For MMA fighters, injuries are common. This is no surprise, given that the aim of a fight is to achieve victory through physical (and mental) force over your opponent. Because of this high level of physical intensity when competing in, and also training for, combat sports, getting injured is more a matter of when than if.

The almost certainty of getting injured as an MMA fighter makes learning the skill of managing injuries a vital part of success and longevity. 

Common areas of injury in MMA include:

Knee Injuries - This is often in the form of a ligament injury, meaning an injury to the soft tissue structures running from the femur to the tibia to support the knee joint. It can also be an injury to either of the joints that are at the knee, the tibiofemoral or patellofemoral joints, the meniscus or to the tendons that are attaching the quadriceps muscles to the knee.

Shoulder Injuries - Shoulder injuries can occur during submissions or as a result of the repetitive movements when training boxing or grappling movements. An injury to the shoulder region most commonly involves the rotator cuff muscles, the deep stabilizing muscles that are supporting the primary joint of the shoulder, the glenohumeral joint.

Ankle Injuries - The ankle injuries that occur as a result of MMA are almost always ligament injuries to the ligaments helping to stabilize the outside of the ankle. These can occur again through a submission or by rolling your ankle in the course of training.

Neck Injuries - Between throws on the ground, bridging movements when grappling and punches to the head, the neck muscles work hard when training and competing in MMA. They are also a common area of injury. This is generally in the form of a whiplash injury, meaning the neck muscles injured themselves while working to support and control impacts and forces to the head.

When it comes to exercise, I believe and preach that done is better than perfect. Rather than delaying the start of your strength routine in order to continue to research and tweak your strength training plan, start with a little of something and adjust as you go.

On this theme, here is a done is better than perfect lower body strength program. It involves a single exercise and a plan for gradually progressing the difficulty of this exercise.

This a no fuss lower body strength program, centring around a sit-to-stand exercise. This exercise is a version of a squat and uses the large muscles of legs, the quadriceps and gluteal muscles. With the coordination required during the movement, especially as you progress to the harder versions, it also challenges your core muscles, coordination and balance.

As a physiotherapist, my role in helping patients with osteoporosis is about providing guidance and clarity within this tidal wave of information. This is especially true regarding information about what to do when exercising after an osteoporosis diagnosis. I aim to provide my patients with individualized action plans regarding adding in new exercises and modifying current routines to optimize bone health and prevent falls and fractures. 

Here are the four fundamental exercise components that I consider when prescribing exercise programs for my patients with osteoporosis. Below are descriptions of these four components that I hope allows you to feel confident in the path to take when exercising with osteoporosis.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve had someone say to me, often with a shameful tone, “I know I should be stretching more”, I would be a fair bit richer than I am now. This guilty confession has happened  when speaking with friends, acquaintances or physiotherapy patients. 

Each time I am told this confession, a debate occurs within myself about how to respond. How much to further inquire and then what to discuss with them to help to ease their conflicting feelings about what they are doing and what they think they should be doing in regards to stretching. How I respond depends on many factors. Sometimes we have a lengthy discussion and other times diving any further does not make sense at that time. 

The purpose of this article is to lay out the main points about potential benefits, and sometimes lack of benefits, of stretching. You can then decide for yourself what makes sense to have in your routine, without shame or cognitive dissonance between what you think you should be doing and what you are actually doing.

Uncertainty about what to do to warm-up before a strength workout is a common feeling. In the search to answer this question, you will likely come across many different answers, causing confusion and getting in the way of actually starting a strength training routine. 

To help simplify and demystify what a warm-up routine looks like, here are my dos and don’ts of warming up for an effective strength training session.

Here are 5 tips to help with a smooth return to strength training after injury (because everyone deserves to experience the many benefits of strengthening exercise!)