If you’re one of the many people halfway through the sporting season, now is the perfect time to take stock of how your body is feeling. If you find that you’ve got a little niggle, here are some great tips for keeping them at bay. By addressing them before they become a serious injury you should be able to play pain free through the business end of the season AND beyond.
1) A good warm up
Its COLD lately. Well, as cold as Perth gets anyway! Make sure you wear the appropriate clothes to and from your training sessions and games so you stay as warm as possible before you get into your training/playing gear. Cold muscles can lead to tears, so if you stay warm right up to the point of getting out on the field that will help.
Make sure you get there early enough to do a warm up that is long enough for YOU. If you’re stiff or sore (or getting to the twilight of your career) be smart, and do a longer warm up! As tempting as it is to do a short warm up, its COMPLETELY against what the body needs. Click HERE for an idea of a few stretches you should be doing.
2) A sensible recovery that goes beyond the simple warm down
It’s not rocket science, but a good warm down is KEY to not only minimising post game/training pains, it’s also key to optimising your performance. If you can shorten your post game tightness/soreness, then it leaves more of the week to get a solid training session done.
A good recovery should include
- a SOLID warm down to let the body come out of game mode
- a PROLONGED but GENTLE stretch session
- HYDRATING
These should be your bare minimum recovery steps. On top of that you can try Ice Baths or a gentle exercise session the day after your game.
And for Pete’s sake, STAY OFF THE BEERS!! Elite athletes, or anyone that manages them, will tell you that not having booze is essential for performance. The same rules apply for us mere mortals! Having a drink after a game is what most people do, but if you’re suffering at this point in the season, it’s time to take a spell from alcohol. You could even use the money you save to get a weekly massage, which will also help your recovery!
3) Don’t reinvent the wheel
Now is not the time to completely change your training protocol, but to make small tweaks to the weights/distances/speeds that you’ve been currently working at. Prolong your warm ups/warm downs, make sensible decisions about what you put into your body post game, and consolidate the current season. If there are any major issues… like fitness/strength/flexibility, then making sure you do a PROPER preseason next time round is going to be your best bet.
If you are worried about a potential niggle that you do have, COME AND SEE US FOR A FREE ASSESSMENT to see if there is anything that you need to be doing to avoid the situation getting worse.
4) ACTIVELY deal with your issues in the off season
If you are worried about any huge holes that you came across this season, come and see us at the END of THIS season… waiting until next year to start dealing with things will not leave you enough time! People will notice that year by year, little niggles will get bigger, the aches and pains start taking less time to hit, and take longer to go away… If you make sure you get your Off Season right, you can make your Pre Season more beneficial for you, and in turn, you’ll be more resilient come Finals time, next time it rolls around
If you’ve got an issue that has been bothering you, apply the above ideas to get you started. Preventing an injury though, is ALWAYS preferable than rehabbing one. If there is something that you feel might be holding your performance back, come in and see one of the team at Swan Physiotherapy to help get you back to your best as soon as possible!