I am so glad that NFL football is back!

It sure feels different this year though, for multiple reasons.

Right now, it seems injuries are happening at an alarming rate in the NFL.

Even before the season started, it seems like there were many players dealing with nagging injuries, especially soft tissue injuries like hamstring or calf pulls.

Now as we finish up the second week of the regular season, we are seeing more serious injuries, not just with our local Niners, but around the league.

Seven players tore an ACL this weekend.

SEVEN!

Nick Bosa and Soloman Thomas both went down with ACL tears, as did the Giant’s Saquan Barkley.

Raheem Mostart and Jimmy G also had ligamentous injuries in Sunday’s game against the Giants.

In some cases the field conditions and the turf have been blamed, but the widespread nature of the injuries lead me to think there is something else going on.

I have a feeling that deconditioning is playing a larger role in this than people think.

Challenges of 2020 completely changed the off-season routine for these players.

Shorter camps with less contact, no preseason and months of shelter-in-place made it so that week 1 may have been the first real game situation for players.

Football is a sport that is very hard to simulate and condition for without actually playing the sport.

It takes time to get the body prepared to handle the in-game forces and explosiveness that come along with playing professional football.

Without the usual contact and preseason reps, it seems like some of these athletes don’t have their body ready to play.

Neuromuscular control and coordination takes time and repetition to develop.

If put into awkward or vulnerable positions, a well coordinated neuromuscular system will activate muscles to absorb potentially harmful forces before they reach the joint or ligament, thus avoiding injury.

We can learn from this and apply that knowledge to our own lives.

If we want to reach a physical goal, like running a marathon or squatting a weight that would be too heavy for us, it’s important to work up to it gradually.

Nothing is achieved overnight, it takes work over time.

The body also needs time so that it can recover and grow along the way.

Keep this in mind when you start your next routine, and set your goals around it.

Focus on the process and the results should follow.

Progress is always a win.

Dr. T