Are Meniscal Injuries the New ACL Injury?
Knee injuries are back in the news. With recent injuries to high profile players, water cooler chat is shifting from ACL injuries to meniscal injuries. If you want to be the resident sports medicine expert in the office, keep reading for a brief overview of meniscal tears and what they mean for athletes. (more…)
Athletic Trainers Keep You at the Top of Your Game
You may think of an athletic trainer as the person at the end of the bench who comes running to the aid of an injured player. While you’d be right, you would be only partially right. Certified athletic trainers are members of a health care team who work with physicians, physical therapists and others to help prevent, recognize, assess, and rehabilitate injuries no matter where they occur. Athletic trainers are everywhere from the field, in the back yard and on the dance floor or stage. (more…)
Exercises for an ACL Injury
Have you ever injured or torn your ACL ligament? We’ve got the exercises and stretches for you! Athletico’s Dave Heidloff ATC, NASM-PES, FMS, provides stretches for athletes or anyone suffering from an ACL injury. Stretches are provided for anyone dealing with an ACL injury, specifically for those preparing for surgery or returning from surgery. Watch Dave’s exercises for an ACL injury below: (more…)
Combating Childhood Obesity
Childhood obesity is a rising epidemic and a valid concern for many parents. With the surge in all things electronic from televisions, computers, video games, and hand held devices, we have populations of children being sedentary rather than up, moving, playing, and active. As the economy puts stress on single, as well as two-parent, households the trend in meals has been on things fast, easy, and affordable which unfortunately does not often equate to healthy or nutrient dense. Here are some eye opening facts on childhood obesity taken directly from an article by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (more…)
Behind the Scenes of March Madness with an Athletic Trainer
It’s the hap, happiest time of the year. No, not Christmas, although that one’s good too! It’s NCAA tournament time! A time when Cinderella’s find their shoes, champions rise to the occasion, and every team, fan, and bracket hope for their one shining moment. From the coaches and players to the fans, the NCAA tournament is a stressful, but exciting time for everyone associated with the teams. (more…)
Ice Baths: A Cool Way to Speed Recovery
Elite athletes jumping into tubs filled with ice water after a tough workout is a fairly cliché scene in sports movies, but for good reason. Ice baths have become a post-workout habit that countless professional athletes take very seriously. Kobe Bryant is so dedicated to taking ice baths that his personal tub of cold water has gotten its own police escort! Hearing things like that makes people wonder how something as simple as ice water can be beneficial to the world’s most successful athletes. When asked, those athletes will often cite reduced muscle soreness, faster recovery, and injury prevention as their main reasons for taking the plunge. (more…)
Hydrating for Performance and Health
At first, hydration might seem like a dry topic, but there is more to it than just drinking water. Many people may not realize that hydration levels can affect everything from essential bodily functions to your mental and physical performance levels, making it an ideal topic to cover with hordes of athletes returning to their sports this week. (more…)
5 Reasons to Improve Your Balance
Working on your balance probably isn’t an integral part of your everyday life, but I’m prepared to make the case that it should be. The benefits for improved balance range from a reduced risk of injury to improving intelligence and even potentially increasing one’s life span. With that in mind, here are my five reasons to work on improving your balance, as well as some ideas on how to get started. (more…)