Four Reasons Movement is Crucial to Injury Recovery

Four Reasons Movement is Crucial to Injury Recovery 

An injury can be the dark storm cloud of any day for anyone. They are painful, imply a long road to recovery, and are severely limiting. At Rooted MVMT, one of our core beliefs is continual movement. Anything from taking the stairs instead of the elevator, to extensive workouts multiple days a week are important to maintaining a healthy, injury prone body. Sometimes though, an injury strikes regardless of our healthy practices and we are left to deal with it. The quickest, safest, and most effective road to injury recovery involves movement. The old adage, “use it or lose it” explains the nature of our claim: if we fail to utilize our ability to move, it slowly fades away. So, when we are injured, when we are incapable of moving as freely as before, we must strengthen and keep our bodies active by moving.

Why is movement so crucial to injury recovery?

Think about how our muscles grow when we work out: we tear them and break them down every time we do an exercise. The essence here is movement, utilizing movement to destroy and build up our muscles – this idea is even more important when we apply it to the context of an injured muscle. When a muscle is injured, it tears beyond the insisted upon point, rendering it unable to repair in the normal fashion. Movement is so crucial to injury recovery because if we let that injured muscle remain exactly how it is – torn – it will forever remain that way; only when we put pressure on it through movement will it begin to heal itself. 

1. Movement is natural medicine 

When we move, we utilize our most fundamental attributes. Humans need to move, from our oldest hunter-gatherer ancestors to our super-athlete contemporaries, movement is a common similarity. Many of our super-athlete contemporaries lack health problems which are common to regular people – diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. The CDC website has a page which explains all of the benefits of even a moderate amount of physical activity. Maintaining a consistent schedule of physical activity is very important to maintain a healthy body and lifestyle. It’s the equivalent of bringing your car to the shop for an oil change – action and care now means a longer and healthier life span.

2. Movement encourages muscle regrowth 

According to Athletico, “Mobilization of the muscle can encourage faster regrowth of blood vessels and muscle fibers, as well as decrease scar formation and increase tensile strength of the muscle fibers.” So if after a muscle injury, you want to not lose as much of your previous muscle mass, you should perform safe, but consistent exercise. Movement and post-injury muscle regrowth go hand in hand, it’s simply science. 

3. Post-Injury muscle movement doesn’t have to be extreme

After an injury, the last thing one would want to do is resume strenuous exercise. Most will find themselves unable to perform these exercises anyway. In this situation it is best to contact a professional – a physical therapist or certified trainer. But even outside of the exercises performed with them, all it takes to help the muscle recover are the most simple and mundane movements. Most of these can be done in the comfort of one’s own home or around the block of their neighborhood. Don’t shy away from recovery because of the assumption that it will always be a long, expensive, and complex road; it may just be the road in front of your home. 

4. Injury prevention is dependant on healthy physical activity

In order to avoid injuries in the first place, it is important to maintain a healthy amount of physical activity, movement is key to injury prevention. Someone who has a lack of physical activity will find they become fatigued easily; they are excessively sore after simple physical activity; they lack any sort of stamina. This may give the appearance that they are already injured or simply incapable of performing these physical activities, they are wrong. Improving physical health is a process that requires consistent physical activities – consistent movement. Injuries are most common among those who don’t use their muscles. According to Cleveland Clinic, one of the main reasons injuries occur are because of a lack of flexibility. A lack of flexibility comes from a lack of use. One way to ensure you reduce your chance of injury during workouts or competitions is daily movement and stretching. Something as easy as a 30 minute walk followed by a light period of stretching can decrease your chance of injury significantly. 

Whether you are a professional athlete looking for injury prevention or recovery or someone looking to regain movement and flexibility from lack use the Rooted in M.V.M.N.T Team has the plan for you. Reach out to us today to book a free consultation!