[This short guide was written 2015/05/11.
While I’ve added a few tricks to my bag for recovering from big injuries in record time, these principles still apply and I stand by them.
Enjoy!
– Coach Dunte, 2022]

Below are the principles behind preventing injury. What good is it to add oil to a car when there’s a leak?

It’s just as silly to add fancy rehab techniques to a poorly-designed training plan.

1A. Already injured? Know what hurts.

Be able to identify where it hurts, what makes it worse, what makes it better, whether the pain changes under load (standing, sitting, laying), and if pain changes after warm-ups or after sleep.

1B. Already injured? RICE works (sometimes)!

For new, acute injuries (sudden pain – rolls, sprains, pulls, and breaks), nothing has been proven more effective than

• Rest (24 hours)
• Ice for swelling
• short-term Compression, and
• limb Elevation for draining.
  
    Chronic injuries play by different rules. (See #2 – #5.)

2. Remember the fundamentals: rest & progression.

Most injuries are from overuse or underpreparation. Did work cut your sleep down from 8 to 5 hours per night? (#3.) Did you go from no training to 2-hour two-a-days? (#4.) Do you train 100% every day? (#5.)

3. Rest, relaxation, and recovery.

Training is not about how much work you do, but about how much you recover from. Not sleeping enough? More off days. Feeling stressed at work? Fewer hard practices. Tense and sore? Train easier and stretch.

   Fundamentals are fundamental for a reason.

4. “Progression.”

Begin with easy 30-45 minute practices daily. Warm-up thoroughly and take long rests between drills.

   Be consistent for 2 weeks.

In the third week, make 3 practices 60-75 minutes. Keep the long rests, but go hard in your drills.

In the fourth week, add 10 minutes of conditioning to the end of your short practices.

   Didn’t progress like this? Be disciplined enough to restart for just 4 weeks and build your base.

5. “Periodization.”

After a heavy lifting, practice, and “gassers” for conditioning on Monday, what’s your next training day?

   The wrong answer: Another hard practice.

   The right answer: Easy throws, footwork, core work, and stretching.

“100% Every Day” now will look like “Surgery and no activity for 6 weeks” by the end of your season.

Proper program planning can keep you on the field and out of the doctor’s office.

   Not ready to plan it all yourself? Want a professionally-designed, proven training plan for getting stronger and faster while staying healthy through the season? Talk to Coach Dunte.