Mind and body prehab

For Ogude, prehab isn’t just about the physical side of injury. Though that might be what you expect from a physiotherapist, she believes that our minds and bodies are interconnected, and very rarely is an injury an isolated accident.

“Let’s say somebody comes to me with back pain, for example,” she says. “Often, they think that they haven’t injured themselves at all – they just woke up and suddenly it’s become a thing. But really, it could be because they’re stressed at work, which impacts how they sleep, how long they are in bed for and the positions they lie in. If they’re doing that on top of not-so-great pillows, that puts stress on their back and in their neck.

“Then they’re waking up feeling uncomfortable, not eating well, then getting stressed because they’re not performing well at work. That compounds on those original insecurities of work stress. It pretty much trickles into everything – your mental health, your nutrition, your sleep and your physical health. By the time their back pain has become a real issue, they’re in agony.”

Prehab is the self-care tool your body needs to avoid pain and injury