Let’s start by asking and answering a parallel question: “Does eating all the superfood in the world prevent illness?”
To a certain extent, yes. With a fortified immune system, common illnesses like flu viruses are less likely to survive the defence system of the body. Then the various factor comes in. Are the superfood grown free of pesticide; are you eating only a few selected variety of superfood; are you eating too much of a certain kind of superfood?
If someone pays attention to the nutritional values and healing properties of their diet, there is a high likelihood that they are already researching on self-care. They are also more likely to recover faster from illnesses due to the knowledge of healthy food and proper rest.
In retrospect, someone who doesn’t usually pay attention to his diet may continue to consume processed food even when they are ill, or right after they have recovered.
Now, back to our topic. Do Strength and Conditioning Prevent Injury?
To a certain extent, yes. A strong and robust body allows us to handle the external load, and absorb impact more than an untrained individual. Now, here comes the various factors. Are you learning your movement from a generic youtube/IG influencer that looks cool? Are you only doing a few exercises because it’s touted as bang for your buck exercises? Are you overdoing your training, or over-training at once because you hardly train?
Let’s break down the factors we mentioned in the last paragraph.
1) Are you learning your movement from a generic youtube/IG influencer? No doubt there is a wealth of knowledge online today, and there are very good instructional videos, and follow through videos you can find. But there is rubbish too. Is the said instructor you find online piecing exercises together simply to make you feel worked? Do you have other purposes of exercising other than getting panting, sweating and burning?
2) Are you doing only a few exercises because it’s touted as the most bang for your buck exercises? 100 burpees every day for superb cardiovascular ability, and functional strength. That’s not wrong, right? Or yogis who only practice exclusively on the mat with no cross-training?
In the former example, when monotony sets in, the body gets accustomed and go through 100 burpees with zero awareness; Injuries will surface after multiple weeks or days of beating yourself up. In the latter example, many yogis have benefited from some amount of hanging and pulling strength conditioning work to offload the support position they practice every day.
3) Are you overdoing your training, or over-training at once because you hardly train? The key is the ‘dosage’. Too much of a good thing (it’s subjective here), is still poison. Too little Vitamin C caused Scurvy. Too much vitamin C caused nausea and fainting spell. Water is life and without it, we will die. Then again, too much water in your body causes hyponatremia, which can be potentially life-threatening. Wait, but Vitamin C and water are both essential to life right? Again, the key is the ‘dosage’. Even too much love can lead to ‘love-related murder’.
Back to the benefits. A well-rounded training program is administered with a good dosage of intensity and volume, according to the individual, making him/her stronger as they progress. And in the unfortunate case where one got injured somehow, he/she would have already accumulated enough movement vocabulary to work around the injury and still have a decent quality of life. If the help of an osteopath or a rehab specialist is needed, they can work hand in hand to get the body back to the pre-injury state. He/she might learn more about movement and training during such bout of injuries, and come back more knowledgeable! He/she will become picky about coaches – sieving out the rubbish influencers, looking out for good coaches that can help them achieve their goals safely.
In comparison, an inactive individual would simply go back to his/her bad habit of moving and follow Youtube workout videos after the slipped disc operation. Despite promises that pain will not return, you will probably see him/her busting the back 10 years down the road. Well, the promise is not broken, because it will be the other vertebrates that are injured. And the vicious cycle continues.
To wrap up this post, does strength and conditioning training prevent injury?
If it is done with mindfulness, it is a resounding yes. Through training and moving, it offers you ways to mitigate injuries while having the time of your life. Of course, there are so many variables which cannot be covered in one post itself, but do go out there and train, and move!
