How to Prevent Injuries According to Physical Therapist Dr. Matt Barle

Whether you’re an athlete or just live an active lifestyle, injuries can happen in the gym, on a run or walking up the stairs. Regardless of how careful you are, sometimes things just don’t go as planned when it comes to moving your body. This can get frustrating, as injuries make it feel like the end of the world when you need to take some time off from training and competing. 

Luckily, the good news is there are some things you can do to be proactive and prevent these situations from happening. 

We had the opportunity to connect with strength coach and physical therapist Matt Barle to better understand what you can do to help prevent injuries and allow you to continue training and competing at the highest level.

Prevent Injuries by Leveraging Physical Therapy Movements

Intense training and workouts put the body under immense amounts of stress. When the stress is more than the body can handle, injuries can occur. 

To prevent injuries, Dr. Barle recommends having a physical therapist look at how your body moves to pinpoint any areas that may be weaknesses and could lead to an injury. “We go to our doctor for yearly check-ups (or at least we should). Why not go to your physical therapist for monthly movement assessments? That’s the proactive mindset we preach at Trident Physical Therapy.”

Finding issues with biomechanics now and fixing them through a specific physical therapy protocol can help prevent injuries and lead to better, pain-free movement and performance (which is incredibly important as we age). 

Focus on Ankle Mobility to Build a Strong Base

Whether you’re an athlete or a middle-aged individual who simply wants to keep up with their kids or grandkids, ankle mobility could be the bottleneck when it comes to being able to prevent injuries. 

Dr. Barle states, “Just as you can’t build a house without a strong foundation, the same is true with the human body. With most activities in sports, our power is generated by the legs, then transferred through the core, and finally released by the upper body. But, if you have an ankle issue, you’re taking away that foundation. This can lead to compensations by the body placing increased stress on other structures.”

As the body compensates for a poor foundation stemming from the ankles, it can put unnecessary stress on the knees, hips, lower back, and other areas of the body. Most would assume the site of their pain is the problem when in actuality, the root of the problem could lie somewhere else. 

A common issue heard in gyms is that people don’t like doing squats because it hurts their knees or lower back. Again, that pain could be coming from poor ankle mobility and form. 

Dr. Barle explains the issue with the squat as follows: “The lower you descend into your squat, the more ankle dorsiflexion is required. If you lack the necessary mobility, this can lead to a forward weight shift onto the toes, the knees buckling in, an excessive forward lean of the torso, or other compensations. The hip and/or knee pain someone is feeling could actually be due to an issue at the ankle.”

To better protect yourself and prevent injuries both in and out of the gym, pay close attention to your ankles by implementing the strategy below.

Prevent Injuries by Implementing Specific Exercises and Stretches

It should come as no surprise that specific exercises and stretches can help prevent injuries — especially those that stem from the ankles. Just as you would focus on shoulder exercises and stretches to maintain strength and mobility, the same needs to be done down at your ankles.

When was the last time you did anything for your ankles? Probably never, right? That’s why you want to get ahead now rather than later by taking the necessary measures to prevent injuries.

Dr. Barle makes it clear that there’s no specific “cookie cutter” program that people should follow to improve their ankle mobility and strength to help prevent injuries. You need to be evaluated by a physical therapist who can diagnose your biomechanics and curate a program specific to your needs.

That said, he did provide us with some tips and recommendations that you can utilize.

 “I recommend strengthening the ankle from all angles and performing unilateral movements for balance/proprioception. Many muscles (i.e., gastrocnemius, soleus, peroneal muscles, anterior tibialis, and more) provide stability to the ankle/foot complex. To build stability and resilience with sport-related activities, it’s important to strengthen all these muscles and make sure you are meeting the demands of your sport,” says Dr. Barle.

Healthline has a fantastic list of ankle mobility and strength moves and how to do each:

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• Ankle Circles
• Single Leg Balance
• Standing Heel Lifts
• Toe Raises and Heel Drops on Step
• Ankle Flexion (Plantar)
• Ankle Flexion (Dorsiflexion)
• Toe-Heel Walks
• Static Lunges
• Walking Lunges
• Ankle Jumps
• Single Leg Hops
• Double Leg Hops

Give the above moves a try and incorporate them into your routine to help prevent injuries. You can also get connected with your physical therapist to have them create a more personalized plan specifically for you and your body.

You can find out more information about Dr Matt Barle and Trident Physical Therapy here, or give him a follow on IG @Dr.Matt.Barle for more tips and tutorials. 

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