The figure of the physical trainer is often considered in reductive form, in fact it is thought that he should only deal with strength, endurance and speed training.
My conception of the role, if carried out correctly, is instead broader and more demanding because further and fundamental aspects that must be taken care of by a trainer are prevention - in the field of injuries - and re-athletization.
Not infrequently we tend to forget that every time an athlete stops due to an injury, more or less serious and disabling, days of technical training are lost with the consequence of seeing a decrease in the level of adaptation achieved.
It is also necessary to consider that the recovery from an injury involves a further variation of the programming and this determines a further compression of the time available to reach the best possible condition proximal to the race.
On the management of prevention we often hear many miraculous "recipes" which then, in the final analysis, do not give any results.
My experience with athletes from different sports disciplines, but also with amateur sportsmen and fitness subjects, has led me to create a priority of things to do both in the preventive phase and in the re-athletization phase. Obviously it is nothing absolute or 100% decisive, but I think it can be a good starting point.
I believe that CORE, ARTICULAR MOBILITY, BREATHING AND POSTURE can and should be considered the pillars of prevention and post-injury rehabilitation.
Probably, having arrived this far, many will be led to think that those just read are things that are taken for granted and that they already do: this is certainly plausible from the point of view of novelty but it is the ways in which these things are done that are substantial, that change hence the results.
I have already talked about Core in a previous article but, in light of what I see and hear around, I think it is appropriate to add something.
I still have the perception that people think that Core training is to be carried out exclusively with the Plank exercise, maintained for a very long time: it is a pity that - if there is no one to observe who performs the exercise - the position held it can potentially be more harmful than doing nothing.
Furthermore, a Core - which some attribute only to the lumbar and abdominal muscles when instead it is all the trunk muscles that are involved - trained exclusively through isometric work can never be a valid support to performance, or to everyday life, as the body human must constantly manage the maintenance of balance between the various body segments during movement.
As for Joint Mobility, I note that it is frequently replaced by stretching, even here a debate could be opened but I will limit myself only to saying that, during movement, the body uses joint mobility both to avoid structural overloads but also to "exploit" muscle elasticity induced by ROM (Range of Movement). Consequently, static stretching is not suited to the modalities of human movement.
When I perform a squat in a complete squat, am I not, at the same time, doing a wide range of articulation and a muscle stretching-shortening that stimulates elasticity?
When I push with dumbbells on a flat (or inclined) bench, am I not also working on the shoulder blade mobility and the elasticity of all the muscles involved in the movement?
In both the exercises just mentioned, but I could give many other examples, another very important thing that is stimulated is stability: the stabilizing muscles during a poly-articular movement play a very important role also in a preventive function.
If we want to improve joint mobility and muscle elasticity, thus carrying out a correct preventive action with regard to injuries, to a person who performs an exercise with an incomplete ROM, we will have to focus on the execution technique together with the search for strategies that allow a greater range of movement. as wide as possible.
The article will continue with the presentation of the other two pillars of prevention.
Enjoy the reading.
