Can’t wait to get back to sport FAST and score some goals?
It is a very exciting time for athletes of all levels who are starting to return to training after the enforced break with COVID-19.
Locally, there has been some disappointment with the:
❌Northern Football Netball League (NFNL) being forced to CANCEL their senior men’s and women’s football season
❌Eastern Football Netball League (EFNL) also CANCELLING their senior netball season
✅In good news for younger athletes, the EFNL and NFNL still plan to go ahead with their junior season.
✅Many other local sports are also returning to training with plans to return to play shortly.
✅Most national and international sporting leagues have either returned to sport or making plans to do so in the near future.
While this is great news, it does pose a big injury risk for returning athletes.
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Leading sport medicine experts in Australia, such Dr Peter Brukner, have warned of an increased rate of AFL injuries as being “almost inevitable” (2).
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Research by Dr Joel Mason from the University of Jena has shown that injury rates have almost TRIPLED since play restarted in the top German soccer league, known as the Bundesliga.
The data is freely available to check out now for around the world:
https://www.trackademicblog.com/
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🤔BUT why is there an increased risk of injury?🤔
I have been totally fine before!
She’ll be right!
Right⁉️
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One of the major challenges in getting back to competitive sport post COVID-19 is getting athletes back to the level of competing in such a short period of time so they are “match ready”.
They need to be able to gradually increase their training so that they are not exposed to additional injury risks.
We know from research that large increases in training load expose an athlete to an increased risk of injury (1).
While many athletes have been keeping up with their running during the enforced break – the real risk is likely with:
1️⃣Rapid reintegration of tackling
2️⃣Agility work
3️⃣Throwing
4️⃣Kicking
5️⃣Competitive gameplay
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This would usually occur gradually over a period of months of preseason training.
Not a few weeks.
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Ok I get it…take it easy.
But how do I get back to Sport FAST and have peak performance?
WITHOUT any setbacks?
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Keep reading
These next 🌟 4 hot tips🌟 are a game changer:
🔥Hot tip1️⃣
❌DON’T: TRY AND PLAY CATCH UP ❌
✅DO: Gradually build up training load✅
It is essential to gradually build up weekly training loads as training resumes after COVID-19. The table below, from the Australian Institute of Sport, visually demonstrates what this looks like (4). The training load is gradually built up over a number of weeks (the orange lines). After this period of building up there is now a base training load that can be maintained (the green lines).
This incremental build up is extremely important and should be carefully planned out by coaches, staff and athletes as they return to competition.
🔥Hot tip2️⃣
❌Minimise large week-to-week fluctuations in training load❌
Large fluctuations in weekly training load put you at increased risk of injury. The table below, published in the highly regarded British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2016 (3), highlights just how much the likelihood of injury increases as training load changes each week.
This table shows an increase in training load of 50% is associated with an almost 40% increased likelihood of injury!
🔥Hot tip3️⃣
✅DO: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY👂
It is important now, more than ever, that we listen to our bodies as we get back into our sport. Everyone has experienced a different set of situations during the enforced COVID-19 period and everyone will be coming off a different training base over the period. Be in tune with how your body is feeling and allow it to rest when it needs it!
🔥Hot tip4️⃣
✅DO: ALL THE LITTLE THINGS RIGHT✔️
Now is the time to take extra time with your dynamic warm ups, cool downs and pre- and post-training and game routines. You should also pay extra attention to your sleep, nutrition and water-intake.
It is also a great time for coaches and support staff to look at the various injury prevention programs available to athletes and coaches. For example, programs such as the Netball Australia KNEE program (available at Freedom Sports Medicine), the FIFA 11+ Injury Prevention Program and the AFL FootyFirst program have been shown to have good efficacy in reducing injuries for athletes.
Want to know more?
Find out more about how we can specifically help you🙏
Use the blue chat box 💬 on your right ↘️
Quote “return to sport”
🤔💪What do the experts say about managing training load?🤔💪
Fortunately some great research has been published in recent years on load management and preventing injuries.
Load management is often discussed in terms of the ratio of acute workload to chronic workload. This is explained below:
Research has shown that injury risk is minimised when an athlete’s acute workload of any given week does not jump too much (either up or down!) from their average workload per week over the past 4 weeks.
It is important to note that the injury risk can last for weeks or months after the training load error.
The table below shows that injury risk is minimised when the acute to chronic workload of an athlete remains in the range of approximately 0.8 to 1.3 (3).
How can I train like a pro athlete?
If any of this relates to you then you’ll be glad to learn that we have available:
Bespoke Return to Sport Programs at Freedom Sports Medicine
to meet your training needs and individual sports.
✅Our team of experts provide a range of different pathways to help you achieve your goals fast, optimise your performance and minimise your risk of getting injured.
✅Your Physiotherapist will partner with you to understand your specific goals and reveal their tighest held secrets so you can perform at your best and optimise your results in sports.
Some of the options we have available include:
Certified Netball Australia Program – we also cater to other contact sports
Specialist APA titled Sports and Exercise Physio
Strength & Conditioning run by a masters qualified coach
Clinical Pilates delivered by Physiotherapists with a combined 33 years of industry experience
Exercise programs for over 55 with hip and knee issues
Running Assessments
Find out more about how we can specifically help you🙏
Use the blue chat box 💬 on your right ↘️
Quote “return to sport”
💙Have a great day!💙
References
1.Drew, M.K. and Purdam, C., 2016. Time to bin the term ‘overuse’ injury: is ‘training load error’ a more accurate term? British journal of sports medicine, 50(22), pp. 1423.
2.Colangelo, A. (2020) ‘Leading doctor warns of ‘inevitable’ AFL injury increase’. The Age, Melbourne, 27 May.
Available at https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/leading-doctor-warns-of-inevitable-afl-injury-increase-20200527-p54wzu.html
(Accessed: 07 June 2020).
3.Gabbett TJ. The training—injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder? British Journal of Sports Medicine 2016;50:273-280.
4.Charlton, P, Drew MK. Can we think about training loads differently? Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Sport, 2015.
