Getting Ready to Practice and Play in the Heat

Posted on February 26, 2014 by

By: Amber Fisher, MS, ATC, PES, SES

I know winter is still here and doesn’t seem to be letting go, but hot weather will be here before you know it.  Therefore, knowing how to get ready to play and practice in the heat is something good to know.  Following these tips by the National Athletic Trainers Association will help athletes prepare to be in the heat and help lower heat related illnesses and deaths.

There is a recommended 14 day acclimation period that should be followed to allow all athletes to acclimatize to the heat.  These following tips should be used in these 14 days by the coaches and athletic trainers.

  1. During the first week of practice there should be 1 practice per day.
  2. Total practice time should be less than 3 hours per day.
  3. There can be a 1 hour walk-through during the 1st week of practice, but there must be a 3 hour break between practice and the walk-through.
  4. The 1st two days in sports that require helmets and shoulder pads/pads, only helmets are permitted to be worn.  Days 3-5 it is helmets and shoulder pads only.  Day 6 and after all equipment can be worn.
  5. Between day 6 and 14 2-a-day practices must be followed by a single practice day.
  6. With 2-a-day practices neither practice should go longer than 3 hours and combined total practice time should be 5 hours or less. The two practices should be at least 3 hours apart.
  7. Finally, an athletic trainer should be on site to monitor athletes for heat related illnesses.

You should also know and signs/symptoms of heat illnesses and what to do to treat them.

Heat exhaustion:

  • S/S: Heavy sweating, fast and weak pulse, weakness, nausea, cold, pale and clammy skin and possible fainting.
  • Treatment: Move into a cool place, remove excess clothing, sip water, and apply cool wet cloths

Heat stroke:

  • High body temperature of over 103 degrees, red, hot, dry skin, headache, dizziness and possible unconsciousness.
  • Treatment: Call 911, immediate cooling of the person, best way is whole body cold tub immersion.

Information was gained via http://www.nata.org

 

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Are NSAIDs Actually Helping or Hurting Us?

Posted on February 13, 2014 by

By: Stephanie Browning, ATC

With winter seasons coming to an end and spring seasons beginning to go full swing, many of our athletes are going into their third season of competition. Along with the change of seasons comes the aches and pains of overuse injuries. Although we always rely on non-NSAIDS 1steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) medications such as Ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, and Aspirin, a new question has arose as to whether they are actually helping us or hurting us.

A randomized trial involving Australian Regular Army recruits with acute ankle sprains found that recruits treated with NSAIDs experienced less pain, were back to activity sooner, and had increased endurance when resuming activity compared to the placebo group. However, the NSAIDs group also displayed greater instability and decreased range of motion compared to the other group.

An analysis of available literature on animal and clinical studies concerning the use of NSAIDs on bone healing showed such conflicting results a true conclusion could not be found. Animal models involving rodents and rabbits had such controversial results, NSAIDS 2identical tests gave opposite outcomes. Two studies that involved dogs and goats showed no negative effects of bone healing or bone growth.

Based on the above studies, there is no concrete scientific evidence completely dismissing the use of NSAIDs to treat acute injuries. However, it is still believed that more research is needed to find a more definite answer to whether or not there is a positive or negative effect of using NSAIDs.  Until then, researchers believe that NSAIDs should be considered a risk factor in bone healing, but in muscular and ligament injuries can still be used for acute treatment.

Resources:

Pountos, Ippokratis; Georgouli, Theodora; Calori, Giorgio; Giannoudis, Peter. Do Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Affect Bone Healing? A Critical Analysis. Scientific World Journal  2012

Slatyer, MA; Hensley, MJ, Lopert, R. A Randomized Controlled Trial of Piroxicam in the Management of Acute Ankle Sprain in Australian Regular Army Recruits. The Kapooka Ankle Sprain Study. American Journal of Sports Medicine.  1997; 25:544-553.

 

 

 

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Post Workout Nutrition

Posted on February 7, 2014 by

By: Kendall Vaughan, NSCA-CPT

You have just dropped your last dumbbell on the last set of your workout, or you’ve just collapsed off your spin bike after a tiny blonde yelled at you for an hour, or you’ve just finished a physical therapy session, what next? Before you go home and collapse on the couch, get some post workout nutrition in and your body will thank you the next day.

What is Post Workout Nutrition?

Your body treats food differently depending on time and activity. After a workout, your muscles are primed to absorb nutrients more efficiently which will help improve performance, body composition, and recovery. The purpose of eating after a workout is threefold: 1) to replenish glycogen stores 2) to decrease muscle breakdown and 3) to increase muscle synthesis. In other words, athletes or exercisers want to replenish muscle energy stores, reduce the amount of hard earned muscle being broken down, and increase production of new muscle.

Why is eating so important?

Nutrition 1Whether you are exercising to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain weight, eating after your workout is just as important as the workout itself. When you exercise intensely your muscles have to work to overcome the weight you’re telling them to move, which results in damage on the microlevel. You also use fuel, called glycogen. When damage occurs, it needs to be repaired, which is ultimately what makes you fitter and stronger.

The relationship between muscle breakdown and muscle synthesis is the basis of muscle growth. Hypertrophy happens when a positive protein balance occurs, which only occurs when there are enough raw materials (food) to supply this metabolic pathway.

The Window of Opportunity

You may have heard the term “window of opportunity” at the gym or on some fitness website before, and if you’ve ever seen someone finish their workout and then immediately leap over weight benches and push people out of the way as they sprint for the door, they’re trying not to miss it. It refers to the window of time you have as soon as you put your last weight down or finish your last sprint to get carbs and protein in your body. This window opens up immediately after you finish your workout, and research suggests it closes 2 hours later. When you workout, several things are going on: your body temperature raises, you have more blood flow to your muscles, the outer coverings of your muscles are slightly damaged, and there are a whole host of hormones flying through your body that make it an amazing environment to absorb nutrients. You have up to two hours to consume carbs and protein to increase glycogen stores and muscle protein synthesis. If you miss that window, you will not reap the benefits of such a favorable environment and delay your recovery.

What should I eat?

For the average person, 15 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbohydrates will be enough to supply your muscles. Liquid forms of carbs and proteins are more beneficial than whole foods immediately post exercise because they are easily broken down and absorbed. Drinks that contain rapidly digesting carbs like dextrose, maltodextrin, and glucose and proteins such as whey isolates and hydrolysates are highly recommended. Once your workout is done, consume a whole meal within an hour or two and you are on the road to athletic greatness!

References:

Cambell BI, Wilborn CD, La Bounty PM, Wilson JM. Nutrient Timing for Resistance Exercise. J Strength Cond 34: 2-10, 2012.

Lowery L, Edel JF, McBride IM. Dietary Protein and Strength Athletes. J Strength Cond 34: 26-32, 2012.

Pitkanen H, et al. Free Amino Acid pool and Muscle Protein Balance after Resistance Exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2003;35:784.

Schoenfeld, Brad J. Does Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage Play a Role in Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy? J Strength Cond Res 26: 1441-1453, 2012.

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Debunking Myths: Don’t Believe Everything You Read! (Well, except for this…)

By: Jason Jones, CSCS, USAW

I wanted to use this opportunity to discuss some of the misconceptions that I have encountered throughout my years of working with high level athletes, as well as normal everyday people.  There is so much information available regarding exercise, nutrition, and supplementation that it can be hard to determine which advice to apply to your daily life.  So here are just a few myths that you may have encountered regarding health and fitness.

Myth #1)  Women: “I don’t want to lift heavy weights because I don’t want to be bulky.”

Ladies, putting on some serious muscle mass is not as easy as you may think.  It takes a lot more than lifting heavy weights a couple times a week to achieve the bulky build that you are trying to avoid.  Trust me, if it were that easy, there would be more guys walking around like this…                                            instead of like this.

Myths 1                        Myths 2

The reality is that it takes 5,000+ calories a day, mass building supplementation, and hours in the gym lifting heavy almost everyday.  Even after all that, genetics and testosterone play a huge role in the equation.

Lifting heavy weights is actually very beneficial for women.  Without the abundance of testosterone, heavy lifting builds sleek, lean muscle that will burn fat even when at rest.  This is a result that light lifting cannot provide.  So please put the 3 pound weights away….

Myth #2)  “Eating once or twice a day is good because I am limiting my calories.”

Wrong.  Eating every three to four hours has been proven to increase metabolism, aide in lean muscle growth, and provide energy throughout the day.  Every time you eat doesn’t have to be a 7 course meal.  Three meals and three small healthy snacks a day will ensure that you are getting the nutrients that you need, without stuffing yourself to Thanksgiving dinner standards.   As a rule, meals should get smaller as the day goes on.  Breakfast should be the largest meal of the day and dinner should be the smallest, which is the opposite of most peoples’ daily routine.  Metabolism generally slows down closer to bedtime, so eating Chipotle at 9pm might be a habit worth breaking.

Myths 3

Eating every three hours is tough to get used to, especially if you’ve spent years eating only lunch and dinner.  However, making this small change can make a huge difference in your health and physique.

Myth #3)  “If I do 1000 crunches everyday, I’ll have six pack abs by the summer!”

You’ll definitely have a sore stomach, but abs…..no.  The bottom line is that if you have a layer of, we’ll call it “insulation”, around your abs then no amount of crunches will allow them to show.  There is no such thing as spot fat reduction, so that means it will take an overall weight loss effort to ensure that your abs will be visible.  Believe it or not, a clean diet is the most important factor in developing sleek and slender abdominals, not crunches.  That means cutting out processed foods and sugars, and instead eating more vegetables and lean meats.  Also, your abs are a muscle just like your chest and your biceps.  You wouldn’t bench press everyday and expect your chest to see results, so you can’t perform ab exercises on a daily basis and expect anything different.  Workout your abs 2-3 days a week with a day or two in-between, keep a healthy diet, and don’t slack on your cardio.  Maintain this routine, and when the summer rolls around you won’t need to borrow this guy’s shirt at the beach……

Myths 4

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How to tell the difference between muscle soreness and an injury?

Posted on January 16, 2014 by

By: Ashley Koto, DPT, ATC

It can be hard at times for athletes, parents, and coaches to tell the difference between an athlete having an injury or just muscle soreness.  It is important to understand the difference to avoid making an injury worse or undertraining if there is not an injury.  Most injuries seen in adolescent sports physical therapy are related to overuse and recognizing these injuries early on will help to decrease the recovery time.

Muscle Soreness

Delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, is usually described as a dull, diffuse ache over the entirety of the muscle belly.  The soreness tends to peak at 36 hours after a hard workout and begins to decrease after the second day.  Muscle soreness is also usually felt with a stretch or a contraction of a muscle and not at rest.

Injury 1Injury

Pain from an injury is typically sharp and more point specific near a tendon, ligament or joint.  Pain that lasts longer than 3 days or is apparent at rest is also a sign of an injury. Some other indications include: redness, swelling, numbness/tingling, or pain that gets worse over time.  If the athlete is experiencing any of these signs/symptoms, it is important to make an appointment with the doctor for the quickest recovery.

Injury 2Avoiding the Effects of DOMS

The best way to prevent muscle soreness is to promote blood flow and circulation.  This will allow the body to bring nutrients to help build and repair the tissue/muscles used during the workout.  This can be done by light stretching, foam rolling, and performing light aerobic activity.

Injury 3

References:

1. Physiology of Sports and Exercise, 5th Edition. W Larry Kenny, Jack H Wilmore, and David L Costill.

2. Muscle aches. www.nlm.nih.gov.

3. Orthopaedic Examination, Evaluation, & Intervention. Mark Dutton.

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