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What do we need to know to treat The Everyday Athlete?

What do we need to know to treat The Everyday Athlete?
So what do we need to know to treat The Everyday Athlete? Exercise is important for health, physical and mental. Companies and government health strategists are attempting to make exercise more accessible to a larger part of the population.  There are 24 hour gyms, new commando style obstacle races, 5 a side teams for different sports; the list of options is incredibly long.  This has led to increasing numbers of people taking up new, or old, sports that they may have no training in. They are then consulting medical practitioners and movement specialists to help them in their endeavours. Clearly this is something to be encouraged.  What is important however is identifying the right fit of exercise to the individual. Our job is not to dictate what people should do but provide advice on how best to acclimatise the body to enable participation, to the highest and safest level. I don't believe this means we need to know the details of each sport. A little research may be needed as to how best to help your patient.  A basic understanding of some of the underlying biomechanical requirements of common sports, and elements of sport, can assist considerably in your ability to work with different athletes. One of the easiest areas to help prevent injuries is load monitoring. This applies at every level and is a useful tool for your patients to use to ensure they are only applying forces on their body that the body can tolerate.  Load monitoring is used in sports such as baseball pitching, pitchers should only pitch a certain number of balls over a defined period of time. It can also be applied to distance covered, time spent doing an activity. I would also monitor sleep quality, food quality etc.   An extra thing to add I hear you exclaim! In this endeavour, I put the onus on the patient. A little time spent during the consultation to explain this concept can go a long way towards them understanding how much their bodies will give and tolerate. I am an advocate of preserving and enhancing my patients enjoyment and participation in whatever sport they choose.  Occasionally I say no. There was a recent ex triathlete who wanted to return to the sport, his brain said yes but his knees were so arthritic they said no.  The trick is to push the benefits of the remaining two sports, and explain there are duathlons and team entries. The dream liveth on! Good luck with your sporting endeavours and assisting those of your patients. Draw strength and inspiration in seeing those who feel that they are ‘past it’, ‘too slow’, ‘too fat’ or whatever underlying issue stops them from pursuing their sports, get up and participate. Rachele Quested is a Doctor in Brisbane, Queensland, having previously become an APA Sports Titled Physiotherapist and a Pilates teacher.  Rachele has worked extensively with athletes from a wide variety of sports during her career, which has included touring with England Netball, Swimming and Triathlon as well as working in Premiership Rugby. 

THE EVERYDAY ATHLETE - ONLINE COURSE

To learn about this imperative topic, we have just lauched our online course 'The Everyday Athlete'. This course is designed to examine the basic biomechanics, common injury patterns and some rehabilitation and prevention activities related to everyday sporting requirements. By undertaking this online course you will come away with new ideas and insight for your everyday athlete clients. MORE INFO/ BOOK NOW