Biomechanics Preparation

Biomechanics and Sports Injury Prevention

Irrespective of the sports you perform, the type of training or exercise you do, or indeed at what level, preparation of your biomechanics is an important part of your training program and is essential to compliment your physiological and functional training and screening. 

The practical application of biomechanical screening can be used as an integral part of a sports injury prevention and management program, a conditioning program for optimal performance and is the basis upon which a functional training program and a sports conditioning program can be delivered safely and most effectively.

Sports Conditioning for Functional Training

Functional training prepares you for training functionally, but what prepares you for functional training?  Functional training has its origins in rehabilitation and has been around for 40 years or more. In this time we have established that biomechanical screening is a critical precursor to functional screening and functional training, otherwise you simply continue to experience problems.  As the functional concepts start to become more widely accepted in fitness, coaching and conditioning fields, it is important to recognize that the biomechanical screening has not yet followed into these arenas.  Functional and biomechanical screening and training are very important aspects of an overall conditioning program for any sport or activity and are complimentary in every way. For example, there are many people who pass a functional screen, yet fail a biomechanical screen.  They detect different factors, both of which are important to the trainer.

Sports Injury prevention

There are many causes of injury ranging from poor technique, poor ‘core’ strength, poor preparation, insufficient range of movement in the relevant structures and many others. Your correct biomechanical function is also a critical factor, but is generally less understood. A biomechanical screen will highlight the flaws in your pelvic, shoulder and knee function, as well as check whether you have any low grade muscle spasm in key muscles, which may be restricting both movement and the correct functioning of a joint.  In addition a biomechanical screen will check your nervous system and highlight any problems that may cause your body to compensate and break down. For example, a rotated pelvis causing a functional leg length discrepancy can result in a variety of different injuries depending upon how you compensate.  It can cause lower back pain, knee pain, shin pain, hamstring injuries, even foot pain.  By screening issues like pelvic function, the risk of many of these injuries can be significantly reduced.

Sports Performance

The performance of an exercise is affected by many different factors. Your biomechanical function has a profound affect on how your movement patterns are controlled and compensated for during the performance of a movement or series of movements.  It is often these compensations for biomechanical issues that lead to faulty movement patterns and ultimately compromised sports performance.  For example, if a golfer had an overactive infraspinatus muscle (one of the rotator cuff) in the shoulder, it would significantly affect their ability to deliver a consistent high velocity swing. This is due to the shoulders inability to control the arm at high speeds before and after impact. The same principle applies to all arm related events, including javelin throwing and tennis.

Sports Injury management

Sports therapists are becoming increasingly skilled at being able to diagnose and treat injury.  One factor that is now recognized to compliment that process is the understanding of biomechanics.  The kinetic chain and how structures relate to each other in biomechanical terms can have a profound affect on outcomes.  For example, a player with ‘non-specific’ groin pain which had been failed to be diagnosed despite specialist consultation and MRI scanning was treated successfully by working on the biomechanical function of his opposite shoulder. The body is an integrated system and all of its component parts affect each other in ways that we hadn’t fully appreciated.  So if you have a person with a sports injury that is failing to respond to treatment, chances are there is a biomechanical cause somewhere else in the body that is loading that susceptible area.  Finding the biomechanical cause can be critical in getting that person back to sport and importantly minimizing the risk of recurrence.

Martin Haines
Intelligent Training Systems