Those were the words spoken to a player in my football team yesterday when he pulled his calf in the warm up. It had been the first time he had played in almost three years and it might well be the last.

He had previously stopped playing due to persistent aches and pains and was basically fed up with the feeling that his body was just too old for football.

Injuries are frustrating and persistent issues can cause a lot of people just to give up completely and the 36 year old version of himself is an awful lot different from the 15 year old boy who used to walk to school, play football every break time, train once a week and play football matches.

Now the reality is he sits all day, doesn’t run or even reenact any of the stresses that football places upon his joints and tissues.

…and expects to turn up to training and not get injured. Sound familiar?

In short he as a teen was conditioned to play football.

Even at 36 we are starting to see a lot of degeneration of the body’s structures and tissues.

Without quoting I have been told that hamstring degeneration has already commenced as early as your twenties, so in the untrained body we will more than likely begin to see issues with injuries, aches and niggles more so UNLESS we attempt to offset the effects of ageing with good training, and good nutrition.

Strength & conditioning and rehabilitation are so important and if done correctly can add a lot of longevity.

So what happens next for this young man.  Well, depending on the severity, a short period of rest followed by a structured return to play protocol, which will begin with some low level strengthening exercises progressing through to plyometric and football associated exercises.

…and what he will definitely not be doing his seeing what it will be like next week.  A low grade muscle tear is approx 3 weeks on the sidelines and a more severe one could be several months.

The big issue with grass roots football and many other sports is that when someone believes they can walk on it they generally feel that they can go out and play the sport again.  This is a false reading of the injury so it is important to seek professional advice and follow a return to play guided plan.

This way you are less likely to reinjure the area and have a very good chance of playing out the rest of the season and future seasons because your body is stronger and able to cope with such demands.

Injuries are rubbish, but an extra week or two focussed on rehabbing or even preparing to play sport could pay dividends going forward.

Looking to get back in to shape??

Give me 20 mins a day and I guarantee you will feel stronger, fitter and suffer less aches and pains.  Take action today and join one of our online courses and start to feel the difference.