Technique for identifying potential injury weak spots

Question

What techniques are there for identifying areas you need to work on and that you will be likely to injure so you can work on that areas before they get injured.

Update Most of the activities I do are high explosive all round work-outs like combat sports.

Answer 1

In general the method I would use would be this:

1. Find a sports trainer or other resource for your specific sport. When I say "trainer" I don't mean "coach." You want the guy that would prescribe an ice bath or massage vs. the guy who doles out the workouts.
2. Through that resource, determine what physical capabilities are needed for your sport.
3. Devise a way to test your capabilities to identify any areas of weakness you might have. The test could emphasize different physical aspects like muscle strength, flexibility, endurance, stamina, range of motion, hand-eye coordination, etc. It all depends on your sport.
4. Using the results of the test, craft a training plan that will minimize or eliminate those defficencies.
5. Retest yourself to see how well you have improved after being consistent with your training plan after enough time has passed. ("Enough time" can vary depending on what you're doing, but a good rule of thumb is six weeks.)

Answer 2

Indeed the question is quite general.. but I'll try to answer with general problems as well.

Muscle imbalance can be a problem if you train incorrectly. For example, if you focus a lot on push-type movements (pecs, triceps, front delts), as would be specific in a striking sport, but don't work pull-type movements as well (back, biceps, rear delts), this will create a strength imbalance.

Also similar is training the abs very hard if the lower back is ignored, that can also lead to some serious problems.

I think not training your core well enough can be a problem as well. As you get stronger, bigger and faster you want to make sure that your body can keep up.

Answer 3

Warm up.

Anything "extreme" you are going to do, try it lightly first and pay attention to your body. Little twinges and pulls during a warmup are warning signs.

For example, before doing heavy lifts I always do one set at 50-60% of my maximum weight just to test my joints and see if I notice anything that might cause an injury if I were pushing myself.

For "high explosive" "combat sports" you might try doing kicks, jumps, falls, etc. lightly before going all-out, again focusing most of your attention on whether everything in your body feels "right".