Injury Prevention & Dealing with Injuries

Hey everyone,
Sorry but I was out of town last week so I didn't have time to sit down and post anything decent. This week I wanted to focus on injuries. A number of you currently are injured and there are a few of you that are dealing with pain and discomfort every time you workout. I am one of you! While I was in New Zealand I developed a pretty bad case of Patella Tendonosis and it's gotten to be pretty painful, especially on Leg days!
First of all the easiest and most effective way to AVOID injury is to do an adequate warm up. Always begin with a low to moderately low aerobic warm up to increase the blood flow and prepare your heart and mind for what you are about to do. From there, move into static stretching. Many people hold their stretches for 5 to 10 seconds, but studies show that holding stretches from 30 seconds even upto 1 minute is far more effective. I'll be the first to admit that stretching is boring and uncomfortable but if you make it a part of your routine, you won't have to think about it and it will become more enjoyable. From a static stretch, move into a dynamic movement. Examples of this could be yoga or pilates poses, running high knees, butt kicks or something that incorporates both movement and stretching. This will make it less of a shock when your workout begins.
Once, your workout is completed, a cool down is absolutely essential! Take your warm up routine and reverse the order and this will make for a great cool down. By doing so, you decrease your recovery time (which means you won't be a stiff and sore-for as long anyways), reduce venous blood pooling, Lactid Acid levels in your body will lower and your overall functional strength will increase.
Both your warm up and your cool down should take up to 10 minutes each.
Below is a fantastic example of a dynamic warm up:

Other than, warming up and cooling down, making sure you are hydrated is essential aswell as proper nutriton leading up to your workout! Also, foam rollers are a great option for self massage, massage is a great way to teach your mind about muscular awareness and to release those painful knots which we all get.

Next, if you are already injured in any way, whether it be a muscular injury, a tendon or ligamant injury or maybe just you are not feeling 100%. You have to know what the injury is! Don't just assume you will be okay once you get to the gym. Once you are diagnosed (which most likely will mean a trip to the Doctor), know what your limitations are! If I have a lower back injury, then coming in to the gym and doing Deadlifts and Hyperextensions is the last thing I could want to do! I would want to do more of a stretching workout or incorporate a light constant resistance that is easy on that area, so a pool workout and or yoga class would be the best thing for me.
Braces and athletic tape is available at most supermarkets and sports stores and for my knee injury it makes a real diference whn it comes time to squat if I have my knee brace with me or not.
Finally, don't be ashamed to take time off due to an injury. If it's a legitimate injury where 'pushing through it' will cause even more problems then be smart, use common sense and rest it up!
For those of you who I see that have the minor injuries and ARE 'pushing through it', I admire your dedication, just please be careful! Working out is such a great thing to have as our lifestyles, so treat your bodies with the espect it deserves: Warm up effectively, train hard, cool down and be smart!

Intro

So, by request of a few of you, I've reluctantly decided to start a weekly blogg.  I am very new to this and so as we go along I'm sure you'll see an evoluton of the use of fonts, videos, tables and photos but for right now it may be pretty plain!
As for my first post I've thought I'd do a short biography of myself and how I came to be a trainer! As for the weekly installments, I am planning on focusing on various topics and basically just expanding on everything we talk about in our short time together during our training sessions.

I was born in Hamilton, New Zealand and was raised in Melbourne, Australia. It was there where I began sports. I began to play basketball as age 6 and had stints in cross country and high jump all throughout school, I also played Australian Rules Football for a couple of years from ages 10-12. Basketball however was the sport I became obsessed with and had a very successful juniour career playing all over the Southern and Eastern Coast of Australia. I stopped playing when I moved to the United States at age 18 and then got back into it a couple of years ago before being picked up for a New Zealand Professional team: the Manawatu Jets for the 2011 season.  My basketball experience throughout my life has been invaluable to me and I loved every time I stepped onto the court.  My introduction into weight lifting came by way of my father at around age 9. Before a basketball game one time, my dad wanted me to be more aggressive and used an exercise to simulate pulling down a rebound. In our garage (and then eventually in our house) we had a small gym and the exercise he had me doing was a reverse grip Lat Pulldown. I remember feeling stronger and more confident on the basketball court that night and as a result I fell in love with working out.

Just like all of you, I have been really committed to working out and had phases where I was a little lazy and my results were based upon my efforts.  My fitness goals-especially throughout adolescence-varied depending on my influences in friends and media. Some years I was obsessed with Michael Jordan and modelled my training after him and then other years were influenced more by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvestor Stallone and various WWE characters. 
No matter what my goals were and are, I have always loved training and found it to be a sanctuary at times. It is a great stress releiver, confidence booster and a great metaphor for life. 
Probably one of the most improtant lessons I've learned from training though, is no matter what; have a purpose for training and be passionate about it! 
I would not only love to continue to educate all of you through this blogg but love for you all to ask any questions you may have aswell as comunicate with eachother and inspire eachother!
So be sure to check in every week!