Working on lesser-used muscles key to avoiding injury

Most sports are asymmetric in nature, where the use of one side of the body is far more than the other. These asymmetries are seen to be related to injuries. Chetan Chauhan writes.

Updated on: Sep 22, 2013, 04:14:29 IST

By Chetan Chauhan

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Most sports are asymmetric in nature, where the use of one side of the body is far more than the other.

These asymmetries are seen to be related to injuries. The nature of sports leads to an excessive use of one side, further leading to a disproportionate development of muscles. This not only results in a difference in strength between the two sides of the body, but also in the range of motion of joints. This affects posture and leads to an even more uneven development of either sides. As a result, you would end up using the dominant side even more, making your body more lopsided. This leaves you in a catch 22 situation; the chances of getting injured are now even higher.

Repetition of the same movement in quick succession, where the body is accelerated rapidly and stopped equally abruptly, exposes the athlete to bigger injuries. This is particularly high in tennis, golf, hockey and for fast bowlers, who get injured a lot more than spinners, batsmen or wicketkeepers. The most common injury is stress fracture of the lumbar spine (low back) on the non-dominant side. This can be career-ending if not managed properly.

Several studies have shown that fast bowlers, tennis players and golfers who complain of back pain have the greatest muscle imbalances compared to those who don’t experience any pain. So, why wait for the injury to happen? Why not prevent it?

Recognising the asymmetric nature of sports as a major reason for such injuries, coaches and trainers now recommend the use of the weaker side as well – both while one is engaged in the sporting activity and when doing strengthening and stretching. This is to reduce muscle imbalances and the uneven forces acting on joints.

Stress injuries
As an example, playing squash would lead to a lot more wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries than back injuries. However, injuries are not limited to the upper body, but can affect the lower body as well. Thus, periodisation becomes a very important part of training as these are primarily repetitive stress injuries.

It can be divided into three phases: conditioning (preparation), pre-competition (transitional) and competition. The old adage ‘don’t race in a training run’ applies here too. You can’t be, and shouldn’t be, performing at the peak level throughout the year.

As controversial as the rotational policy is in sports, it is now being recognised as very important to prevent injuries. Even if an injury like a stress fracture of the lumbar spine happens, it is very important to take time off to not only rest but do pro-active rest. Athletes can be playing at the highest level again in 2-3 months if they are smart about it. Otherwise, it can be career-ending.

(The writer is an ultra-runner and doctor specialising in exercise and musculoskeletal medicine)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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