Tips to Avoid Overuse Injuries

An overuse injury is a type of muscle or bone injury, such as tendinopathy (tendinitis) or a stress fracture, that is caused by repetitive trauma.
    There are different causes of overuse injuries, but they tend to originate from 2 different sources:

• Training Errors
  • Training errors can take place when you take on too much physical activity too quickly. This can even happen when you’ve taken a break from the sport such as over a holiday or between seasons.
• Technique Errors
  • Improper technique is another aspect of sport that can take it's toll on the body over time. If you use poor form when doing stunts, jumps, or tumbling, you may inadvertently overload particular muscles over time and cause an overuse injury.

    Overuse injuries are more common in athletes as they get older as well as with athletes that specialize in one sport year round. This is part of the reason why it is important for athletes to participate in multiple sports, so different muscles can be used and develop equally with other muscles.

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Ways to help prevent overuse injuries from occurring:

• Use proper form
  • As mentioned previously, proper form is critical in preventing overuse injuries from occurring. Perfection before progression is an important saying that we hear often in cheer industry, and this is part of the reason why. If you continually perform a skill incorrectly, you are putting various musculoskeletal structures at risk for an overuse injury.
• Pace yourself
  • If you are returning to the sport after a break, whether that be during the holidays, between seasons, or even taking a season off, it is important to get back in slowly. Jumping right back in where you left off is a risk of incurring an overuse injury. Start off slow and work your way back up to where you were.
• Mix it up with cross training
  • Participating in other sports or activities during the season will help to train other muscles and develop balance throughout your body, thereby decreasing the risk of overusing a particular muscle or body part. Keeping your muscle strength balanced throughout different muscle groups is a key in preventing overuse injuries.
• Take time to rest
  • Having rest days during the week is critical in preventing overuse injuries. Try to limit the number of days you or your athlete are in the gym training. Having practices multiple days, then taking classes or doing private lessons on several other days of the week is too much for an athlete and puts them at risk for an overuse injury.

    If you believe you or your athlete have sustained an overuse injury, it is important to manage and treat it early as it can persist and turn into chronic pain, which tends to take longer to recover from. More mild overuse injuries such as a tendinitis can usually be treated with just physical therapy, more serious injuries such as a stress fracture usually require treatment from a physician.

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