How much do you prepare your body for training??
A few weeks ago I did a Hand Balance workshop with Andrii Bondarenko. Andrii joined Cirque du Soleil with tremendous accomplishments in Sports Acrobatics and Circus Arts. A many-time national champion of Ukraine, Andrii’s international accolades include World Cup & World Championship medals, the highest conceivable achievement in Sports Acrobatics.
After doing the workshop (which was AWESOME!), one of the biggest takeaways was making sure that the body is properly prepared before training.
I asked Andrii if he had ever been injured and asked his thoughts on training with injury. His answer was interesting; yes he had been injured because mishaps do happen, but he explained the importance of preparing the body.
He said “GET THERE BEFORE THE INJURY”
Meaning we should all be taking measurements to ensure that we don’t get injured and that our bodies are well and truely ready to work.
This is why stretching and mobilising plays such a significant part of your training. It’s not a side dish that we order from time to time. It’s part of your main meal. Stretching and mobilising is preparation in itself wether it’s done before training, after training or a day dedicated solely on stretching. Because over time as you become more flexible and mobile, your body becomes more suited to train. This is what prepping is all about.
Obviously Andrii’s training is different to most and don’t require the same amount of time or the same kind of prep that he does. However, we all need to make sure that are bodies are in the best condition to train.
This means not getting complacent when you do the same mobility drills that you have done before. Rather than just going onto auto-pilot and moving through the exercises, be mindful of what that exercise is trying to do and listen to the coach. If the exercise is trying to open up the hips, then think about getting into that stretch a little bit deeper each time.
This means getting into the Stretch Therapy, Movement or Yoga classes. If you aren’t allowing time for yourself to stretch then book into a class and make yourself accountable. You have access to all this so utilise it.
Happy Training : )