No matter if you’re brand new to working out or a daily fitness enthusiast, injuries are an unfortunate reality that can sideline just about anyone — even the most dedicated athletes. While rehabilitation after an injury is crucial for recovery, an often overlooked aspect is prehabilitation, known as prehab, which focuses on preventing injuries before they occur! Gaining recognition as an essential component of a healthy and balanced fitness regime, prehab training is a worthwhile fitness addition that can help you stay healthy, mobile, and strong for improved performance and overall health.
Ahead, the basics of prehab training for injury prevention, including what is prehab exactly, and simple ways to get started with FitOn prehab classes!
What is Prehab?
So, what is prehab? Prehabilitation refers to a proactive approach to injury prevention through a combination of targeted exercises, mobility work, and strength training. This may include lower-body focused exercises to improve the strength and mobility of a long-distance runner training for a marathon, shoulder mobility exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff for baseball pitchers or painters, or functional exercises that help support everyday movements like carrying groceries, opening heavy doors, or walking up the stairs.
Think of it as looking to the future. Unlike traditional rehabilitation, which takes place after an injury has occurred, prehab aims to address potential weaknesses, imbalances, and movement restrictions before they lead to injury. There’s even research to suggest this method can be used as a preventative or preoperative intervention to (or before) major surgeries. Simply put, prehab is all about preparing and optimizing the body to withstand the demands of physical activity, whether it’s sports, exercise, or daily life.
The Benefits of Prehab For Injury Prevention
Increased Muscle Strength and Stability
By improving muscle strength and stability through targeted exercises, prehab helps to protect and strengthen the muscles surrounding vulnerable joints and ligaments, thereby increasing their resilience to potential injuries. For instance, exercises focusing on the core muscles through planks and bird dogs can help contribute to greater stability in the spine, reducing the risk of lower back injuries during exercise.
Enhanced Joint Mobility and Flexibility
Similar to increasing blood flow and heart rate with a pre-workout warm-up, prehabilitation exercises help prime the body for movement through dynamic stretches and mobility drills. These movements — often targeted at specific areas of the body where mobility may be restricted or compromised — help to gently mobilize the joints and lengthen the muscles to enhance their flexibility and range of motion. Think: side lunges, leg swings, and shoulder circles. By challenging joint mobility in various planes of movement, individuals can optimize joint function, address any restrictions, and reduce the risk of injury.
Improved Movement Patterns & Body Mechanics
Whether you’re lifting weights, going for a run, or performing household chores, addressing body mechanics and movement patterns is an important aspect of prehab training that can help reduce strain on your muscles and joints, and support your fitness goals. Essentially, this aspect of prehab training considers your most performed movements and addresses any imbalances or weaknesses that may lead to injury.
This could be poor form while performing a squat or deadlift, lack of core engagement during stabilizing exercises, or improper foot placement or technique while running — all of which could increase the risk of injury. By taking a proactive approach through prehab training, however, you can correct and optimize these movements before injury or strain occurs!
Early Detection of Weaknesses
Even the strongest individuals have areas of weakness or instability! And, these restrictions or risk factors may not always be apparent. Even if there are no innate injuries, there may be imbalances lurking beneath the surface due to factors such as previous injuries, repetitive movements, or asymmetrical training. But, that’s where prehab training comes in! Through targeted exercises, mobility drills, and functional assessments, individuals can identify and address potential weaknesses before they escalate into strain or injury.
Injury Resilience
Apparent from all the above prehab benefits, an overarching goal of prehab training is to increase injury resilience! By targeting muscle imbalances, improving joint mobility and stability, refining movement patterns, and detecting weaknesses early on, prehabilitation helps the body withstand the demands of physical activity and reduce the likelihood of injury.
Who Should Add Prehab to Their Training
The benefits of prehab training extend to individuals of all fitness levels and backgrounds! Whether you’re an athlete, fitness professional, regular gym-goer, or active adult, incorporating this preventative modality into your routine can minimize your risk of injury while maximizing your performance and overall health. From reducing the risk of sports-related injuries to supporting aging and improving functional fitness, prehab exercises come with so many benefits.
With this in mind, here’s how to get started with FitOn!
Getting Started With Prehab Training
While you can easily incorporate prehab exercises into any fitness routine, we’ve made it easy with specific prehab workouts for all your fitness goals.
To get started, choose FitOn prehab workouts that target areas prone to injury in your chosen activity or sport. For example, if you’re a runner, you might choose exercises that target the lower body to reduce the risk of overuse injuries like shin splints or IT band syndrome. Or, if you deal with neck tension from sitting at your desk all day, you might opt for a neck prehab class.
To optimize your results, consider incorporating basic equipment like resistance bands and a mat. These simple yet versatile fitness tools can support your goals by increasing resistance, stability, and support, allowing you to target and engage specific muscle groups more comfortably and effectively.
Incorporate Prehab to Prevent Rehab!
Incorporating prehab training into your fitness routine isn’t just about avoiding injuries; it’s about setting yourself up for long-term success — both in the gym and outside the gym! By proactively addressing weaknesses, optimizing movement patterns, and enhancing injury resilience, prehabilitation acts as a preventative measure to reduce the risk of injury and support your overall well-being. Remember, it’s far easier to prevent injuries than to recover from them! Here’s to staying healthy, strong, and injury-free.
