Injury prevention on the road

in to africa

A few months ago I was asked to help a guy who was planning the adventure of a life-time. His plan was to ride his motorbike from the U.K. to Tangier, followed by touring the entire coast of Africa. He had already completed other tours in the U.S. and Europe and had been planning the trip in great detail for a year. 

Will had been injured a few times in the past and is a keen runner. Knowing that he would spend hours at a time on rough terrain and also expecting to fall off the bike at times, he wanted to do all he could to keep healthy, safe and injury-free.

We spent some time screening his body for any asymmetries in his alignment and bio-mechanics. We then set about putting together a programme of stretches, exercises and postural awareness techniques for on the bike and for sleeping on the floor.

Will has been in touch a couple of times since starting his adventure, and has kindly written a small piece to add to this blog (see below). 

I'd like to wish Will a safe and exciting trip and look forward to more updates as his journey continues!

Riding a large, heavily loaded adventure bike across Africa is physically demanding.  Jen did a great job to understand the muscles I would be putting under strain, and helped me devise a stretching regime that would help counteract this wear and tear, and keep me fresh.  She also helped with stretches in case of accidents - where medical help was scarce, again to enable me to keep moving.  This regime has kept me well during a physically (and mentally!) demanding trip, and I can't thank her enough! 

​Will Brix