How Olympians train to avoid injury
By Lesya Feinstein
WSAZ
Watching the Olympians compete is truly amazing, no matter the sport. Seeing what they can do makes you wonder how it’s even possible without getting hurt.
“They’re doing amazing and incomprehensible stunts,” said Dr. Lauren Erickson, an assistant professor of physical therapy at the University of Kentucky. “I’m thinking of women’s gymnastics I’ve been watching recently and I’m just thinking, how is that even humanly possible?”
A lot of Erickson’s research is on lower extremity injury.
“I work a lot with recreational or elite athletes and long-distance runners,” Erickson said. “A lot of my research is on gait analysis, gait mechanics and getting runners running strong.”
When it comes to intense training, Erickson has insight into what Olympians go through to compete at that level, and it’s more than just the workouts.
“I think that gets underestimated is they’re at the top of their physical game, but it’s really how they need to be on top of every aspect of their game,” Erickson said. “They really have to be on top of the recovery, the mental aspect. This is high pressure and high stakes when you go out to Paris.”
Many wonder, when pushing themselves to such extremes, how do these athletes not get hurt? Erickson offers a reminder that the Olympics are the peak, and it’s not full throttle 365 days a year.
“They’re probably not training at the same peak intensity this whole time, they’re building to reach this peak intensity,” Erickson said.