A lack of warm up before participating in physical activity may be the bigger culprit in acute injuries. A proper ergonomic stretch warm up will gradually increase heart rate which in turn increases blood flow, oxygen and nutrients to our muscles. This will also increase body temperature which increases muscle extensibility. In other words, it makes muscles more pliable and increases joint range of motion, thus making them less prone to injury. Think of glass as an example. If you try and bend glass it will break. However, if you were to heat glass up, increasing its temperature, you are able to bend it into a variety of shapes. The same concept can be applied to muscles. A cold muscle is not going to bend and stretch as well as a warm muscle, which may lead to injury.
Based on the type of physical demands observed at your facility, a 6-10 minute routine can be developed to target specific muscle groups used in everyday work.
Once the specific movements have been selected, we teach your facility Supervisors to instruct the program in the future. This includes learning: proper bio-mechanical movement patterns, benefits of warming-up, muscle groups being activated and training tips for larger groups.