sidelines, there is one last alternative that may help ease your time on the bench.
Learning a new sport is an opportunity to excel at something else.
Your fitness, knowledge and experience from your past sport will have some cross over to the new one and the mental strength required is the same no matter what sport you choose.
You may even surprise yourself and discover a new passion that surpasses what you had for your old sport.
• • •
Kristina Bangma is a coach,
personal trainer and writer with a
love of riding and racing. Email questions
to .
