Muscle Maintenance

Doing your job professionally isn’t just about the mechanics and equipment, the most important tool is your body and just like any tool it needs maintenance. One of the best ways to prevent injuries is through preventative maintenance. Taking good care of yourself mentally and physically will allow you to function better both at work and in your personal life. The tools you bring to jobsite are expensive and critical to completing your tasks but your body is your most important and irreplaceable tool.

No one likes living with injuries and pain. Both limit you at work and at home, affecting both your ability to do your job and your ability to enjoy life with your family and friends. For this reason taking care of your body should be your top priority. Keeping your body in top physical shape will benefit you in all aspects of your life.

The more we understand and learn about the human body, the more it becomes clear that exercise plays a key role in our mental and physical wellbeing. It can help prevent/manage chronic disease, affect our moods, and lower our risk of potential injury risk. Studies have shown direct links between movement compensations and muscular weakness to increased risk of injuries.

One such study conducted in 2011, found here, showed a direct link between functional movement patterns and injuries. This study looked at active members of the US Military and separated a large number of subjects based on their scores on a baseline Functional Movement Screen. Members who had lower scores were found to have significantly higher injury rates then members with higher scores (lower scores indicate movement compensations).

Muscular weakness can also play a large role in injuries. There are studies that have examined the effect of exercise on workplace injury rates.

One study, found here, showed that engaging in an exercise program aimed at strengthening the low back had a drastic effect on injury rates. It measured the injury claims over the course of one year between two groups at the same company, one that underwent a strengthening program aimed at the low back and one that did not engage in exercise. The average workers’ compensation liability for the non-exercise group per month was $14,430 per month. The average for the exercise group was $380 per month.

Another study, found here, studied 1652 firefighters over a 3 year period. It found that the firefighters with the lowest fitness scores had a 7.1% injury rate, an average score had a 3.2% injury rate and a high fitness score had a 0.8% injury rate.

These studies are important because they show two things. One that exercise and proper movement can limit injury risk and secondly, that exercise programs can save companies large amounts of money in workplace compensation and prevent workers from losing time due to injury. Pure Integrated Training has programs designed to reduce the risk of injury while developing strength that can help individuals perform their activities of daily living with a decreased risk of injury.

Massage Therapy is a natural form of health care that has many health benefits. It can be helpful in the treatment, management and prevention of injuries. As with exercise there are additional benefits to massage such as stress reduction. Studies have shown that workers who receive massage therapy through company benefit plans demonstrate improvements in job satisfaction, reduction in pain and discomfort. Some benefits of Massage Therapy include:

• Reduction in muscle pain and soreness
• Enhanced muscle recovery following exercise
• Reduction in headaches
• Improvement in mood
• Improved range of motion

There are too many benefits to list for massage. Combined with exercise people can see dramatic improvements in their overall health and wellbeing. If your joints have normal range of motion and your muscles are loose you are far less likely to suffer and injury at work.

There are several different styles of massage including trigger point therapy, Swedish massage, pregnancy massage and more. To find out more about Massage Therapy click here. Make sure you check back in the future as we will provide some exercise tips that can help you keep your body performing it’s best!

 

To your success,

Keegan Marshall CPT, CES, MMACS