By Chet Collins, D.C.

It’s that time of year again. summer is over and it’s time to begin re-training your mind and body after a fun and relaxing vacation. Remember to pay attention as you get back into practice. This is the time that it is easy to get hurt. Focus on getting limber as you begin training for the fall and winter seasons. By focusing on stretching you will allow your joints to move easier and your muscles to contract with more force during exercise. This will allow you to make higher gains in strength, endurance and speed throughout the season.

Tune in to how your body is responding to those first few days, and weeks, of practice. Do you feel overly tired, consistently sore, or have a specific area that returns to bother you? These are signs that your body is having a bit of difficulty keeping up with the workouts. Remember, your body has to respond to the training stress you give it. This causes a bit of tissue breakdown and your body responds by replacing the weaker parts of the tissue.

Even though your body will progressively shorten the time it takes to repair itself, it has a maximum repair speed. When you start asking it to respond to more stress than it can handle, you begin to train with muscles that are not fully repaired and can not work as well. This will soon limit the amount of force your muscles can exert. If they cannot contract fully, due to soreness or fatigue, they will not be able to respond to increases in training, and your progress will stop.

This is why it is so important to remember, rest is part of your workout. The training activity stresses your body. It then repairs itself and gets stronger during rest. Pay attention to your body and how you feel during and after your workouts. Measuring yourself against other athletes is what competition is all about, but training is all about your ability to steadily improve and reach your personal peak. Focus on how you respond to your training schedule and make subtle changes as needed with your coach. Be careful, be thoughtful, and train with a purpose.

Visit Chet Collins’ at Athlete Repair and his Active Lifestyle Blog