Every other month I write a column called “Coach’s Corner” for Parenting on the Peninsula Here is the latest article from June 2011 (http://ponthep.com/):
Injury prevention and rehabilitation are a big interest of mine because as a kid I was always injured (my nickname in college was ICE and that is not because of Vanilla Ice). Also, as a Biomechanic Specialist, Trainer, and Massage Therapist, I am seeing more kids with injuries than ever before.In a 2008 article, “Sports Safety—Injury Statistics and Incidence Rates,” in the United States, about 30 million children and teens participate in some form of organized sports, and more than 3.5 million injuries occur each year, which cause some loss of time of participation. ‘Source: Children’s Hospital of Pittsburg’
It seems like it is all or nothing these days. There are those kids that do very little physical activity and those that do multiple hours a day of their specialty sport. Kids that are participating in sports are committing to more and more hours every year, and many of them have still not learned good warm-up and recovery models.
In my last article, “Getting Ready for Spring Baseball,” in March 2011, I gave some key tips on how to reduce the likelihood of injuries. One of those tips was to focus on posture and flexibility. Flexibility is the range of motion available in a joint, such as the hip, or series of joints such as the spine. If your kids have areas that are tight they are performing below their genetic potential. Given our lifestyles, genetics, and awareness or lack of awareness, we all have certain areas that have restrictions due to muscular imbalances. Over time these imbalances create movement dysfunctions and pains, which ultimately cause many to abandon certain actions, exercises, or their sport.
There has been a paradigm shift in regards to flexibility training, stretching, and warming up prior to participating in a sport. If your kids have never received up-to-date advice on stretching and warming up it may be a matter of time before they get injured. We now know that performing static stretches before exercise (i.e., holding a stretch for 30 seconds) may be a waste of time or even detrimental to performance, promoting injuries. Post-exercise static stretches are still recommended.
There was a study in 2010 involving close to 3,000 runners that confirmed there is no difference in the risk of injury for those who stretched before running and those who did not (“A Large, Randomized, Prospective Study of the Impact of a Pre-Run Stretch on the Risk of Injury in Teenage and Older Runners, Pereles, Roth, et al, 2007”). In a 1986 landmark study by Jacobs & Berson (1986), it was found that those who stretched beforehand were injured more often than non-stretchers.
Now that you know static stretching is no longer the preferred form of warming-up, you need to know what is the best way to get ready for an exercise session. The answer is through self-massage techniques and active mobility (dynamic) exercises. Every team and athlete that I work with completes a 10-20 minute warm-up routine consisting of self-massage exercises using a foam roll, intracell stick, and golf or tennis balls, followed by dynamic exercises. The self-massage techniques have been shown to increase blood flow, oxygen, endurance, strength, flexibility, speed, power, recovery, and relaxation, and reduce pain, muscular imbalances, trigger points, and muscle soreness. These benefits occur by rolling knots out of the muscle, providing myofascial release and trigger point therapy.
Trigger points are short, tight, knotty muscles that produce pain when pressed. Trigger points lead to a reduction in performance because the muscles are not capable of producing force the way they should. Using self-massage devices creates a similar result as having your own massage therapist at your beck and call, but much less expensive and more time efficient. Here are some videos and more information on the self massage warm-up: Self Massage
Dynamic exercises are those that are rhythmic, performed in a full range of motion, and mimic the speed and actions of the work or sport which is being prepared for. These exercises may include arm circles, lateral shuffles, skips, etc. Dynamic flexibility is extremely important for high velocity movement sports such as sprinting, baseball, and basketball.
by Brien Shamp, BS, CSCS, CMT, CHEK, NLC II, who is a Personal Trainer, Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach. You can reach him at www.BrienShamp.com, www.SFBayAreaBootCamp.com, or www.MenloFit.com (650) 654-4604
