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Ready for your weekend workout? |
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Written by McClatchy-Tribune
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Wednesday, 04 October 2006 |
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Want to join an adult soccer league even though most of your exercise comes from scooting around in the office coaster chair?
Think it would be fun to play dodge ball for the first time since, well, the third grade?
Warning: You may be risking shin splints, tendinitis, stress fracture or worse.
Even if you are fit, making sudden, unaccustomed demands on your body is as unwise as sliding head-first into home plate — it is needlessly dangerous. Too many recreational athletes fail to prepare their bodies for their chosen sport, making themselves vulnerable to overuse injuries.
Conditioning — exercises that build muscle tolerance for specific stress and loads — is crucial for preventing injuries. Every sport, whether bowling or touch football, makes particular demands on the body. Conditioning allows the body to acclimate itself to the tasks by gradually mimicking the sports’ actual motions, said John O’Kane, associate professor of orthopedics and sports medicine at the University of Washington.
HAZARDS OF REC JOCKS
Staying physically active undisputedly lowers your chances of developing certain diseases and dying prematurely. But playing recreational sports, particularly competitive team sports such as basketball, also carries risks of injury.
Jennifer Lesko, director of Therapeutic Associates — Queen Anne Physical Therapy, said “quite a few” of her patients are otherwise fit and healthy people who injure themselves playing sports after work or on the weekends. She said people mistakenly use regular gym workouts as all-purpose training for their sports, regardless of whether they involve kicking, throwing or hitting.
So a player who hasn’t done a single rotational movement exercise and then pitches six innings in a softball game is an injury waiting to happen.
The most common injury sites are the ankle, knee, back and arm. The fittest and most active people suffered up to four times as many musculoskeletal injuries as more sedentary and less-fit people. The researchers theorized that the former group was at greater risk because they played longer, harder and more frequently.
SPORT-SPECIFIC
CONDITIONING
Even favorites such as dodge ball and kickball, which can seem deceptively safe, can cause trouble for the unconditioned. Just ask Noelle Smithhart.
Smithhart, 26, played kickball for three seasons in the Underdog Sports Leagues, a Seattle company that attracts people interested more in recreational fun than in athletic feats. She did almost no exercises to prepare for kickball, which requires punctuating long stretches of idle standing with bursts of sprinting. Her sole exceptions were occasional yoga and stationary stretching just before games.
The point of playing kickball “is just like it was in elementary school, running around and having fun,” said Smithhart, a real-estate marketer. “Kickball is the exercise.”
But during her first chilly evening game, Smithhart pulled a hamstring. Then she injured it again at another kickball game.
Smithhart ideally should have begun conditioning exercises for kickball two or three months before the season began, said Dr. Ben Kibler, medical director for Lexington Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Lexington, Ky. Kibler has done studies on how sport-specific conditioning can help improve games and reduce chances of injury.
Kickball requires flexibility, quickness and agility. Doing 10-yard sprints would be a good way to prepare for kickball’s stop-and-start style, Kibler said. Kicking sports also demand a balance between the front and back muscles in the legs, as opposed to muscle balance between left and right legs as in running, he said.
O’Kane of the University of Washington said poor muscle coordination makes you more prone to injury. For a throwing sport such as baseball or basketball, O’Kane recommends targeting the muscles that control the shoulder blades and the rotator cuff (muscles and tendons that form a “cuff” over the shoulder) for two or three months beforehand. Pairing push-ups and lateral pull-downs would be one example. Follow the exercises for two or three weeks, then start making easy throws and increase the intensity over six weeks. After that, you’d be ready to play.
The key to conditioning is to give your body time to adapt to the stresses it will face in actual sports. O’Kane said that when muscles are pushed beyond their capability, it can lead to overuse injuries resulting in microscopic tears. Inflammation then accompanies the microtears, a condition known as tendinitis.
Game plan for
injury-free playing
Accidents happen, but you can take precautions to minimize your chances of getting hurt.
Basketball
Wear medium-top shoes designed for basketball.
When landing after jumping, bend the knees to absorb the impact.
Take three steps to stop gradually instead of making abrupt, one-step stops.
Tennis
Avoid landing on the ball of your foot.
Wear two pairs of socks to absorb the shock.
Start a backhand swing from the shoulders.
When serving, bend your knees and raise your heels, distributing your weight evenly over your heels.
Bicycling
Ride in an upright position whenever possible.
Change positions on the handlebar frequently.
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