Do-It-Yourself Injury Prevention: Interview With Dr. Jordan Metzl

His new book is the ultimate guide for athletes struggling with injuries.

Jordan Metzl, MD, a renowned New York City-based sports physician, recently authored “The Athlete’s Book of Home Remedies,” the ultimate DIY guide for athletes struggling with injuries. Dr. Metzl is a competitive age-group triathlete and marathoner. Actually, he’s pretty hardcore, completing Ironman Lake Placid last July, the New York City Marathon last November, as well as the Psycho Wyco ultra marathon trail race in Kansas City.

Competitor.com caught up with Metzl to uncover how he conceptualized his new book and to see if he takes his own advice in training.

Competitor.com: What was your inspiration for the book?

Jordan Metzl: Athletes are busy. They just want to do their sports and stay healthy. More importantly,they want to know when an injury is serious enough to see a doctor, what kind of doctor to see, and also when to consider surgery. With so much information out there, one can easily get information that will lead them down the wrong path. There is just all kinds of crazy information that is easily accessible through the Web. I wanted to give athletes the most-up-to date information on how to recognize, prevent and treat almost every injury and medical condition they will encounter. I wrote this both as an athlete and as a doctor, which is why we chose to put both images on the cover.

Who is your target audience?

Anyone who wants to stay active, fit, and stay in the game. This would include runners, triathletes, soccer players, skiers—basically there is something in the book for every sport. There is also information for all ages. I have everything from how to treat runner’s knee to how to treat a concussion to how to plan your meals based on your training.

What are three takeaways that you hope readers get from your book?

With good information, athletes can treat most of their injuries at home by themselves.

Medical tests have become increasingly sophisticated, meaning they show every tear or strain. Not all of these issues need surgery, in fact, most don’t. Knowledge is power and the information in the book will allow athletes to make the smartest decisions for themselves.

Prevention is essential. In both the book and the enhanced e-book I go through my workoutcalled “Ironstrength” that athletes can do any time, any place, that will not only improve performance, it will reduce injury.

What advice in the book do you actually use yourself?

As a dedicated runner (I’ve done 29 marathons) and triathlete (9 Ironmans), I know that for my own body I want to keep performing at a high level and beating my brother, Jamie. I also know that as a sports medicine doctor, runners who train about half as much as the triathletes, are hurt more than twice as often. So my idea of making this as much about prevention and performance enhancement was important to me. I teach my “Ironstrength” classes here in New York to my patients so they can learn the most important exercises to keep their bodies moving. I do these exercises myself to keep me going. Most importantly, they are very time efficient. I can do my workout twice per week for 45 minutes and that’s all the strength training I need. I find that my joints ache less and that I can run longer, faster, and with less injury.

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About The Author:

Somyr Perry is the executive editor of Competitor magazine. Follow her on Twitter @somyrperry.