Sunny weather and warming temperatures draw outdoor enthusiasts from their couches to nearby trails and bike routes. Unfortunately, spring and early summer recreation can all-too-often come to a quick end with an injury.
"We see a large volume of patients during the spring with injuries that could have been prevented," says Roger Petersen, Director of Physical Therapy at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Murray. "Following a few simple training guidelines—and starting slowly—can mean the difference between a summer of fun, or the long road of rehabilitation."
Sports scientists at TOSH suggest that injury rates can be reduced by 25% if athletes take appropriate preventive action. According to Jim Walker, Ph.D., Director of Sport Science at TOSH, two common mistakes lead to most springtime injuries: Starting too fast and not training properly.
Many athletes like to start out in the spring at the same level they ended with in the fall. "This is a mistake," says Dr. Walker, "If you haven't kept a regular exercise program during the winter, it's going to be a few months before you're able to perform at the levels you're used to."
And you shouldn't use weekend recreation as training; train during the week so you can go all out on the weekend. Training plays a key role in determining your real injury risk. Fatigued muscles do a poor job of protecting their associated connective tissues, increasing the risk of damage to bone, cartilage, tendons and ligaments. If you feel tired, or have sore muscles, hitting it hard isn't going to help you.
"A sport-specific training program will strengthen muscles," says Dr. Walker, "especially if the exercise involves movements similar to those associated with your sport."
Here are a few injury prevention tips from TOSH:
Allow plenty of time for warm ups and cool downs.
Match increases in training with increases in resting.
Increase carbohydrate consumption during heavy training.
Treat minor injuries carefully to prevent them from becoming big problems.
Never train hard if you're stiff from the previous day.
Tips for Beginners and Winter Hibernators By Rebecca Smith
In the dark recesses of my mind, lurks the phrase ‘working out.’ Working out has a dull plodding lifelessness to it. Instead, you, my friend, are in training. Regardless of if you are training for a 5K, half or full marathon, training puts a different spin on your sessions (Note: Sessions, not workouts. When I tell my body that I’m going to work out, visions of my early spandex-y, neon-clad self jumping about in an ‘80s era body pump class surface, and I am 37% more likely to avoid said session. That was and is a far cry from my training self, both 1.5 decades ago and now). Racing can be done by anyone, regardless of where you land in the spectrum of runners, and it helps you to level up in your own personal goals.
Staying in shape throughout the winter can be challenging. As soon as the Wasatch hiking trails are snowbound and the sun starts setting in the late afternoon, it’s harder to get out and maintain the active lifestyle you enjoyed during the summer. Pretty soon, the extra pounds you put on during the holidays become a permanent fixture. The cold days and the low-quality, inversion-trapped air makes getting outside less appealing. No wonder some people go into hibernation until late May rolls around.
If this stay-at-home, hunker-down winter scenario sounds frighteningly familiar, you may find the antidote in cross country skiing. Even if you’ve never skied before, or if you think that cross country skiing is just for Norwegian Olympians, you can be out enjoying winter trails on a pair of free-heel “skinny skis” with minimal up-front costs and a short learning curve.
Hallelujah! The snow is falling, you ready to ski/ride, your season pass hangs proudly around your neck, you’re almost ready to break first tracks and just one thing is missing…coffee.
Your morning cup is ritualistically sublime, but it also benefits you on a cellular level. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that drinking caffeinated coffee boosts muscle recovery by 60%. It would take at least eight cans of cola to achieve the same effect as drinking two mugs of coffee, but drinking cola doesn’t provide the powerful antioxidants or other perks that come with a coffee habit like improved mood and memory. Not only is coffee a powerful performance enhancer, it also lowers your risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and certain cancers.
Lucky for you, local purveyors of this addictive uncontrolled substance share your desire for a delicious mugful of freshly roasted brew. They’ve created some special concoctions that are worth stopping for before you hit the slopes.
