How Prehab Physical Therapy Can Help Athletes Prevent Injuries

4 Steps of Injury Prevention Physical Therapy

Helping Athletes Prevent Injuries and Be At Their Best

When an athlete is striving to reach peak performance, it’s crucial to consider the potential to become injured. Now, it may not be possible to completely eliminate the threat of injury, but preventative physical therapy can prepare you to be more ready for the activities you’re trying to do.

By focusing on proactive injury prevention and physical therapy, you can optimize your performance, improve your athletic ability, and reduce the chance of injury.

How We Use Preventive Physical Therapy At Reload To Help Athletes Avoid Injuries

We know that prehab physical therapy can help to prevent injuries. To do so, we must take a systematic approach, with the aim of preparing you to be stronger and more resilient to injury. Preventive physical therapy should equip you to handle the demands of whatever sport or activity you are doing.

From assessing movement requirements to targeting specific weaknesses and enhancing baseline capabilities, each of the following four steps plays a critical role in prehab physical therapy. Of course, as with all we do here at Reload, we want you to understand what we’re doing and why. This will help you to be proactive in your own approach to safeguarding your body and optimizing your performance.

Step 1: Assessing Movement Requirements

To prevent injuries effectively, we must first consider the specific sport and demands on our body. 

“When considering your return to a specific sport, and analyze the qualities of movements required,” says PT Dr. Mona Tsutsui. “I want to know if the sport involves speed, running, jumping, or moving the body weight in various directions. These factors help me determine the necessary abilities.

“For instance, if you need to perform frequent jumps and landings throughout the week, you must possess sufficient strength and shock absorption capabilities to minimize the risk of injury.”

Step 2: Establishing a Baseline

Once we have identified the specific qualities needed to participate in the client’s sport, we must then assess their current abilities and potential limitations. This will help us establish a baseline from which to improve.

“If you’re not experiencing pain, we identify the most challenging movement you can perform well,” Mona explains. “It could be a squat, a jump variation, or a specific hamstring exercise. From there, we develop a plan to gradually progress you.

“By progressively challenging you, we aim to improve your overall performance and reduce the likelihood of injuries.”

Step 3: Targeting Specific Weaknesses

Nobody is perfect. Every athlete has specific areas that might be holding them back in terms of performance. Being a dancer herself, Mona describes this step as follows:

“Classically trained dancers often need adequate calf strength due to the jumping involved in their art form. However, despite using their calves extensively, they may not meet the minimum requirement for calf strength, which is typically around 25 to 30 or more single-leg calf raises at a consistent pace, and tendon springiness at the ankle/foot. This indicates a potential risk of inadequate force absorption during jumping.”

The answer to this?

“Exercises to increase calf strength and bring them closer to the desired range, reducing the likelihood of ankle injuries,” says Mona.

What happens in practice is that we identify the one major aspect that might be holding you back in terms of your performance, and then we work on that.

Step 4: Enhancing Baseline Capabilities

The fourth step in our process is to work to enhance your baseline capabilities.

When we can optimize your overall performance and improve your ability to meet the demands of your chosen activity, your risk of injury is significantly reduced. This approach applies to all muscle groups. Continuing the focus on dancing, Mona says:

“For those preparing for a show that involves eight performances per week for several months, we focus on ensuring their bodies can handle the repetitive nature of the choreography.

“We aim to raise their baseline capabilities, even in areas they excel in. By elevating the baseline and optimizing their overall strength, mobility, force absorption, and cardiovascular work capacity, we strive to reduce the risk of injuries and improve their ability to meet the demands of their activities.”

The bottom line of injury prevention physical therapy

Prehab physical therapy is a vital tool in helping athletes prevent injuries and enhance performance. This systematic, four-step approach helps us to assess your baseline effectively. By identifying weaknesses and capabilities, we can develop a plan to prepare you for the rigors of your sporting activity. This proactive approach not only significantly reduces the chance of injury, but also prepares you for a speedier recovery should you become injured.

The first step to being better prepared, stronger, and more resilient to injury is a comprehensive body evaluation. Lasting 90 minutes, we will listen to your story, learn about your capabilities and weaknesses, and then prepare a personalized plan specific to your needs and circumstances.

Want to get started?

Book an appointment with us to start with a comprehensive 90-minute body evaluation!