My soccer coach strongly emphasizes the importance of being conditioned and having strength so we can perform at the best of our abilities. During the summer, he dedicated 4 days a week to practicing and one of those days out of the week was dedicated to strength and conditioning.

A typical strength an conditioning practice included; running sprints called tempo runs that contain many intervals of 100 yards and more, quad and hamstring exercises that made them strong, and core work. When it came time to play tournaments in August back to back weekends, we were all in shape and ready to play. We thankfully did not acquire any injuries from any of our players during these games and played very well against highly competitive teams.

I found an article that states ten benefits of Strength and Conditioning.

The first just so happens to state injury prevention is the first benefit. It is beneficially because you are working the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints so they are strong for when you really need to use them.

The second is that it improves performance especially in sports. It improves endurance, stamina, speed, and agility.

The third is that it can be a benefit for a lifetime of doing physical activity. You can workout as you get older and you will not be in pain.

The fourth is that it enhances your general health along with nutrient rich eating habits.

The fifth is that it makes bones healthier and can prevent osteoporosis and bone fractures. The stronger your bones are, the less likely you are to get injured.

The sixth benefit is better posture. The conditioning you put your muscles through both lifts and holds your body upright.

The seventh is that it raises your metabolism so that you have more energy to accomplish things.

The eighth is for when you do get injured it takes less time to rehabilitate since your muscles are already strong.

The ninth benefit improves balance which is good in sports because in soccer it requires you to be balanced and quick on your feet.

The final benefit is it prevents obesity due to burning the calories that cause fat and building muscle instead.

I think this article did a great job in pointing out the benefits and i found out some that i didn’t know such as it helping in preventing osteoporosis.

Sources:

https://www.westchesterhealth.com/blog/10-important-benefits-of-strengthening-and-conditioning/

Pic: Soccer player Alex Morgan weight training for USWNT.

I was eager to know other athlete’s perspectives on sports injuries and preventing them so I created a survey where they could tell me about their stories and their opinions on how to prevent injuries.

Out of all the athletes that took the survey, six athletes played a competitive level of soccer, two played water polo and swam, and five played other sports.

This first story comes from a competitive soccer player, Makena. Makena said that sports are very important to her. During soccer, she was pushed and she fell and broke her collar bone. Her recovery process lasted over three months. As she was waiting for her bone to heal, she felt sad and was anxious because she wanted her bone to heal faster. In Makena’s opinion, she thinks that in order to prevent injuries, athlete’s have to; Know their limits, Stretch, kow what you are doing or getting yourself into, and understand that getting injured is a possibility and to take precautions like wearing the right gear.

This second story comes from a former teammate of mine. Trinity Laiewski plays as a goalkeeper for a competitive soccer team. She says that sports are somewhat important to her. As a goalkeeper, she had sprained her wrist from blocking a shot during one of her games. Her whole recovery process lasted two weeks. She wore a brace and it still hurt her to move and write when she took it off. In her opinion, she thinks that it is impossible to have sports without injuries and that hard work comes with a price. She also states that, by playing sports we choose to put that risk upon ourselves but ends up being so worth it in the end.

Hallie is a competitive swimmer and water polo player and states that sports are very important to her. She has injured her knees and shoulder from overuse. Her recovery process lasted 1-2 years. During her recovery she went to physical therapy. She felt like she was not good at swimming anymore because she could not do as much. Hallie believes that in order to prevent injuries, athletes should stretch and focus on techniques.

An athlete who chose not to be named said sports were very important to them. They broke both thumbs, one wrist, and one pinky. Their recovery process lasted around or more than six weeks. During their recovery process they focused on school and went to physical therapy. In their opinion on athletes preventing injuries is to just take care of their bodies. They believe that all athletes get injured and it is not a matter of if, but more of a matter of how bad and when.

Another athlete who chose not to be named also plays a competitive level of soccer and said that sports are very important to them. During a soccer game, they collided with another player and they broke their leg. Their recovery lasted six months and they did physical therapy. They said they felt sad throughout the process. In their opinion for athletes not to get injured would be to stretch before and after any physical activity.

A teammate of mine, Ali Gregory, plays two competitive levels of sports both soccer and volleyball. She says that sports are very important to her. She has broken 21 bones due to getting stepped on and many other reasons. Her longest recovery lasted five months. During her recovery process she tried her best to play the sports as best she could and she felt annoyed the whole time. In order to prevent injuries she thinks that there should be better rules set on certain types of sports.

An athlete who chose not to be named said that sports were somewhat important to them. In the past, they cracked their spine. Their total recovery process lasted six months. They did physical therapy and said that while it hurt it got better over time. To prevent injuries, they believe that more core training helps along with other types of recovery.

Krystal, a track and field runner, said that sports are somewhat important to her. She blew out her hip when she was running a 200m at practice. She took 7-8 months off so she could finally do intense activity without pain. During her recovery all she could do was just walk around the track in order to regain her strength. Krystal thinks stretching is very important to preventing injuries along with a proper warm up and not continuing a workout if there is any sort of discomfort or pain.

Another athlete named, Angelina, has not been injured before but has a few words to say about what she thinks could prevent injuries. Sports play a somewhat important role in her life. In her opinion, athletes should stretch before practice and should always be cautious.

An anonymous athlete sad that sports are very important to them. They had back problems. They did not stop playing even though it was painful. Their recovery process lasted six months. During their recovery process, they exercised a lot especially when it came to strengthening their back. In order to prevent injuries they think that exercising is the best way but as long as athletes aren’t overdoing it. “Taking a break is also fine even if you are passionate about your sport,” they said.

Colleen, another former teammate of mine, plays soccer, runs cross country, and is a cheerleader. Sports are very important to her. She suffered an ankle injury when she was slide tackled during a soccer game and twisted it. Her recovery process lasted 9-10 months. During her recovery, she did physical therapy and said that it was difficult and hurt a lot at first but got better towards the end. In her opinion in order to prevent injuries, she thinks that there should be stricter rules on the amount of physicality in physical sports.

Leta Bryan, as an athlete, has gotten many injuries though in particular she had two concussions from both basketball and water polo. Sports are very important to her. Her recovery process lasted a few weeks. During her recovery process she wore dark sunglasses, stayed away from loud noises, and had to sit out during her games. She said it was hard because her team had lost a game they could have easily won if she were playing. In her opinion, she thinks that having better referees can help in preventing injuries.

Last but not least, Clarissa Grajeda plays soccer as a goalkeeper at a very competitive level. Sports are very important to her. She says that almost every time she plays she injures herself. In her own words she says, “Being a goalkeeper, you have to put your body on the line to protect the ball”. She partially tore her ACL and meniscus of her left knee, broke both of her ankles along with several of her fingers. From her knee injury, it took her seven month to come back to playing. Her ankles only took a couple weeks. As for her fingers, she continued playing and just taped them up. For her knee, she rested five months and did physical therapy and sports performance strengthening for two months. She felt hopeless and unmotivated. “It was a really hard time not being able to play and I missed out on a couple big opportunities because of it,” Clarissa described. At least for soccer, strengthening and properly taking care of your body (i.e. stretching, rolling out the muscles, icing muscles) is what Clarissa believes could prevent injuries.

As for me, I also play soccer at a competitive level and sports are very important to me. I have torn my meniscus in my right knee and the recovery took three months. The process was challenging and difficult at times but I had to remain focused if I wanted to get back onto the field. In my opinion and like many others I believe that properly stretching, strengthening muscles, a proper diet, using good techniques, and stopping anytime you feel pain all help in preventing injuries in athletes.

Pic:

http://www.emedicinehealth.com

 

While researching, I came upon a debatable topic that started to make me question something I really believed in.

I am a believer in always stretching before I do any exercise. Before my injury, I wouldn’t really take the time to stretch I would just go straight into the exercise. One reason I stretch would be to increase flexibility in my muscles so they are not stiff while I do exercise. Another reason would be that it helps with balance and elongates the muscles that are being used. I also use stretching after a workout in order to prevent soreness the next day.

I have personally experimented going through an intense practice with my team and stretching after the session and the next day going through another intense practice and not stretching right after. I can say that not stretching right after the practice did give me a bit of soreness the next day while when I did stretch after practicing I was not sore at all.

What I’ve learned from an article written by Dr. Matthew Isner, a Chiropractor who enjoys working out in the gym, are the reasons why he does not believe in stretching. First, he says that stretching before a non-intense activity, such as jogging, is pretty much useless. I would agree with this because jogging is something I use as a warm up before actually working out. I don’t really need to stretch before I stretch. All I really need is something light then I can hit the ground running. Though what Dr. Isner fails to address is stretching before a rigorous and intense workout. Yes, stretching before doing something light is not necessary in order to prevent injury though what about when you plan to do something that really works your body? I believe that stretching prevents stiffness and fatigue to our muscles when working them.

Something that Dr. Isner mentioned that I didn’t know was that stretching can produce damage at the cytoskeleton level which maintains cell shape and enables cellular motion. I would think that it causes damage if someone were to be stretching improperly. Though it could also most likely occur if someone were to be stretching too much.

To conclude, I learned something new from reading this article but it could not change my mind on my view on stretching. I will continue to believe that stretching is effective on the topic of injury prevention.

Sources:

Isner, Matthew. “Does Pre-Exercise Stretching Really Prevent Injuries?” bodybuilding.com, 29 Aug. 2018, http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pre-exercise-stretching-and-injuries.htm.

Picture:

https://breakingmuscle.com

 

Hi there! My name is Aaliyah Valladolid and I created this blog to record all my weekly findings of injury prevention research, learn a bit more about it, and express ideas I may have.

The reason I chose this topic was because I play competitive soccer and I experienced a knee injury and had surgery. The recovery was not fun either. I could not go back to playing soccer and had to rehabilitate my knee through physical therapy. I was lucky that my knee injury was not bad enough to where I couldn’t continue to do something I loved. There were many points in recovery where I became frustrated with the fact that I could have done something to prevent it.

Hopefully, through this blog I can share the information I find and some ideas I have with other athletes who are going, went through, or in all want to avoid injury so they can continue to pursue their passion.