How Will Your Body Survive Being A Weekend Warrior?
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Chances are, you or somebody you know, can be defined as a weekend warrior.
The weekend warrior usually has a busy 40 hour work week and therefore, is only active during the weekends. They courageously step onto the court to play 5 on 5 basketball, they run, cut, and pivot across battlefields to victory, hit challenging trails to conquer the great outdoors, or schedule early morning tee times, swinging their weapon of choice at innocent golf balls.
The weekend warrior is also known for being injury prone. The reason?
They’re sedentary 5 days a week, then suddenly increase their intensity level to meet the demands of their activity.
What can these brave warriors do to decrease the risk of injury and potentially avoid surgical intervention? They must look deep within themselves and ask one question: "Am I willing to sacrifice 30 minutes, twice a week, to work on sport specific flexibility, strengthening, and conditioning?" If the answer is yes, I want to congratulate you for making the first step in your quest of injury prevention.
A good starting point is to take an honest assessment of your posture. In a pyramid, this is the base for proper movement. Common postural dysfunctions include forward positioning of the head, rounded shoulders, limited upper back mobility, increased curvature in your low back, and forward tilting of your pelvis. Until these areas are corrected, mobility and strength will be difficult to achieve. And unless we have proper mobility and strength, we won’t be able to coordinate our movements well enough on the weekends.
In the same way we brush our teeth to prevent cavities, we must maintain mobility, strength, and balance to prevent injuries in order to continue doing what we enjoy. Our decision to dedicate time during the week will determine whether we stay healthy and injury free or experience chronic aches and pains.
