Chapter 4: Preventing Injuries Through Fitness Training

1. Chapter 4: Preventing Injuries Through Fitness Training

2. Fitness is critical for performance and injury prevention • Improper conditioning is a major cause in sports related injuries • Areas of concern: • Flexibility • Muscular strength, endurance, power • Cardiorespiratory endurance • Coaches need to develop program that focuses on injury prevention and performance enhancement

3. Periodization in Training and Conditioning • Traditional seasons no longer exist for serious athletes • Periodization • Achieve peak performance • Decrease injuries and overtraining • Program that spans various seasons • Modify program relative to athlete’s needs

4. Year Round Training Cycle • Complete training cycle • Seasonal approach based on preseason, in-season, and off-season • Changes in intensity, volume, specificity of training occur in order to achieve peak levels of fitness for competition • Broken into periods or phases (lasting weeks or months)

5. Periods or Phases • Transition period: • Follows last competition (early off-season) • Unstructured (escape rigors of training) • Preparatory period: • Off-season • Hypertropy/endurance phase (Low intensity with high volume) • Allows for development of endurance base • Lasts several weeks to 2 months • Strength Phase • Power Phase (High intensity/ pre-season)

6. Preparatory period (continued) • Strength Phase • Intensity and volume increase to moderate levels • Power Phase (High intensity/ pre-season) • Volume is decreased to allow adequate recovery • Competition period: • May last a < week or several months for seasonal sports • High intensity, low volume, skill training sessions • May incorporate weekly training cycles (1-7 days) • Designed to ensure peak on days of competition

7. Cross Training • Training for a sport with substitutions of alternative activities (carryover value) • Useful in transition and preparatory periods • Variety to training regimen • Should be discontinued prior to preseason as it is not sport-specific

8. Warm-up/Cool-down Motivation Overload and SAID principle Consistency/routine Progression Intensity Specificity Individuality Relaxation/Minimize Stress Safety Foundations of Conditioning and Training

9. Warm-up • Precaution against unnecessary musculoskeletal injury and soreness • May enhance certain aspects of performance • Prepares body physiologically for physical work • Stimulates cardiorespiratory system, enhancing circulation and blood flow to muscles • Increases metabolic processes, core temperature, and muscle elasticity

10. General • Activities which bring a general warming to the body(break a sweat) • Not related to sport Specific • Specific to sport • Stretching, jogging, running, throwing, catching Should last 10-15 minutes resulting in effects that will last 45 minutes

11. Cool-down • Essential component of workout • Bring body back to resting state • 5-10 minutes in duration • Often ignored • Decreased muscle soreness following training if time used to stretch after workout

12. Why is it important to have good flexibility? • Flexibility • Ability to move a joint(s) smoothly through a full range of motion (ROM) • Originally believed that decreased ROM results in: • Decreased performance capabilities • Uncoordinated/awkward movements • Predisposes athlete to injury

13. New evidence indicates that it may be more important for participation in more dynamic activities • Activities that require jumping, bounding • High intensity stretch-shortening cycles (where muscle tendon unit requires storage of more elastic energy • Without necessary flexibility the tendon may exceed capacity • Stretching can influence viscosity of tendons making it more compliant = injury reduction • No scientifically based evidence to support relationship between stretching and occurrence of injury

14. Factors That Limit Flexibility • Bony structures • Tissue approximation • Excessive fat • Muscle and tendon lengths • Connective tissue • Scarring and contractures • Skin

16. Range of Motion(ROM) Active range of motion = dynamic flexibility • Ability to move a joint with little resistance • Passive range of motion = static flexibility • Motion of joint to end points without muscle contraction • Must be able to move through unrestricted range • Must have elasticity for additional stretch encountered during activity

17. Agonist vs. Antagonist Muscles • Joints are capable of multiple movements • Example: • Quadriceps will extend knee with contraction • Hamstrings will stretch during extension • Quads (muscle producing movement) referred to as agonist • Muscle undergoing stretch referred to as antagonist • Agonist and antagonist work together to produce smooth coordinated movements

18. Stretching Techniques Ballistic • Bouncing movement in which repetitive contractions of agonist work to stretch antagonist muscle • While effective in improving flexibility, caution should be exercised • Increased motion is achieved through a series of jerks on resistant tissue • Possible soreness may result if jerks are greater than tissue extensibility

19. Dynamic • Stretching technique of choice in athletic populations • Related to types of activity an athlete will engage in • Tend to be more functional in nature • Recommended prior to beginning an activity • Stretches that mimic components of athletic activity

20. Static stretching • Passively stretching • 20-30 second hold = optimal • Go to point of pain and back off and hold for 30 seconds (3 to 4 times) • Controlled, less chance of injury • Not dynamic • Should precede ballistic stretching

21. Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation • Physical therapy for neuromuscular paralysis • Slow-reversal-hold-relax • Contract-relax • Hold-relax • Ten second push, ten second relax • Best technique to improve flexibility • Technique that involves combination of alternating contractions and relaxation of both agonist and antagonists

23. Stretching Exercises Shoulder Towel Stretch Exercise

24. Anterior Abdominal Stretch William’s Flexion Exercises

27. Assessment of Flexibility • Various devices have been designed to accommodate joint sizes and complexities of movement • Goniometer most widely used device • Can also utilize the following tests: • Trunk hip flexion test • Trunk extension test • Shoulder extension test

28. Flexibility Assessments Trunk & Hip Flexion Test Trunk Extension Test Shoulder Lift Test

29. Is there a relationship between strength and flexibility? • Co-exist • Muscle bound = zero flexibility • Strength training will provide individual with ability to develop dynamic flexibility through full range of motion • Develop more powerful and coordinated movements

30. Muscular Strength, Endurance, and Power

31. Muscle Strength, Power, and Endurance Strength: ability to generate force against resistance Muscular endurance: repetitive muscular contractions (increase strength = increase endurance Power: is the relationship between strength and time

32. Types of Skeletal Muscle Contractions • Isometric contraction • No length change occurs during contraction • Isotonic contraction • Concentric- shortening of muscle with contraction in an effort to overcome more resistance • Eccentric - lengthening of muscle with contraction because load is greater than force being produced • Both are considered dynamic movements

33. Factors that Determine Levels of Muscular Strength • Size of muscle: • Function of diameter and of muscle fibers • Hypertrophy vs. Atrophy • Number of muscle fibers • Neuromuscular efficiency • Initial gains are due to increased efficiency • More effectively engage specific motor units • Biomechanical factors • Bones and muscles = Levers and pulleys

34. Fast-Twitch vs. Slow-Twitch Muscle Fibers • Motor units with distinct metabolic and contractile capability Individual make-up • Muscles contain both types of fibers • Muscle functioning impacts ratios (postural vs. powerful movement) • Genetically determined • Slow twitch (Type I): • Generally major constituent of postural muscles • Fast twitch (Type II) • High force in short amount of time • Produce powerful movements

35. Levels of Physical Activity • Will influence increase/decrease in muscle strength • Also impacts cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility and increases in body fat • Overtraining • Psychological and physiological breakdown • Signs • Apathy, loss of appetite, staleness, declines in performance, weight loss, inability to sleep • Prevent through appropriate training protocol, proper diet and rest

36. What physiological changes occur to cause increased strength? • Multiple theories of muscle hypertrophy • Primary explanation of muscle hypertrophy: • Increase in protein myofilament number and size • Continued need for additional research

37. Core Stabilization Training • Core refers to the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex • 29 muscles in the lumbar spine, hip, abdomen and around the hip and pelvis • Will help to improve: • Postural control and muscular balance • Allow for expression of dynamic functional strength and dynamic stabilization of kinetic chain • Improve neuromuscular efficiency throughout the body

38. Often a focus on functional strength, neuromuscular control and power relative to activity • Core training spinal stabilization is often neglected • Optimal stabilization of the spine allows for effective utilization of strength, power and control of the prime movers • If core is weak, movement efficiency declines • Could lead to injury

39. Core training is designed to help develop strength, neuromuscular control, power and endurance within the lumbo-pelvic complex • Exercises must elicit maximal training response • Should be safe, challenging, stress multiple planes, and incorporate a variety of resistance equipment • Begin with activities where you are able to maintain stability and optimal neuromuscular control

41. Techniques of Resistance Training • Progressive resistance exercise • Overload principle must be applied • Must work muscle at increasingly higher intensities to enhance strength over time • If intensity of training does not increase, but training continues, muscle strength will be sustained

42. Isometric Exercise • Contraction where muscle length remains unchanged • Muscle contraction that lasts 10 seconds and should be performed 5-10 times/daily • Pro: quick, effective, cheap, good for rehab • Con: only works at one point in ROM, produces spiking of blood pressure due to Valsalva maneuver

43. Progressive Resistance Exercises (Isotonic training) • Shortening/lengthening contractions against fixed resistance • Concentric vs. Eccentric • Various types of equipment can be utilized • (Free weights, machine weight) • Spotter is necessary for free weight training to prevent injury, motivate partner and instruct on technique

44. Concentric and eccentric training should be incorporated for greatest strength improvement • Concentric phase of lift should last 1-2 seconds, eccentric phase 2-4 seconds • Variations exist between free and machine weight lifting • Motion restrictions, levels of muscular control required, amount of weight that can be lifted • Equipment design, varying resistances

45. Progressive Resistance Exercise Techniques • Terminology associated with weight training • Repetitions • Repetition maximum • One repetition maximum • Set • Intensity • Recovery period • Frequency

46. When training should be able to perform 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions • Increases should occur in increments of 10% • 1 RM can be utilized to measure maximum amount of weight that can be lifted - must be very careful • Training of a particular muscle group should occur 3-4 times per week (not on successive days)

47. Muscular Endurance vs. Strength • Training for endurance enhances strength and vice versa • Training for strength should involve lower repetitions at heavier weight • Training for endurance requires lower weight at 12-15 repetitions

48. Strengthening Exercises Bench Press Shoulder Rotation

50. Leg Exercises