If you sustain a finger injury during sport there are some good indicators as to whether you should continue to play or stop immediately.
You should stop playing immediately If there is:
– an obvious deformity of the shape of the finger
– if the joint is obviously dislocated
– if you are unable to move the finger or movement is accompanied by sharp pain Read more
Do you find your calves always stiffen/tighten with running? Let’s take a look at some potential reasons behind why the calf muscles get stressed.
1) Overload of the muscle due to inadequate muscle strength and power in the lower limbs.
Decreased lower limb strength can lead to the overload of the calf during the push-off phase of running. Our gluteal and quadriceps muscles play an important role in propelling ourselves forward. Without strength and endurance in these muscles, the calf muscle can become the sole driver of propulsion, hence can become fatigued and tired. Consideration also needs to be given to the calf itself in terms of strength and endurance, to handle the load placed upon it in running.
A common muscle imbalance in the body is pec minor dominates or overpowers lower trapezius.
Pec minor is a muscle that sits on the anterior wall of the chest and affects the movement of the scapula (shoulder blade). Tightness in the pec minor will lead to anterior tilting and downward rotation of the scapula and prevent full upward rotation, elevation and posterior tilting of the scapula which is required for full shoulder elevation.
Tightness in pec minor can therefore, contribute to shoulder injuries such as shoulder impingement, rotator cuff pathologies, glenohumeral instability, internal impingement, adhesive capsulitis, to name a few. Read more
Ankle sprains are common in change of direction, pivotal or jumping sports. Ankle sprains cause pain, dysfunction, time off sport and often require treatment. Athletes who injure an ankle are prone to re-injure the same ankle and this can lead to to ongoing problems and chronic instability. Proprioception is a neuromuscular process concerned with internal kinaesthetic awareness of body position and movement. Proprioceptive training challenges the ability of the targeted joint to detect and react to afferent input regarding joint position. This training aims to help improve capabilities of this system in order to prevent primary and secondary injury. Read more
Some common factors associated with muscle tears are:
Not only does the beach offer a change in scenery, relaxation, and a potential source of motivation for training, it also offers a change in surface that is lower in impact and ground reaction forces. This change in surface can be beneficial for people with bony impact related injuries or for people who train frequently on a hard track and want to mix up their training load with a lighter impact session. Read more