Category Archives: Sports and Performing Arts Injuries

The Tennis Warm-Up

Many people ask me about the best way to warm-up.  I want focus on the warm-up from an injury prevention standpoint.  I am defining the “warm up” as the specific time that you spend on the court or field “warming up” against your opponent.  This time is critical in the prevention of injury but based on my experience, it is rarely used correctly.

First of all, I will explain what the warm-up should not be! It is not a time to perfect your strokes, techniques or to beat your opponent, it is a time to get your body ready for the vigorous activity that it is about to undertake and to prevent injuries.  Nothing is more irritating than warming up against an opponent who insists on crushing the ball full force giving no opportunity to warm up your strokes and muscles.

Sports research shows that warm muscles are much less likely to be injured than cold muscles.  As you start the warm-up, blood flow to the muscles increases, increasing their temperature and bringing in more oxygen.  This allows the muscles to contract more efficiently and generate greater force.  As you continue the warm-up, more and more muscle fibers are recruited and therefore less strain is put on each individual fiber.  The warm-up also primes the cardiovascular system for activity.

If you are playing in cooler temperatures, or in the winter when you come onto the court or field, make sure that you keep your layers on, until you feel comfortably warm, this does help avoid injury.

When you start playing against your opponent, start slowly, and then as the muscles get warmer, move more at your usual pace and length.  Feel that you are starting to groove on your performance and getting your brain into “play” mode.  For example, when warming up the tennis serve, make sure that you start at half pace and gradually increase to warm up the shoulder joint.  Again, this is not a time to perfect your slice serve, this is a time to get your blood flowing and warm-up your hand eye coordination.

In an ideal scenario, when you are certain of the time play will begin, the optimal way to warm-up is to do 5-10 minutes of gentle activity, such as light jogging or jumping rope, followed by a dynamic warm-up.  The “dynamic warm-up” is a more recently researched way of warming up for sporting activities and has been shown to be highly effective in injury prevention.  The dynamic warm-up is stretching with movement by using exercises such as lunges, arm swinging etc.  The older, static stretching method, is now used more as part of the after play cool down.  Current research shows static stretching that may reduce the amount of power muscles can generate.

So remember, that a well-performed warm-up is a great tool in the prevention of injury and is also a great way to maximize your performance potential!

 

 

Written by:  Reshma Rathod, PT

Playing for Two

There are moments in an athlete’s career that are life changing; winning your first title, becoming world number 1, or finding out you are going to be a mother.  For some female athletes, motherhood can be an exciting time; for others finding out you’re with child can leave more questions than answers.  How will this impact my professional career? My lifestyle? Or even my training? Can I still compete while pregnant? For a long time, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) has recognized the importance of exercise during pregnancy.  Unlike old beliefs, exercise is now known… For more information, click on PhysicallySpeaking-Playing for two

 

Written by: Reshma Rathod, PT and Thu Tran, MD for WTA (Women’s Tennis Association)

Manual Therapy Treatment for Concussions

Following a concussion, symptoms such as headaches, light sensitivity, dizziness, cognitive difficulty, emotional irritability, depression, and sleep disturbances can often linger. Waiting for the symptoms to improve is a frustrating experience that can impact all areas of an individual’s life. Physical therapists skilled in manual therapy including Craniosacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation, and Neural Manipulation have observed improvement in many clients’ symptoms post-concussion. These specific manual therapies are gentle therapies that follow the osteopathic principles that structure and function are interrelated. Craniosacral therapy improves the motion restrictions in the craniosacral system which consists of the meninges, bones, and cerebrospinal fluid from the head to the coccyx (base of the spine). Visceral manipulation is a manual therapy developed by a European osteopathic physician Barral that uses gentle, but specific manual forces to improve the mobility of the organs and the connective tissues. Barral Neural Manipulation works to improve the fascial mobility that surrounds all of our nerves allowing the freedom of motion needed for optimal function.

A recent study published by Gail Wetzler and colleagues confirms manual therapy can improve concussion recovery. In the study of 11 male retired professional football players, these specific manual therapies resulted in statistically significant improvements in pain intensity, ROM, memory, cognition, and sleep. For specific changes observed, here is a link to the research study. http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acu.2017.1222

Gail Wetzler PT was here at Restore Motion this weekend teaching the therapists who already have trained in these manual techniques how to better use these skills to treat individuals with post- concussive symptoms.

 

Written by: Stephanie Bloom, PT

 

“For information on what to do if you or your loved one sustains a concussion, please refer to https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/recovery.html

Image Source: https://www.flagspin.com/youth/youth-flag-football-concussions