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Want to Prevent Injuries? Train Your Muscles AND Your Nerves

Strong muscles and good overall conditioning help prevent joint injuries during sports and exercise. But there is a "sixth sense" that is also crucial in helping prevent injuries. This sixth sense is the system of nerves and muscles that controls our posture and balance and keeps our joints in proper alignment--the neuromuscular system. The neuromuscular system needs to be kept in good working order, too.

This article outlines the way the neuromuscular system works. Nerve sensors in the muscles, skin, ligaments, and tendons constantly send messages to the brain about the way a joint is aligned. The nerve messages give us a sense of proprioception, which is a joint's sensation of movement and position. This sense allows us to keep our balance with our eyes shut, detect when our joints move, and copy a position or a movement.

The author outlines the way proprioception and neuromuscular exercises are used in physical therapy and sports medicine. The exercises were first used in rehabilitating injured joints. They are now also used for preventing joint injuries. Proprioception exercises work on balance, reflexes, and posture. Some repetitive exercises are used to "reprogram" the way athletes do certain movements so that they are less prone to injury. Plyometric exercises combine quickly stretching and contracting the muscles to help with joint stability, speed, and power. The author also outlines the way neuromuscular exercises are developed for the knee, ankle, and shoulder.

The bottom line is that neuromuscular and proprioception exercises are clearly an important part of any training program. The author also suggests that these exercises could be helpful to aging adults to help them prevent falls.

References: Letha Y. Etty Griffin, MD, PhD. Neuromuscular Training and Injury Prevention in Sports. In Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. April 2003. Vol. 409. Pp. 53-60.

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