How much pain is too much? In sports, pain is glorified as a sign that they are working hard. But as overuse injuries become more common across all sports, the saying “no pain, no gain” is starting to sound less motivating and more like a warning.
Overuse injuries are on the rise, especially in young athletes who engage in high intensity sports with little recovery. It is stated that 50% of middle and high school sport injuries are related to overuse. Sports specialization has become more common, so athletes are training in just one sport year-round using the same muscle groups.
What exactly are overuse injuries? Overuse Injuries are destruction to bones, muscles, ligaments, or tendons caused by repeated stress without proper recovery. They are gradual, unlike acute injuries which are sudden damage to the body. Overuse injuries will get worse for athletes as they put more stress on that area of the body. Primary causes of overuse injuries include increasing intensity of training too quick, poor technique, and consistent, repetitive motions. The human body is unable to heal before more strain is applied.
To get an inside take about overuse injuries in high level sports, I interviewed George Budelis, former head tennis coach for Harford Community College for 25 years. When asked about the most common injuries in tennis he stated, “It’s usually the elbow or shoulder.” I then asked him when does normal training become overuse and he responded, “When you start doing too many hours a week and not giving enough rest days. The biggest thing is you have to take care of your body on rest days. Sometimes you can practice too much.” I asked Budelis if he thinks athletes are playing too much, and he said, “I do think the fact that nowadays sports are year-round rather than seasonal has increased injuries due to overuse. It is hard because athletes are getting better with year-round specialized training, but it is also increasing injuries.” Budelis then gave a specific example of an athlete on his team who suffered an overuse injury. “Murillo Basso was from Brazil, and he was the #1 player on my team. We were preparing for the national tournament, and he injured his back while doing an overhead serve in practice. He was hurting but still wanted to play to get recruited to play the next level. He was cleared by the trainer even though I tried to convince him to not play because I thought he would hurt himself worse, but he said I would be taking away his recruitment opportunity. He got a scholarship to play at University of West Florida but with too much training on his former back injury it ended his carrier.”
For an athlete’s perspective on these kinds of injuries, I interviewed Cameryn Loper. Cam is a senior cross-county, indoor track, and outdoor track athlete here at C. Milton Wright. She is currently injured with a stress fracture in her femur. Stress fractures are a form of overuse injury. When asked about the cause of her injury, she said, “I haven’t taken more than a week break since freshman year, and I guess it caught up to me. My training has also gotten heavier this year which I’m pretty sure increased my risk for a stress injury.” This injury has negatively affected Cam in her sport as she says, “It’s hard when I know that every day that I’m not running the competition is. It feels like I’m falling behind and seeing others excel while I am stuck is difficult. This contributes to the overall feeling of many young athletes that competition and comparison is everything. Cam then said, “It probably could have been prevented if I focused more on recovery after each season instead of preparation for the next.” Although this injury is hard for Cam, she is still so proud of all her teammates regardless just wishing she could experience those personal best days with them!
In the US Marine Corps, they use a popular motivational phrase “Pain is weakness leaving the body”. This phrase emphasizes that physical discomfort is normal to build strength, endurance, and mental toughness. These same ideas are often applied to young athletes. Training at least five times a week using the same muscles while struggling to recover their bodies because they are constantly moving onto the next thing.
To prevent overuse injuries athletes should increase the duration or intensity of their activity by no more than 10% per week. Coaches can enforce mandatory rest days for their athletes and work to limit repetitive drills and target other parts of the body. Overuse injuries can be a huge pain for athletes to recover from, so here is a call for athletes to access their training habits and make sure you stay healthy!
