Maximise play time this season.

With pre-season preparation coming to an end and footy season about to start the excitement and anticipations are high. Some simple advice and preparation can enhance your participation in sport regardless of age. 

To get off to a flying start here are some helpful tips:

• Allow extra time to prepare. A good night sleep, hydration and properly fitting clothes and shoes makes a big difference. 
• If you have any niggles make sure you seek advice as to how best to manage these, just incase your body needs more rest. 
• Simple warm ups, stretches and a cool down help prepare the body for play and recovery
• Attend training as much as possible to practice important skills and build endurance, strength, balance, coordination
• During the cooler months extra layers to keep warm helps keep the body and muscles ready for play.

Each season make sure all your protective equipment is in good working order:

• If you need a mouth guard then check it still fits correctly
• Consider headgear if appropriate and get it properly fitted
• Simple taping techniques can help support joints
• Review and update footwear as needed

In our practice we unfortunately help people when accidents happen. Fortunately for many this is not often or too serious. It is different for children and adults. We commonly attend to lower limb concerns (knee, ankle, thigh, calf). A common ankle sprain, a sore foot or calf strain. These are very common and in most situations not serious. Quick care can get you back to full steam in no time. Things that we often see in practice that lead to these occurrences include:

• Fatigue
• Reduced fitness
• Prior history

Remember, if you have experienced an injury in the past it is very important that it is rehabbed well to ensure that you have the best chance of reducing recurrence in the future.

A good example is a sprained ankle. Imagine the ligaments in your ankle are like an elastic band. If you stretch it too much it will lose its elasticity and not work as well. This is a good way to think about the ligaments in an ankle. Sometimes when they have been hurt, they might not do their job as well and you could continue to roll to the side. The good news is, is that there are some simple and effective exercises that can help and improve stability so that the pesky ankle sprain doesn't occur again. Well, at least not too often.

At Health Associates we are here to help you 'do the things you love.' If you have any questions please contact us and our friendly team members can help you. 

Sources
https://sma.org.au/resources-advice/rugby-league/
https://physioworks.com.au/Injuries-Conditions/Activities/rugby-league-injuries
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7886357

Josh Hallinan - Chiropractor
Tuesday - 8am - 6pm
Thursday - 8am - 6pm

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