Injured during the sports season? Off season is no time to rest. In fact, there is no better opportunity to manage those niggles and prepare yourself for the season ahead, writes Ed Grosser, physiotherapist at Adelaide West Physio + Pilates.
The in-season problem
Many problems that develop during the sporting season are related to ‘load management’. What exactly does that mean?
Think of ‘load’ as the demand placed on any anatomical structure. It could be bone, tendon, muscle, cartilage, nerve tissue, heart, kidneys. Anything really. Brain even!
If we use jumping as an example, there might be a load management issue on a tendon like the patellar tendon or the Achilles tendon if:
- the sheer intensity of jumping is progressed too fast eg jumping higher
- the amount of jumping is progressed too fast eg jumping more often
- there is just too much weight placing load on the tendon eg carrying too much body weight or jumping with a loaded backpack
- the jumping load is done too often without enough rest time in between
In some way, the loads that have just gone beyond the capability of the tendon tissue.
Most niggly tendon problems result from this kind of ‘load management issue’. Think about those niggly groin problems, niggly Achilles, and painful patellar tendons.
Or hamstring strains that seem to always be just around the corner, that never quite clear up.
The classic time that this happens is early in the season – going back into training from completely resting the whole off season. Or worse still, going straight back into playing without enough preparation.
In the middle of the season, it can be really challenging to manage these kinds of problems and still compete. The bye is just never enough time!
So when is the best time to manage this kind of problem?
No surprises here…
Your golden opportunity
There are definitely ways to avoid this situation, and it all revolves around doing some training outside of the playing season.
Let’s say for example you have a groin complaint during the footy season. It would be really easy in the off season to just kick back, rest, and hope that you are tickety-boo for the next preseason. You’ll probably feel fine until…
…you start ramping up the training in the preseason, running the kilometres and working on drills. Expect that same groin problem to rear its head, because it is going to be easily overloaded – again. It is not going to be any more prepared or resilient, perhaps less so after a nice quiet off season!
If you have had load-related problems during the season, the best time to attack them is off season, not waiting until the season rolls around again.
It is the ideal time to target muscle weakness or tendon load intolerance. You can gradually increase the workload on the affected area without the demand of playing each week.
This will have you ready to do a perfect pre-season!
Is pre-season training important?
Preseason training is really important!
It’s not just about getting up to speed with your fitness (though that is important). Or just getting comfortable again with a racket or a ball in your hands.
It is an opportunity for your body to gradually get used to the loads that your sport places on you. And that means all tissues – especially tendon, muscle, and bone.
The body is the ultimate adapting organism.
It can adapt to so much…but it needs an opportunity to do it. It needs to have some work to do – not too much and not too little – so that it can transform and ready itself for what it is being asked to do. And it needs enough time to allow it to adapt.
This gets back to the load management discussion – if the load is too much, or increased too quickly, the body can’t adequately adapt and you run into problems.
There also needs to be enough rest time in between loading sessions for the tissue to recover, adapt and transform.
A mismanaged preseason might be
- missed training sessions
- a preseason that isn’t long enough
- training sessions that are too short
- not training hard enough – just going through the motions
- training too hard – too much, too quick eg bulk running without any foundation
- incorrect tapering into the season
- simply not the right content – too much emphasis on one aspect but not a rounded exposure to all the elements that your sport requires.
An inadequate preseason will mean that your skills and fitness will be lacking. It will also mean your body tissues won’t have adapted adequately to what is in store for the season.
So make the most of your off season. It really is a golden opportunity and lays a great foundation for the season to come.
If you would like to talk about any kind of pre-season or in-season problem, we would be more than happy to!
Better still, we love working with people in the off season to help them prepare for the coming season by working through persistent problems that have been a problem during the season.
If you would like to speak with one of our physios one-on-one for a free chat about how we can help, call us on 8356 1000 to organise a free 15 minute phone consult or book online here!
You can also contact us via Facebook Messenger using the pop up on the bottom right of the screen (we love it – it is so convenient for everyone it seems!)
