Factors Increasing Risk Training Flexibility

Stretching is safer than a lot of other forms of exercise, but injuries happen. Learn to listen to your body to reduce your risk of injury.
By
Ashleigh Flanagan
July 24, 2021

Most stretching related injuries are overload/overuse injuries. You have either been consistently training at a high load without adequate recovery, or have progressed the load of your training too quickly, or both.

Load is not just the volume, frequency and intensity of exercise. Other health and lifestyle factors are significant contributors to the overall load on your system. Some days the same training will constitute a greater load, and you need to modify your activity, reduce this load, or increase your active recovery to balance things out. The biggest’ loaders’ of your system are stress, illness, pain, inadequate nutrition/hydration, poor sleep and lack of work-life balance.

Flexibility related training injuries usual occur following:

There are times that you can’t reduce the load of all of these health and lifestyle concerns, but you can learn when these factors are increasing your risk of injury more than usual.

Key signs not to ignore when training flexibility are:

These are indications that your body is being more protective and a sign that you are more vulnerable than usual. If you wake up stiff one morning, it’s probably not a big issue; however, if you are feeling increasingly tired, sore and are unable to stretch as far, it’s worth reducing the load of your training and increasing your active recovery to try to reduce your risk of injury.

Want to learn more? Book an appointment to see one of our expert Physiotherapists or Flexibility coaches.

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