Underuse or Overuse? Is this splitting hair?
Browsing the content of the British Journal of Sportsmedicine http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/ I found the following article headline: Musculoskeletal injuries: "Underuse" as a cause for musculoskeletal injuries: is it time that we started reframing our message? by S D Stovitz and R J Johnson from the University of Minnesota, USA
Beforehand, I have to admit that I didn’t buy the whole article which is only an editorial. 12 USD seem fairly expensive to me for one page or even less. I draw my conclusions from the abstract only, okay? Yarning a little bit should be allowed, okay too?
The editorial is obviously discussing the issue that terms like overuse or overtraining scare lazy couch potatoes away from moving. Therefore these expressions should be abolished and replaced by underuse. I think that is an overall good idea. Laziness should definitely not get any support from science and especially not from sportsmedicine.
Promoting physical activity is a noble goal that needs support. Because physical activity is preventing from chronic diseases. This seems an undeniable fact reinforced by scientific data.
All of you out there who suffer from a real weight problem! Moving, moderate sports, it is worthwile the effort. It makes life more enjoyable and on top of this it helps to save costs to the health system, and, perhaps for your more important, to you personally. Moreover, there is an intensive discussion around the topic that moderate physical training has an anti-aging effect. Who does not want to achieve that?
And keep in mind, biestmilch http://www.biestmilch.de/bibliothek/focus-sport.html supports these efforts. It helps to keep you fit and motivated. Many athletes can confirm this by now.
The authors of this article clearly state that most of the skeletalmuscle injuries are not due to overuse but underuse. So, don’t be afraid of moderate exercise.
Some quite interesting figures concerning the OVERUSE OF THE TERM OVERUSE
A May 2006 Medline search for articles with the keyword "overuse injuries" registered 7649 "hits" over the past 40 years, and 3970 in just the past 10 years. The vast majority clearly suggest that overuse is the reason for the injury.
The abstract for those of you who want to read the original text
»Sports medicine clinicians need to be leaders in the field of physical
activity promotion. As such, we must avoid language that
inappropriately discourages exercise. Articles on musculoskeletal
injuries typically divide the causes into either "acute" or "overuse".
Both of these terms implicate activity as the basis for the
musculoskeletal pain. However, as we learn more about the epidemiology,
pathophysiology, treatment, and prevention of these injuries, it is
clear that, in fact, inactivity may be the underlying cause of many of
these conditions. "Underuse injuries" may be a more appropriate term to
explain the aetiology of many conditions seen by those in the field of
sports medicine«.
