Injury prevention is a very complex venture. There are many different aspects that need to be addressed to have the greatest chance of escaping the dreaded sprained ankle or strained hamstring. Most people use improper warm-up as the scapegoat to the root of their injury, but the warm up is just the tip of the iceberg.

While it is the most notable, it is not what sinks the most indestructibly Titanic of athletes. Many injuries are caused because people have not trained to expect the unexpected; they train for certain movements only. To clarify, runners train by running and skiers train by skiing. Maybe I’m stating the obvious, but allow me to explain.

Injuries rarely occur when an individual performs a perfectly routine movement. For example, a runner doesn’t sprain their ankle by running around a track; they sprain it when something out of the ordinary happens, such as stepping on the side of a curb, or while trying to hurdle a fence while running from the bulldog that’s chasing you like you were made of bacon.

The lesson here is that many injuries happen when unexpected things occur, so you must train to be able to handle whatever gets thrown your way. Many individuals, especially high level athletes, stick to the same types of training. While it’s necessary to repeatedly practice your sport, most athletes are ignorant to the fact that they are always training the same muscles for the same movements while others get ignored.

Injuries often occur when your normal movements suddenly become abnormal and you are unable to cope with the change. There are two easy training techniques that take up very little time, yet can be the deciding factor in avoiding an injury: balance exercises and resistance training.

Resistance training simply means performing movements while having a force of resistance, whether it is weights, resistance bands, or running while someone is holding you back by your shirt. Weight training is the most common form and its benefits cannot be stressed enough. I will be skipping over this common type and go into the lesser used techniques.

Resistance bands are one of my favourite training tools as they allow you work all of your muscles, including stabilizers. The other great thing about resistance bands is that they are naturally adjustable by folding them over, increasing or reducing tension. Many injuries are sustained through coming into contact unexpectedly with another person, causing a force that resists your movement.

Training with resistance under controlled conditions will help you deal with game situations, such as a hockey player getting hit while taking a shot. The natural shooting form gets halted and that can cause injury. If the player attaches a resistance band to his stick while taking shots, it will help him deal with a similar situation in a game by strengthening all muscles involved in the natural shooting motion, something that weight training has difficulty replicating.

Balancing exercises refer to conducting certain movements on an unstable surface, usually a balance board or cushion, but can include anything from a pillow to a floating inflatable raft. The purpose of the unstable surface is to train your body to regain and keep its balance quickly. Doing this builds your stabilizer muscles which are often ignored through conventional training.

The stronger these stabilizers are and the quicker they can react, the better chance a person has of avoiding injury. The most basic example (and I encourage everyone to try this) is standing on one leg while trying to stay balanced. This may seem very easy for most. Now grab a tennis ball, can of soup, or a medicine ball, if you are feeling adventurous, and start moving it around, playing catch with a friend, or bouncing it against the wall (not recommended if you are using a can of soup).

To make things more difficult, try standing on a pillow and try the same movements. The more unstable the surface, the more difficult and therefore better you will be able to react on the field, court, or track. After months or years of training, I can almost guarantee you will never slip on ice again (and may even pull off matrix-like moves in the process).

These two types of training are often overlooked and I believe they are essential to not only preventing injury, but improving athletic performance. It is the unpredictability of sports and life in general that can cause injury. Being able to adjust and cope will not only stop you from rolling your ankle, but can also help you get a basket after being fouled in basketball.

The theory behind today is if you can do a single leg squat on a wobble board while attached to a resistance band and playing catch with a medicine ball, you should be able to avoid an angry dog without rolling your ankle, or whatever else life throws your way.

Leigh Sembaluk

Leigh Sembaluk was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. He completed a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology at Simon Fraser University. While at SFU Leigh played varsity soccer and has since followed his passion and has gone on to play professionally in North America and continues to coach youth players.

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