Wow, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry about that. We've been busy in the department these past few weeks.
This time of year marks the beginning of practices and tryouts for fall sports. Along with that come a whole lot of aches and pains, especially if you are not prepared. As always, prevention through preparation is the key, but for those still get hurt, here are a few suggestions.
General muscle soreness: This time of year, we tend to see a lot of quad and hamstring pulls. That muscle is not ready to do this stuff! Treat it right by stretching and warming up prior to activity, keep it warm during activity, and stretch/ice after activity.
Anterior knee pain: pain around the kneecap. This seems to be most common in girls, but boys do occasionally report this pain. It is often caused by a problem in the way the kneecap moves — flexibility or strength deficits can be factors. Ice the knee after practice and focus on stretching the lower extremities.
Shin splints: a painful inflammation which has a variety of causes — deconditioning, poor or worn footwear, running on hard or uneven surfaces or your style of running. This is one of the toughest conditions to deal with — the best way to deal with shin splints is to limit the activity which is causing them and cross train with other activities.
Some of these conditions will be serious enough to keep you out of the game; some will not. If you are limited during practice, talk to your coach, trainer, or doctor for the best course of action.
School’s over and summer vacation is here. What are you going to do? After all, practice for that fall sport is a mere 8 weeks away. Time to sit back, relax, get a summer job, make some money, and train. That’s right, I said TRAIN. 
This is pre-season, and you have to get ready to go. If you don’t, long about August 15, you may be coming to see me with some kind of overuse injury. If I had a dime for every case of shin splints, hip flexor strains, hamstring pulls, and knee pain I see at the beginning of the fall season, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog, because I would be independently wealthy.
So what do you need to do? If your coach has given you a summer program, follow it. If your coach has not given you a summer program, ask. From a strength and conditioning standpoint, you need to work on speed, agility, and speed endurance in the offseason, not to mention the strength training requirements. Everyone knows what speed and agility are, but what is speed endurance? Put simply, speed endurance is what gives you the ability to beat your opponent at the end of the game – it is the conditioning of the anaerobic energy system which gives you that extra “spurt” when everyone else on the field is sucking wind.
You will not get speed endurance by running 5 miles a day – all that does is train you to run 5 miles per day. You will get speed endurance by pushing yourself to the limit through careful interval training. Speed endurance should only be trained 1 – 2 days per week – it is very stressful on the system. Of all the things I train, my athletes universally say that speed endurance training is the hardest thing I make them do. However, the pain you go through now will payoff next fall – guarantee it. If you have questions, do your research or contact me. If you want to be the best conditioned athlete on the field this fall, you need to start now.