What you can learn about injury prevention from mowing your lawn.

Training too hard too heavy too soon?

Two weeks ago I made my first stab at mowing the lawn. After a mild winter, it has grown quite a bit and my Flymo was not up to the task.  It soon overheated.

I was not partciularly looking forward to having to buy a whole new mower, but those cunning people at Flymo have designed it for people like me.  

The part shown is expendable, it melted down and stopped working to avoid the motor breaking.  I could easily order this online, and fix it later in the week.

All at a cost of less than £3. Unfortunately the human body doesn’t have such cheap spares.

Which part of you is expendable?

If you have had a lay off from training, or are a young athlete looking to improve in a hurry: watch out.  Your big muscles (the engine) are quite robust, but the supporting joints and appendages (the spare parts) are quite fragile.

For example, if you are a deadlift fan, what connects the legs and back (the engine) to the actual weight? Your hands grip the weight and they hang down from the shoulder joint (the spare part).  

If your technique is not right, and you do not progress systematically, then a weaker part like the rotator cuff could break first.

This is especially common in throwers and racquet sports players.

Your body is a whole, not a collection of parts

Humans are a lot more complex than a flymo, and you can not reduce training to body part by body part.  Having a system of training allows it to adapt progressively.  Going too hard, too soon and too heavy means you will spend more time on the Physiotherapist Couch.

 You can’t order a new Rotator Cuff on ebay!