Athletes always want to push themselves to go farther, higher, and harder. Because of this, sporting ailments and training regimens are common, making the demand for professionals specialized in this area imperative. Therefore, it is important to understand the roles of sports physiotherapists and what they can offer to athletes.

Physiotherapy is another term for physical therapy, a branch of medicine that focuses on rehabilitating physical injuries and impairments. In addition to a sports, some physiotherapists might focus on areas like geriatrics, orthopaedics, or cardiopulmonary. Though the idea is the same behind all these specialties, each branch of physiotherapy will employ specific techniques in order to help patients achieve their goals.

Sports physiotherapy is specialized for athletes. This includes helping athletes recover from injuries, as well as working with athletes to help improve their overall physical fitness to enhance their performance. While this branch of physiotherapy deals with athletes of all varieties, there are still some basic reasons athletes may consult with a physiotherapist.

One of the more common services offered through physiotherapy is conditioning. This can include muscle building, endurance training, and agility enhancement. Conditioning is especially important after an injury, which means the conditioning might focus on a certain area of the body or muscle in order to restore its full strength. Sports physiotherapists might also aid healthy athletes in improving their overall fitness in order to enhance performance.

Another significant area of sports physiotherapy is pain control therapies. With the physicality of athletics, pain is almost inevitable, so many athletes seek help in easing the discomfort. This can be done through various stretching exercises and massage, and can be a viable treatment for sprains, bruises, and torn ligaments.

Because most athletes receive treatment and then return to action, some sports physiotherapy also focuses on injury prevention and maintenance. In addition to helping the athlete regain strength, sports physiotherapists also help athletes learn how to avoid injury in the future as well as how to sufficiently brace injuries. This is especially helpful for injuries that are still mending while the athlete returns to action.

In this regard, sports physiotherapists can be work in several arenas. Some teams, especially on the college or professional level, will employ physiotherapists, and some individual athletes may hire them as well. Other sports physiotherapists might work in a hospital or a clinic, or any other place where athletes may go to receive treatment.

Guest post courtesy of The London Physio- specialist sports physiotherapy in London.

Circulation in the legs relies greatly on the calf muscles acting as a pump. Each time the foot is moved up and down the calf muscle contracts, and so massages the deep veins in the leg, squeezing the blood back towards the heart.

At rest the blood is still in circulation but more slowly. In situations where the blood flow is more sluggish, its oxygen supply is diminshed causing it to be more sticky, which can result in blood clots forming.

If the clots, or emboli, reach the heart and lungs they can block the normal flow of blood through the organs, this can lead to breathlessness and can in extreme cases be fatal.

Symptoms include:

#pain in the calf

#breathlessness

Reducing the risk:

*get up and walk around frequently

*avoid excess alcohol

*keep hydrated – drink plenty of water

*do not take sleeping tablets

*do lower limb exercises

*wear loose clothing

*wear support tights correctly

At risk:
smokers / pregnant women / women taking the contraceptive pill / those with poor circulation

Exercises

*Clenching buttocks – hold for two seconds. Repeat 10 times.

*Lift leg off the ground, move ankle up and down, stretching as far as possible in each direction

*with feet flat on the floor, lift heels up and down

*get up, walk to the end of the aisle, rise up onto the toes 10 times.

It’s not too late to do something about this, seek advice from a specialised running shop about trainers and call us about any problems you are having.

Often neglected by runners are warm up, stretching and cooling down, you might be interested to know:

Warming up for running

The time to experiment with a new training routine is during training. Many sports use dynamic warm up in preparation for events. Dynamic warm up tends to follow a similar pattern of both general then sports specific movements:
Starting off with easy aerobic work i.e.) walking, striding, bounding, skipping and jogging at low intensity, followed by a progression to a higher intensity. Then, non sport specific full range “normal” movements of relevant muscles and joints i.e.) arm circles, leg swinging, body rotations, and lastly sports specific activities at higher intensity if required.
It has been shown that static stretching prior to activity has a negative influence on force and performance.

“Stretching” is used both for preparation of muscles prior to exercise i.e.) warm up as well as to improve mobility/flexibility in order to enhance performance. It is important to differentiate between the two in order to avoid injury.

Exercises to improve mobility should NOT be used as part of warming up. However to mainatin or improve muscle, joint or neural mobility as an integral part of an athlete’s general programme. Also after training, particularly at high intensity, athletes should stretch to return muscles to their normal resting length.

Although stretching is generally regarded as being beneficial, there are also risks with :

• Using poor technique.
• Allowing non-essential structures to become hyper mobile.
• Having inadequate strength and control of new range of movement.

Stretching for length/mobility

Ideally all mobility regimes should be sport specific and encourage symmetry. The goal of maintaining joint mobility is important for long term effect on articular cartilage, and joint preservation.
To maintain muscle mobility, it is important to identify any key areas to focus on. The muscles that usually require the most attention are the ones that pull over more than one joint or have a multi action effect i.e.) quadriceps and hamstrings.
To affect length, there must be plastic deformation in the elastic component in the muscle, combined with relaxation of stretch reflexes. Therefore your technique must be of LOW force, LONG duration and performed at HIGH muscle temperature.

Practically, the following regimes have been suggested.

• Perform stretches after training/competition or after a warm up/hot bath/shower.
• 4 reps per exercise.
• 45 seconds duration.
• performed over time to maintain improvements. It may take several weeks to see an improvement.

Stretching programmes must be appropriate and balanced. It is important not to achieve increased range of movement in one area to compensate for a decrease in another.

Training should start a minimum of 6 weeks before you hit the slopes to achieve the conditioning your body requires. Your training should include:

Muscle strength and endurance – of the core, quadriceps, gluteal, calf and lower back muscles. Squats, lunges and step -ups work specifically towards strengthening the leg muscles.

Flexibility – of the calf, quadriceps, hamstrings muscles and the lower back can reduce the risk of “straining” your muscles due to an inability to lengthen.

Balance – specifically practicing the skiing and snowboarding positions and actions on one and both legs. Gym balls can be used to further develop balance.

Aerobic Fitness – Due to the effect of high altitude on your body aerobic conditioning is a vital component to injury prevention. Using the cross trainer, bike or running works the aerobic and muscular systems for snow sports.

Equipment – always check your equipment is specific and safe to use.

When you are heading off to the slopes each day, try to ensure you are both physically and mentally prepared. The lack of a pre-ski warm up (increasing your heart rate and preparing your muscles for activity) and a post-ski warm down (stretching) routine is one of the main contributions to injury. Tiredness can also significantly contribute to sustaining an injury.

For specific advice on a programme to address your needs then see your physiotherapist. We can assess any tightness and relative weakness, to give you a programme for you to work on to reduce / eliminate the factors that may affect your fitness.

If you are away and sustain an injury, then don’t forget your basic injury management.

R I C E

Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation

Ice should be used for up to three days following an injury, this will help reduce the amount of pain, muscle spasm, swelling and soft tissue damage, by decreasing the circulation to the area. A damp towel should be applied between the ice pack and the skin to avoid an “ice burn”. Applications should be approximately 20 minutes depending on the depth of the injury. This can be repeated every two hours.

If you are unsure where to start, have you tried pilates yet? An exercise base which focuses on the whole body, promoting general well being, improving posture, enhancing performance… the list is endless, take a look at the pilates page!

Whatever you do, it should be something you enjoy. It doesn’t need to cost a lot, walking is one of the best exercises around. You will need some good walking shoes and comfortable clothes, and you can start immediately.

Did you get a Wii for Christmas?
A great way to encourage you to enjoy a game but being active instead of sitting down. Just remember that most games are fairly strenuous and should be looked at as exercise, therefore you should think about warming up and cooling down!
Remember how much time you are playing for, too many hours on the Wii, could mean you end up with a touch of “Nintendo Wii syndrome”! The new RSI!
Injuries which have been examined by medical professionals include back strains, neck pains, shoulder, wrist and finger strains. Taking a few minutes to get your circulation going, and watching your posture during your play time can significantly reduce your chance of injury. Regular breaks will also help. The release of the Wii fit, balance board can help improve balance and coordination too, so if you can have a go, enjoy yourself!