My story on building a resilient body.

Though It could be a good idea to share my own history with injuries/niggles. I will try and keep it short.

How it started

My background is in contemporary dance. I was always the one that had the foot on the pedal a bit too much. My first injury/niggle came when I was 15. Though it was shin splints and 3 years down the line I got checked for compartment syndrome on both legs and it turned out to be right. 

Next it was achilles problems, I didn’t know it was that at the time. I thought it was a normal feeling. Plus I didn’t know what else to do but to rest. Since that’s what people told me to do when I had shin splints. I didn’t want to be left behind in my dance development so complete rest was not an option for me. Coming out of my dance education I had achilles problems and plantar fasciitis. This had gone untreated for 4+ years.

I entered the fitness industry and started working as a PT. I have the opportunity to actually rest my feet and I now know about strength training and how important it is which I didn’t do as a dancer.  We would have pilates as a way of strength but knowing what I now know its not specific enough. Its the total volume and lack of recovery that of course bring on an injury. Adapting my training so my feet could recover took about 2 years.

I took a liking to triathlon. My my feet could be reactive and flare up but I was much better at managing load and backing off. I did it purely because I was so scared It would get worse and stop me from doing what I wanted to do. Anyways since I was so into triathlon I neglected my strength work so I could fit in all my triathlon specific training with work. FYI not good!

In 2018 I got a niggle that basically stopped me from running more than 20 min. Started to really prioritise my strength and could tell I got much stronger in my swimming and on the bike. I keep running to a minimum. Once I was ready to start testing this knee out I got pain in my hip. Turned out it was an anterior labrum tear. This can stem back from my dancing days or a combination of my dancing and my high volume of running / triathlon training and a lack of strength but also RECOVERY and sleep. I rarely slept more than 6 hours because I often had clients from 6-7 am in the morning and the last one would be at 8 or sometimes later in the evening. A typical day for a PT especially when we are starting out and saying yes to everything. 

How I manage today

These days sleep and strength work is non negotiable for me since it is the main thing that will enable me to run to a certain degree, go out on bike rides, go cross country skiing when I’m at home in Sweden. Being able to do these things and more is a necessity for me and. I’m also extremely motivated by being able to do that once I’m 65+. 

Moral of the story is that I know how it is to be held back from injuries and niggles. But I also know that it doesn’t have to be a dead stop with the right tools. Strength work is a must even if you are not training at the level I did. It’s a must for everyone and Sleep. If I had done less volume and more strategic strength work when I was dancing and later not neglected it because of a lack of time I probably would have been less injured. Even though there is no such thing as injury prevention, you can minimise the risk of getting one and or managing symptomes from a reactive niggle. 

That’s my injury story. I hope it gives some insight into why I have an interest working with them and why it’s my expert area these days.