Injury to Victory: Strategies for Endurance Athletes to Recover and Thrive

Injury! A certainty for endurance athletes which is up there with death & taxes. At some point there’ll be a niggle or an injury which rears it’s ugly head.

None of us want it, some of us flirt on the fine line between potential injury and utter wellness like a drunk on a Friday night walking the curb edge holding a kebab.

The Impact Of Injury

Injuries obviously vary massively and can be a little heads up to being sidelined for a significant period of time.

The impacts can include;

• fear of loosing progress/regressing athletically/getting behind on the training plan
• body composition worries
• physical pain
• recovery worries & how long it will take to get back
• loss of structure/habits/routines
• loss of identity

The injury can be a micro-trauma – perhaps an overuse injury, a pull, tendonitis, a stress fracture/stress response or a macro-trauma which is a specific and sudden overload which results in disruption to a structure – tears, breaks, fractures etc.

What We Need To Know When It Comes To Injuries

Your energy needs will change BUT it’s not as simple as reduced activity = less calories. Nutrients need to be available for muscle retention, tissue repair and metabolism generally.

YES, the aim is to recover as fast as possible. You want to be able to return to your expected performance asap and muscle loss mitigated. There’s also the concern to manage or eliminate fat gain. It’s a careful balance of fuelling the lifestyle you find yourself in at that time and ensuring calorie sufficiency to heal. Some of these topics can create a fair amount of trepidation and the most important thing is to ensure that your mindset is in the right place. We don’t want to catastrophise, become withdrawn and negative and feel defeated. Injury is part of the sport. Your response to that injury is what will set it apart from being wholly negative or a stepping stone to success.

Things You Need To Remember When Injury Strikes

Pain is to warn an immobilise you

Swelling is to protect & heal

Redness/heat is to increase blood flow to the area and work on healing quicker

All are essential processes to allow healing to occur. We shouldn’t seek to dismiss any of them if not absolutely necessary.

Once the injury is protected by the body then repair will start to take place. Normal blood flow will be restored to the area. Proteins, collagen & fibronectins are laid down to create repair. Scar tissue will be replaced by stronger tissue in time.

How We Can Support Injury Recovery

Protein – your body needs to repair, heal and grow during a phase of injury. Ensuring that protein is available to allow this is essential.

Collagen – something that I now take on a daily basis due to having a few tendon niggles/injuries is a great addition. Collagen’s main role is to provide structure, strength & support throughout the body and helps the growth of new cells.

Calcium – in particular if the injury is bone related then calcium & vitamin D are great additions to support healing.

Sufficient Nutrition – it’s not the time to go into a massive calorie deficit, you need nutrition to support the body repairing, rejuvenated, regrowing and coming back stronger.

The collagen supplement I use is from Protein Rebel >>you can find it here<< and you can get a 15% discount using the code SPACEBUNS15 at checkout