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#WHOOPEd Weekly Digest, Vol. 26
Rehab for soft tissue injuries, adjusting nutrition to your training program, and preventing injuries through clinician-to-technician communication.
Monday, October 30
Soft tissue injury? Hoping to get back to activity soon? Consider starting rehab sooner rather than RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation)
http://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMc1708134/suppl_file/nejmc1708134_appendix.pdf
- In a study by Bayer et al, it was found that starting rehabilitation 2 days after injury compared to waiting 9 days, shortened the interval from injury to pain-free recovery and return to sport by 3 weeks.
- There was no increase in the risk of reinjury.
- It is critical to control loading early after trauma, it will reduce the adverse effects of immobilization on muscle and tendon structure, as well as function.
- Rehabilitation examples:
- Week 1: Static stretching on the injured muscle groups in different joint positions.
- Frequency: 3 times a day for 30 seconds for each muscle group.
- Goal: Limited loading of injured muscle/tendon. Increase range of motion without impact on the joint/muscle.
- Weeks 2-4:
- Isometric exercises of the injured muscles groups with gradual increase in resistance and longer duration of activity.
- Frequency: Daily.
- Goal: Load the injured muscle/tendon without muscle length changes. I.e. not big global movements. Isolated movement at the site of injury.
- Week 1: Static stretching on the injured muscle groups in different joint positions.
Tuesday, October 31
Periodized Nutrition – tailoring nutrition to an athlete’s training program
https://www.coach-logic.com/blog/periodised-nutrition/
- Periodized nutrition refers to tailoring dietary intake according to training sessions and daily needs, in order to enhance adaptations and benefit performance (Ormond).
- Muscles obtain carbohydrates from three sources:
- Liver
- Muscle
- Exogenous (dietary)
- “Train low” is a term that refers to undertaking some exercise sessions with limited carbohydrate stores in order to utilize fat as a fuel.
- Protein helps with muscle building and muting hunger when avoiding carbohydrates.
- You can reduce ratings of perceived exertion and enhance performance by intaking caffeine.
- Carbohydrates ARE GOOD. Going without carbohydrates can compromise performance and immune function.
Wednesday, November 1
Preventing sports injuries through clinician-to-technician communication
https://notes.childrenshospital.org/preventing-sports-injuries-clinician-technician/
- The Micheli Center for Sports Injury, Boston Children’s Hospital, has developed the Sports Injury Prevention Prescription — known as SIPRx.
- SIPRx processes over 300 measurements which allows creation of a specific and comprehensive sports injury prescription for an individual athlete.
- It will note what injuries the athlete is at risk for and exercises that can reduce the risk.
- Corey Dawkins is a program administration and injury prevention specialist at TMC. He states “The point of our measurements is first and foremost to reduce injury risk. But most of the exercises we give will also help them out with their performance.”
Thursday, November 2
Performance Anxiety? Try developing a routine in conjunction with adjusting your mentality and body language
https://ylmsportscience.com/2016/08/21/psychology-the-new-science-of-embracing-performance-anxiety/
- Develop a routine:
- Have pre-planned actions to prevent your mind from becoming anxious.
- Practicing that routine can reduce anxiety and increase performance.
- Become comfortable with the routine so it becomes second nature.
- Reframe anxiety as excitement:
- Against natural instinct, don’t suppress pre-race nerves. It can be like telling yourself something is wrong.
- Address pre-performance anxiety as excitement.
- Change your body to change your mind:
- Hold your body like you are confident and your mind will follow.
Friday, November 3
Optimizing sleep and training load may present strategies to enhance performance
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17461391.2017.1389992?journalCode=tejs20
- Recovery and training load should be in optimal balance to obtain maximal performance gains.
- In a study by Dumortier et al., 26 elite female artistic gymnasts were evaluated by filling out sleep logs, rating of perceived exertion and monitoring sleep.
- The study found there were associations between decreased total sleep time, increased training load and inferior performance.
- Sleep is critical for better performance!