Summer is taking its time but the colder weather appears to be finally on the horizon. Winter brings many changes, one of the most common changes we see at Cannington is an increase in injuries. Backs, knees, hips, and shoulders they are all susceptible to the big freeze of winter.
So as you embark on your winter sports, winter walks or even just playing with the kids remember to take a moment to warm up before you wind up in our waiting room.
“Warm-up” is probably one of the most highly debated components of injury reduction. Most Physiotherapists, Personal Trainers and coaches firmly believe in a good warm up but you might be surprised to know that there have only been five quality studies in the past 40 years that look at injury reduction benefits of warming up.
Even with the lack of research material, clinical experience teaches us that doing a thorough warm-up before performing any physical activity does reduce risk of injury. Warms ups don’t have to be complex. A simple neck stretch before work or leg stretches before your morning jog can be sufficient.
However for our sporting patients a good pre game warm up should include something more detailed such as:
• 5-20 minutes in duration
• General activity to increase body temperature followed by some more specific range of motion stretching that replicates the events to follow. i.e leg swings to replicate kicking
• A series of balance related activities to ensure your sensory receptors are prepared for the tasks to follow.
• Gradually increasing intensity becoming more specific and “game like” as the training sessions or game approaches.
Here at Cannington Physiotherapy we are lucky to have some very experienced physiotherapists who have dealt with a variety of sporting teams and working conditions. So if you need help with your warm-up for a big sporting event or just a hard day’s work we are always happy to help.