Jul 27, 2016

4 Ways Spartan SGX Training Reduces Injury

All Spartan racers, from the first timers to the Elites, have two things in common: they yearn to finish their next Spartan race, and they want to avoid injuries.
As a physical therapist, I’m a big fan of the principles Spartan SGX training uses to reduce the risk of injury. Here are the four key elements.

1. Expanding Muscles, Tendons and Joints

A majority of our daily tasks and duties in life compress and shorten our bodily tissues. These activities such as sitting, typing and driving all compress our joints, tighten our muscles and restrict the blood flow in our extremities.

Meanwhile, Spartan SGX training promotes movements that stretch muscles, lengthen tendons, decompress joints and increase blood flow throughout our body. For example, an athlete climbing a wall will lengthens muscles and tendons in his entire body.

2. Minimal External Weights

Traditional strength training techniques incorporate excessive external weight during their exercises. The additional weight contributes to compressed joints, shorter muscles and a tighter posture.

Spartan training reduces injury by minimizing the use of external weight most of its exercises. It takes advantage of gravity and an athlete’s own body weight. Gravity is consistent, portable, independent of the weather, adaptable to the size of the athlete — and free.

3. Challenging your Nervous System

The nervous system is involved with every movement an athlete makes, 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, personal trainers and athletes rarely focus on the nervous system as part of their training plan. Spartan SGX coaches don’t make that mistake.

Do you ever wonder why some injuries occur seemingly without warning? Many experts, myself included, believe that a major contributing factor for such “random injuries” is the nervous system.

Spartan SGX training wisely incorporates balancing drills, ever-changing surfaces, visual tracking elements, hanging movements, altered body postures and varying forms of resistance. The body’s nervous system is constantly being tested and strengthened during these types of exercise. Finely tuning the nervous system is a key element of Spartan SGX training to prepare the entire body for a changing environment. A better-prepared nervous system helps athletes to reduce their risk of injury, especially when fatigue becomes a factor.

4. Youth-inates (is this a word?) the Mind

Many athletes on any given day will view a “workout” as a burden or mundane task. With low energy and low focus during exercise, it’s easy to see that a less than optimal performance is soon to follow. Understandably so, the risk of injury during a low focus workout can be higher as well.

A key element to Spartan SGX training is creative workout design. The uncertainty and challenge of the Spartan workouts ignite a youthful, playful and game-like spirit. Who wouldn’t be excited to push away from the work desk, get away from fluorescent lighting, rip off the fancy work shoes and play a game?

This positive energy and attitude sharpens focus, improves concentration and heightens an athlete’s ability to avoid injury. The varying obstacles, music, and skilled coaching all help the athletes to relax while focusing on the task at hand.

Compare Spartan-trained body awareness to the average athlete sitting on a stationary bike in the gym staring at a TV screen, and it’s easy to see how Spartan SGX training is better suited to developing athletes who need to think and react more effectively during a higher-risk activity. In other words, if Johnny StationaryBike and Mary SpartanQueen were running on an uneven, rock- and root-riddled mountain trail, Mary would be better trained and adapted to avoiding an injury than Johnny would be.

In summary, Spartan SGX training has many benefits to helping athletes to avoid injuries. The coaches are skilled at preparing athletes of all shapes, sizes, ages and skill levels to enhance their fitness, eat healthier, think wiser, train smarter and avoid injuries.

If you have not trained with a certified SGX coach, what are you waiting for?