Check Out Karen Herrera’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Herrera.

Hi Karen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I have been around sports my entire life, mainly soccer. I have 2 beautiful children, Anthony, 17, and Victoria, 15. They have both been involved in sports growing up as well. As all athletes, they have both gone through different sports-related injuries. Anthony has had the majority of injuries due to higher level sports competition. He was practicing 3-4 days a week and had either 1 or 2 games on the weekends. His first injury, at 10 years old, was growth plate related, Sever’s disease. After that, ankle sprains. Then as he continued to grow, he began having issues with his knee, patella tendon pain to be more specific. Around the age of 14 he began having hip pain which led into a small hip avulsion fracture. Then it was lower back pain. We took him to orthopedics, physical therapists, acupuncturists, massage therapists, also to get leg compressions, red light therapy, cryotherapy; you name it, we’ve tried it all to help with ongoing issues. In the midst of all of the chaos, something in me sparked. I asked myself why was my son getting injured so much? What is he not doing that he should be? I started to read more into the root causes of non-contact injuries. It blew my mind reading about how the human body works while playing sports and how athletes need to learn to take care of their bodies in multiple ways. Human biology was something I never really paid attention to in school, because to be honest, it wasn’t really my cup of tea, if you know what I mean. But to see how my son was missing out on being able to play the sport he loved so much due to so many injuries, was very hard. So, I decided to dive deeper into injury prevention and became a certified personal trainer. I received my certification through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine). I’m specializing in Corrective Exercises which teaches the importance of doing movements correctly when exercising. This area really helps in understanding how paying attention to the small details in movements make huge differences. I also received a certificate for Injury Prevention through Conmebol (South American Soccer Association) and am currently working on obtaining a diploma from FIFA in Football Medicine. I began implementing injury prevention programs into my son’s weekly routine and I cannot tell you how much it has really helped him with his issues. He no longer feels any type of knee or hip pain while playing soccer. He is as healthy as can be and back to playing his favorite sport. This pushed me to want to help other athletes and pour knowledge into them that I know will only benefit them in the long run. I decided to open up Higher Level Injury Prevention to help other athletes overcome situations like what my son went through.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There will always be challenges when owning a business. The most important thing with every setback is that I learn and grow from it. Being able to have intrinsic motivation and confidence in what I do, is big. Putting myself out there, knowing that there will be people who will close the door on me is hard, but I have to continue knocking. I continue to knock because I truly believe there is a bigger purpose for this service and so much underutilized knowledge to pour out into these young athletes.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I work with young athletes on helping them reduce their risk of non-contact injuries. My programs include mobility, stability, and strength training. Other than one-on-one training, I also do team sessions. I really enjoy when my clients tell me how much better they’ve felt on and off the field/court. Studies show that implementing these injury prevention programs at least twice a week, can reduce the risk of non-contact injury by 46%. I firmly believe in this because I have seen it work. What sets me apart from others is that I am not only a certified trainer, but I have personally gone through difficult situations with my kids involving sports-injuries. I genuinely care for the well-being of these young athletes and want every single one of them to excel throughout their sports journies.

What does success mean to you?
Success for me is watching a vision that started as a small seed in my mind grow into a tree standing before my eyes. It’s realizing that you were created for a purpose and you are fulfilling that purpose. It’s when you pushed away those negative thoughts to overcome barriers you thought you would never get over. It’s when you see a smile on your client’s face because your knowledge has really made a difference in their lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hlinjuryprevention.com