2. Make Rest A Priority Kids should have at least one or two days off from any particular sport each week. During that time off, absolute rest is not necessary. Dynamic stretching appears to be the best recovery mode to enhance performance and cardio-respiratory and lactate responses. Using self-massage tools such as the foam roller or stick massages will help in soft tissue mobility. In addition, proper nutrition and hydration should be maximized. One of the most important factors in recovery for youth athlete is sleep. A good night’s sleep for 8-10 hours for kids will assist in adaptation to the physical, neurological, immunological and emotional stresses of competition. 3. Listen To Your Body There is a fine line between soreness from exertion and pain from injury, and athletes cross that line all the time. Paying close attention to your body and communicating when pain is present will help keep an athlete off the sidelines. For parents it is hard to know when there is true injury or the kids are just complaining about normal activity soreness, so our recommendation is if a child is complaining about the same pain for more than 48 hours, it’s always best to have it checked out by a sports medicine professional. Our philosophy in physical therapy is always to take care of the injury immediately and completely in order to prevent further progression of the condition and reduce areas of compensation. It is much better to miss a few days taking care of a small injury versus letting that small injury linger and turn into a significant injury that can cost the entire season. Hopefully you will find these tips useful and they will help keep kids in the game. Whether you are an athlete, coach or parent you can play an important role in ensuring youth athletes experience success in sports. Good luck to all those participating this fall sports season! If your young athlete has pain or sustains an injury during their sports season, keep in mind that you can get an evaluation and treatment from our physical therapists at The Training Room without a physician’s prescription. That means getting treatment starting immediately and recovering quicker. It also means less costs of unnecessary physician visits and/or X-rays. Our team can help guide you through the sports medicine system if you do need further medical examination.
1. Warm Up Properly This is important prior to participating in practice, training and competition. A proper warm up should consist of 5 to 10 minutes of slow activity such as jogging or skipping. In addition, low-intensity sport-specific actions such as dribbling a soccer ball can be productive at this time. This provides a very general warm-up that aids in skill development and raises body temperature.The aimof this period is to increase heart rate, blood flow, deep muscle temperature, respiration rate, and perspiration and to decrease viscosity of joint fluids. The second part to the warm up incorporates movements similar to the movements of the athlete’s sport. It involves short periods of dynamic stretching focusing on movements that work through the range of motion required for the sport, such as the walking knee lift. This is followed by sport-specific movements of increasing intensity such as sprint drills, bounding activities, or jumping. The more power necessary for the sport or activity, the more important the warm-up becomes. This phase should also include rehearsal of the skill to be performed. The warm-up should progress gradually and provide sufficient intensity to increase muscle and core temperatures without causing fatigue or reducing energy stores. Here are 3 Important Tips To Help Prevent Injuries
Summer in Iceland!
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
WashingtonTownship therapist, Nick Burgin and his wife Vanessa, took a vacation to Iceland this summer!
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