• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Human Movement

Injury Rehab and Sports Performance Training, City of London

  • About
  • Process
    • Our Process
    • Muscle Activation Techniques
    • Resistance Training
  • Programmes
    • In person programme
    • Online programme
  • Resources
    • The Little Book of Injury Rehab
    • How to get strong and healthy past 50
  • Blog
  • Contact

Why do strong people get injured?

June 5, 2016 by Paul

Man lifting a steel girder

Strength seems to be undervalued in the world of rehabilitation. Some professionals question its relevance in the rehabilitation of both acute and chronic injuries.

I recently read a therapist arguing that strong people get injured and can be in pain so it can’t be that important. That’s a bit like saying Formula 1 drivers crash so they can’t be good drivers.

Every injury, either acute or chronic is a mismatch between the forces applied to your body and your ability to tolerate those forces. In other words it all comes down to how strong you are.

The misconception is that if you can squat your body weight or bench press 100kg you are strong. That may be true but that won’t preclude you from injury.

So what’s the difference?

Your body has around 650 muscles which gives it many different options to produce a particular movement. You can’t tell which muscles it’s using during an exercise by observation alone.

It’s possible to squat without using your knee extensors for example, or to bench press without using your pectoral muscles. Just because a weight is moving in a particular direction, doesn’t mean every muscle that should be involved, is.

If traditional markers of strength are those tests alone you can see that somebody with quite severe dysfunction in their muscular system can still produce outstanding results.

Put them on the table however and ask them to resist a force in a particular direction and they can be as weak as a kitten. This is how apparently strong people become injured.

Summary.

Strength is critical to any successful rehabilitation programme. You just have to know how to test for it and the best way to improve it.

Filed Under: Rehabilitation

Are you treating the cause or the symptom?
Why exercise and alcohol are similar.

Primary Sidebar

The Little Book of Injury Rehab

Not making progress with your rehab?

Subscribe below and find out how to get moving with our FREE 21 page guide.

The Little Book of Injury Rehab pdf

Get strong and healthy past 50

Everything you need to know about exercise at 50 and beyond.

Subscribe and receive our 60 page guide FREE.

How to get strong and healthy past 50 pdf

Categories

Recent Posts

  • The German approach to back pain with an 88% success rate. February 2, 2023
  • Why most people aren’t strength training effectively (even if they think they are). January 22, 2023
  • Allostatic load and chronic injury rehab: Strategies for recovery. January 4, 2023
  • Rehab exercises causing you pain? Try this. December 2, 2022
  • Why the future of musculoskeletal health care must include resistance training. November 17, 2022

Footer

CONTACT

Human Movement
30 Cannon Street
London, EC4M 6XH

+44 020 7183 1164
paul@human-movement.com

BLOG

  • The German approach to back pain with an 88% success rate. February 2, 2023
  • Why most people aren’t strength training effectively (even if they think they are). January 22, 2023
  • Allostatic load and chronic injury rehab: Strategies for recovery. January 4, 2023

FOLLOW

SUBSCRIBE

Privacy | Cookies | Terms