Boxing for fitness has become a popular exercise in the active community however like any new activity the body will take time to adapt, so how can we protect ourselves from becoming injured ? 

Common hand injuries seen in boxers often affect the knuckles, the thumb or the carpo-metacarpal joints ( joints in the hand where the long bones of the hand (metacarpals) join with the smaller bones of the wrist/hand (carpals)). Stability of the wrist and hand during impact plays an essential part in injury prevention. 

Pronation (the movement of the rear foot inwards) is a naturally occurring movement that happens in the foot when we are walking or running. It allows weight to be transferred from the outside of the heel (contact phase of stance) to the inside of the foot and big toe before our foot leaves the ground (end phase of stance or toe off). Some of us naturally stand with our heels in a pronated position and are advised to buy shoes which have anti-pronation to correct this position and protect ourselves from injury however there is little evidence to suggest that a shoe can provide significant protecton from injury. Like any movement the risk of injury to soft tissue is greater when the movement is poorly controlled and pronation is no exception.  

Hip extension or the ability to move your thigh in a backward direction towards or behind your body is an important component of running which is sometimes under-utilised. 

Good extension of the hip optimises your propulsion angle (angle that you leave the ground and enter the flight phase of running), and allows the achilles (tendon at the back of your leg) and plantarfascia (ligament that runs underneath your foot) to store more energy while your foot is in contact with the ground which can then be used as kinetic energy to push you up into the air. 

 

Osteoarthritis or joint degeneration are often words that provoke fear of movement and a reluctance to participate in physical activity. However in most cases avoiding activity is the wrong thing to do. 

There are different grades of Osteoarthritis and in some cases surgery to replace a joint is required, however for the majority of people with degenerative changes in joints exercise and activity is likely to be beneficial and helpful in reducing discomfort 

 

When stride width is narrow the foot lands more centrally to the hip joint which increases the forces required for the hip muscles to control movement of the pelvis and lower leg. Increasing stretching forces of tissue on the outside of the leg and compressive forces on the inside of a leg. Some of the common problems we see in clinic if the soft tissue of the body is unable to cope with the forces associated with narrow stride width are lateral thigh/knee pain, ITB syndrome or medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints).