Train Smarter Not Harder – Protect your health while you train with these surprising tips

Each year, nearly 3.5 million children under age 14 seek medical treatment for sports-related injuries.  Interestingly enough, 50 percent of all sports injuries are related to overuse, with 60 percent of those injuries being preventable with the practice of a few foundational principles.
During my 23 years of practice in physical therapy and sports medicine, I have helped amateur and professional athletes rehabilitate from injuries and return to performing at their best.  So what makes the difference between basic recovery and a true comeback?  Here are four surprising concepts to help you or your child reach peak performance and prevent future injury.
1) Warm up properly before you work out or play your sport.  A proper warm-up requires 5-10 minutes of low intensity, dynamic movements that are similar to the workout or sport you are about to do.  By warming up, you prepare your cardiovascular system for the workload, loosen your joints and soft tissue, and get your muscles firing and ready for action.  Dynamically warming up before each practice, workout and sports performance is vital to optimal performance and preventing injury.
2) Flexibility is key!  I know – people think stretching is uncool, and typically, it’s the first thing people skip when they run out of time in their workout.  However, I am here to tell you: Stretching is the most important part of your workout.  If you walk away with nothing else from this article, please remember to stretch!
Think about it.  Who are the greatest athletes?  Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky, Michael Phelps, Serena Williams and Mia Hamm all come to mind. What makes them so great?  There are many components that contribute to their greatness, but there is no denying they all move well.  In order to move quickly and with agility, we need to be flexible.  I guarantee all of those top athletes stretch as part of their workout.
More importantly, kids need to stretch almost more than adults because of their accelerated growth rate.  Kids go through growth spurts, and their bones grow suddenly.   Then, their muscles, tendons and soft tissue need to stretch to reach the right length that allows bones to move efficiently.  If kids aren’t stretching during their growing years, the lack of flexibility could lead to inflammation and conditions such as Severs Disease, Osgood-Schlatters, Patellar tendonitis, Achilles tendinitis and more.
3) Pay attention to posture and correct body mechanics.  When we think of secrets to high sports performance, posture typically isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.  However, having good posture is vitally important to using our arm and leg muscles most efficiently, preventing shoulder and spine injuries, and contributing to a strong core.
When we focus more on proper mechanics, not only do we prevent injury, but also our muscles are used most efficiently, generating more speed and power.  For example, it’s better to do 30 squats correctly than to do 100 squats poorly.
4) Strengthen your core.  Most people seem to believe “core exercises” are important for getting six-pack abs.  However, our core is even more important because it’s the anchor from which our arms and legs generate strength and power.  The core helps maintain balance and agility, as well as assists our arms and legs in generating power during rotational movements.  Most professionals in sports medicine will agree the core is made up of our abdominal muscles, gluteals, back muscles and muscles surrounding our hips.  However, I include the rotator cuff muscles in our shoulders as a part of our core.
Most sports involve our arms and upper body to some degree.  If we have a strong core, our arms and legs can generate more power because they are anchored to our solid core.  However, if our rotator cuff muscles are weak, our arms lose that anchor and cannot generate power, no matter how strong our biceps, triceps and deltoids are.  Without a strong and solid core, generating power is like shooting a cannon from a canoe.  It just doesn’t work.
These four tips will set you up for a solid foundation of high performance in sports, fitness and injury prevention.  However, this is just the start of a solid foundation to help you play your best now and throughout a lifetime.
Debbie Wolpert is a Physical Therapist and has been practicing in sports medicine for 23 years.  Debbie and her husband, Erik, are partners with Vargo Physical Therapy and have been serving the Santa Clarita and surrounding valleys for 13 years.  Prior to moving to Santa Clarita, Debbie worked at Centinela Hospital’s Fitness Institute where she worked regularly with the Lakers, Dodgers, PGA and Senior PGA athletes.  She is currently consulting with coaches, teams and athletes, and speaking to help prevent injury and optimize performance on and off the field.  If you have questions, want specific exercise program/ideas, or want to contact Debbie for consulting, email Debbie and state “élite SCV” in the subject line to Debbie@DebbieWolpert.com, or call 661-772-7763.

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