Some Cardio High clients and a couple of our coaches are tracking improvements in fitness. Consistency is a key to making gains in strength, speed, balance and endurance. We are acutely aware that injury can be one of the primary obstacles to staying on track with fitness goals and at Cardio High we take great care to help clients train free of injury or pain.
So what are the keys to staying off the IR list?
Dynamic Warm Up
Before any workout or sport go through a dynamic warm up that mimics the motions you will use during your sport or workout. At Cardio High we spend 10 minutes warming up before starting interval training. We’ve yet to come across another HIIT studio with a similar warm up. Most HIIT studios, in fact, skip it completely.
Balance
Try to spend a few minutes each day practicing balance and strengthening core muscles. We try to include single leg deadlifts, ground taps and other balance movements like standing figure four in each of our workouts. Developing hip strength by using mini bands or yoga straps clipped around the thighs is also a good way to develop balance and strengthen muscles in the hips, which helps to prevent injury.
Core Strength
We also allocate a few minutes to core strength such as banana crunches, leg drops, low planks, stability ball rollouts and mountain climbers on sliders. A strong core will help to limit annoying injuries like back spasms. We also work on picking up and putting down objects without straining the back. Core and posture are key components of most of the exercises in our interval training program.
Joint Pain Means Stop
If you feel pain in a joint from a movement, it’s best not to fight through it. Stop immediately and find a substitute movement. If you are playing a sport and a joint starts to bother you, take a break and move the joint through various ranges of motion. Roll muscles leading into the joint to see if you can get those muscles to relax and allow the joint to move more freely.
Compressi0n sleeve
If you regularly experience tendonitis during sports activities, consider wearing a compression sleeve around the joint that causes pain.
