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Research Corner

Although some injuries require complete rest, for many minor injuries complete rest from exercise can be counterproductive.

Why training during injury can actually be important:

The longer we rest, the more our bodies experience detraining. Detraining refers to the partial or complete loss of all those benefits you gain from exercise and technical practice. It’s what happens when you miss a few weeks of HEMA and show back up only to find yourself more exhausted, slower, and weaker than when you left. Declines in muscle strength, cardiovascular fitness, and metabolic health occur at different rates, but a general rule of thumb is after about 10-14 days of rest you start to experience reductions your ability to generate explosive power. After 3-4 weeks, muscle mass decreases and cardiovascular markers like VO2 Max begin to drop.

Although the good news is that it is easier to “retrain” your body than make those increases in VO2 max and muscle size the first time around, the bad news is that those training adaptions are part of what protects you from injury.

Taking significant time off (more than 2 or 3 weeks) therefore has a double negative effect: not only do you lose out on training time, but you are actually more likely to be injured when you return. This effect is well studied in college & professional sports and multiple injury patterns from ACL tears to ankle sprains, and part of why so much time and energy is invested in the way high level athletes rehab from injury. It’s not just about getting them back as fast as possible - it’s about keeping them in the game once they return.

Remember, training doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Adaptive training can help maintain fitness and technical skill while a minor injury heals, potentially leading to a quicker return to competition and peak skill levels once you’re fully cleared for sparring. Although not every injury can be worked around, with a little creativity many fencers can find ways to continue to work on the sport they love while waiting for their return to the ring.

References

Eckard TG, Padua DA, Hearn DW, Pexa BS, Frank BS. The Relationship Between Training Load and Injury in Athletes: A Systematic Review. Sports Med. 2018 Aug;48(8):1929-1961. doi: 10.1007/s40279-018-0951-z. Erratum in: Sports Med. 2020 Jun;50(6):1223. doi: 10.1007/s40279-020-01284-x. PMID: 29943231.

Mujika I, Padilla S. Muscular characteristics of detraining in humans. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Aug;33(8):1297-303. doi: 10.1097/00005768-200108000-00009. PMID: 11474330.

HEMA Hot Take: Staying Engaged

It’s not just about the triumphant return to competition. Here are other reasons and ways to stay engaged with HEMA during your injury:

• HEMA Scholar - With less fencing time you can put some of your typical training time into reading and analyzing fencing texts or doing your own HEMA research. It’s easy to find excuses when you’re busy, so use that injury time wisely! Improve community knowledge by sharing what you’ve learned with your teammates and coaches, or put together a class for an upcoming HEMA event!

• Mental Health & Wellness - You’re still part of the team even injured. Continuing to train, even at a reduced capacity, helps you stay connected to your friends and thinking positive. HEMA friends are friends for life.

• Equipment Manger: What’s in that gear bag? Take time to go through, clean, and repair old equipment. You’ll feel great going back with fresh, clean gear that doesn’t smell so much like old socks and with everything in its proper place.

Coach’s Corner: Supporting Injured Fencers in Training

As a coach, your job is to keep injured students engaged without putting their recovery at risk. Here’s how to help them stay active while healing:

1. Make Sure its Safe to Exercise: It’s your student’s responsibility to check with their doctor and communicate with you what they are or are not allowed to do. Use your discretion, and don’t be afraid to sit out a fencer if you think they are not being honest about their injury or are not able to self-monitor their condition.

2. Adapt Drills to Their Needs:

   • Focus on movements and fencing skills that avoid the injured area. For example:

     • Lower-body injuries → Work on bladework drills and timing, reactive drills, and fine technical skills during drill time.

     • Upper-body injuries → Besides using their “good hand”, you can emphasize use of footwork to set up attacks and defenses or even use the opportunity to teach them a new 1-handed weapon (smallsword! epee! foil!)

   • There’s not always time and opportunity to plan a lesson around a fencer’s injury, and sometimes you may have to leave a student up to their own devices for part of a lesson. Try to at least give them suggestions on what to do at a pell if they seem uncertain or unmotivated.

3. Keep Them Mentally Engaged:

   • Injured fencers can still learn by watching others, analyzing sparring, or assisting with coaching duties.

     • Judging: Make them a judge for sparring and practice this important but difficult skill!

     • Assistant Coach: Even a newer student can learn and observe from working with you. Give them specific things to look for during drills or sparring - and teach them how to give good feedback.

     • Safety Officer: Have them watch for safe fencing practices and call hold when needed.

4. Encourage Incremental Progress:

   • Celebrate small wins with them, like rejoining class, practicing drills, getting to spar again.

5. Pair Them with Understanding Partners:

   • Assign sparring partners or drill partners who are patient and can help the injured fencer stay within their limits.

   • For adapted fencing (such as seated or wheelchair fencing) ask your healthy fencers if someone wants to join in and be the injured student’s partner. You may be surprised at how much interest there is in trying something new and different!

Health & Fitness: When to NOT train through Injury

While staying active during recovery can help maintain fitness, there are times when training through an injury can do more harm than good. Knowing when to take a step back is essential for long-term health and performance.

Signs You Should Not Train Through an Injury:

1. Sharp or Severe Pain:

   • Pain that’s sharp, stabbing, or worsening with activity is a strong signal to stop. If you have a hard time staying in tune with your body’s pain signals it can be easy to overdo it - fence for a few minutes, rest, and then see how you feel.

2. Significant Swelling:

   • Sometimes mild swelling can come and go or persist for awhile through healing, but severe swelling is detrimental. Stop, elevate, and ice when swelling becomes significant.

3. Loss of Function:

   • If your motion is significantly restricted or you can’t move a joint or muscle properly, trying to train with it could lead to compensatory injuries and also lead to other problems from poor technique. Don’t attempt to return to full training until you’ve rehabbed the injury appropriately.

4. Increased Symptoms After Activity:

   • If your injury feels worse after training, this is a sign that your body isn’t ready yet for physical stress.

Conditioning Move of the Week

Archer’s Draw

The miniband archer’s draw is excellent for building upper-body strength, shoulder stability, and rotational control—all essential for delivering precise, powerful strikes. This move mimics the action of drawing a bow and strengthens the muscles used for bladework and guard transitions. Have dreams of pulling a longbow? You need this move!

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