Overuse and injuries

Used and abused


Apart from the fantastic benefits of exercise such as stronger muscles, easier completion of daily tasks, happy hormones in the form of endorphins and the general wellbeing that comes with an active lifestyle, there are certain potential dangers.



A life filled with cycling, running and Adventure Boot Camp will be more rewarding but there are certain times when the body may become stressed and abused from the impact, strain and conditions of exercise. Overuse injuries occur to every person in different circumstances. While an office worker may develop a repetitive strain injury such as carpel tunnel syndrome or weakened eyesight from staring at a computer, an active person faces different problems in the form of shin splints, compartment syndrome, tennis elbow or other overuse injuries. The traditional treatment is known by the popular RICE acronym and stands for rest, ice, compression and elevation.

My overuse injury as a trainer turned out to be the weakening of my vocal cords from shouting my way through spinning classes without the assistance of a microphone, Boot Camp drills in the wind and the continuous chatter that flows from my mouth. Being very similar to any other overuse injury, I was frustrated as I could not rest my strained vocal cords as people rely on my instructions and I was astonished to find that I had taken my words for granted when I was able to speak freely without coughing or choking on my words. My whole existence depends on the advice, instructions and words of wisdom. I tried to rest my voice by avoiding friends, night time outings and smoke but it turned out to be very difficult. In many cases the onset of pain or stress is the body’s way of begging for a break and it should be given a rest period to recover from the physical demands of daily life placed on the muscles. Losing my voice could have been a result of an incessant talking or the strain from shouting to my friends on a rare Friday night club party. Any injury such as shin splints could be caused from too much exercise in the long term (such as running long distances on a daily basis without having time to rest) or trying to achieve too much in a short period of time (such as running a half marathon without any training runs or trying to keep up with a fellow camper who has completed nine camps to your one)…



When my campers ask for advice about shin splints, knee problems and back pain, I usually recommend the following information and I hope that they can hear my whispers and try the following preventions:

• Alternate ice packs with heat every five minutes or so to relax the muscle and reduce inflammation.

• Take a warm bath with a muscle relaxant such as Arnica to soothe stressed muscles.

• Go for regular massages to erase tension and keep the muscles functioning properly.

• Have at least one rest day per week where the most strenuous exercise is walking from the television to the kitchen or walking from the car to the mall.

• Find out what is causing the pain and treat the cause, not the symptoms. If back pain keeps reoccurring after abdominal exercise, do not avoid the crunches, sit ups and planks completely. Ask your Adventure Boot Camp trainer to show you proper technique or attend some Pilates classes.

Luckily, I can still write articles without a voice to get my opinions across to others and spare my throat some pain, so while you are injured, research different methods to deal with the overuse injury and prevent it from happening again. Find alternative forms of exercise that will not strain your body or strengthen other muscles that will prevent strain from being put on the one muscle that keeps getting hurt.