PREHAB: Could you really train to prevent injury? (5 minute read)

You think you are making a good decision for yourself. After a long day at work, your mind tempts you with the couch and a bag of your favourite chips. Instead, you resist and book into class. Itʼs chest day, and mid-set you feel a sharp pain at the front of your shoulder. Suddenly, even placing the plates back hurts.

You chose the healthy thing, and instead it hurt you. This cruel irony doesnʼt just cost you workouts — it disrupts your sleep, mood, and day-to-day life. The risk of injury canʼt truly be eliminated, but it CAN be minimised. Thatʼs what prehab is all about, and hereʼs some ways I approach it in writing workout programs.

What is Prehab? How Joint Priming Protects Your Shoulders and Joints

Imagine your body as a car you drive. Some muscles act like the engine that push you forward (the chest in a bench press). Some act like the steering wheel and keep the joint on the path you want (the rotator cuff). Others act like the chassis that everything is bolted onto, acting as a platform for the movement to occur (the shoulder blade muscles). What coordinates all these things is the driver (the nervous system).

Many routines focus solely on the primary movers. Joint priming is about proactively identifying and targeting the vulnerable joints and muscles through precise, light preparation (like band pull-aparts or band external rotations). By doing these exercises before the lift, your nervous system gets to rehearse proper positioning (especially with the smaller segments) — leading to more support and precision in your lifting technique.

Landing and Deceleration Drills: Training the "Brakes" to Prevent Knee Pain

Every car needs good brakes. Your muscles must both produce force and absorb it. When you land from a jump, your quads, glutes, and calves slow you down and share the load. When they can't keep up, especially late in a tiring class, the knees and ankles take more of the impact than they should.

Landing drills train these brakes. They build the skill and the strength to distribute the load so that no single joint takes all the impact.

Everyday Athleticism at GRITYARD: Combining Prehab with High-Performance Training

Everyday Athleticism is a class Iʼve been designing at Grityard with the purpose of integrating prehab into performance training. Iʼve always felt that people had to choose between lifting safely and pushing hard in their workouts, and with this class I aim to do both in a single class format.

Head over to GRITYARD Timetable & Class Bookings for class bookings. Classes are on Saturday 9 and 10am.