Preparing for a Change of Season

By Cameron Allshorn

Trees are getting greener, the grass getting longer, Spring is here and summer is on the way! Woo Hoo! After a long winter this is not the only change of season occurring. At this time of year we transition from our winter sports and hobbies to the summer seasons options. 

Longer days and warmer weather can give us extra time to exercise and get into the things we love to do at this time of the year. 

HOWEVER!

After a few months off, have you taken time to see if your body is as ready as the mind for the new season that is upcoming?

Some sports and hobbies are more taxing or dynamic than others; in most cases will use different regions of the body or movement patterns to what you have been refining over the winter season. Now is a great time to check in on what the body needs to be ready to hit the season running and ready to have the best one yet. 

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind for some of the peak spring and summer seasons on their way. Many of these are interchangeable across sports and hobbies. 

Cricket: Shoulder mobility, lower back stability (very important for the fast bowlers), Hips and hamstrings.

Gardening; The garden can be a big job after winter. Lifting, bending, twisting and kneeling are important and our bodies thank us when we give them the best TLC prior and after getting out into the garden. 

Hiking: Pectorals, Quads, Feet are just as integral for a good (and comfortable) multi day hike, have you neglected these areas over winter. These muscles can often be tight during periods where we have been more sedentary. 

Ocean Sports: We’re talking swimming, surfing, paddle boarding and more. Commonly these involve upper and lower body connection, functional core stability, lower back and legs.

Rowing: Spinal rotation, upper body control, power and connection between various regions, like many sports, rowing requires a variety of movements falling into place in the right order for the best output. 

Running: Hobart has an array of running events over this time of year, are you training for Point to Pinnacle on November 20th or Bruny Island Ultra on Dec 3rd, or maybe you have just completed the Hobart Marathon last weekend.   

Sailing: Core stability, hips, arms, It takes a lot to keep a boat upright in the spring wind! Keeping this in check can help avoid shoulder, lower back and other injuries. 

Tennis: Elbows and forearms, lateral mobility, calves, foot and ankle function. This goes for all the other racquet sports too.

And don't forget the evergreen and all year round hobbies and sports like Golf, Basketball, Hockey and Soccer many of these transition from season to tournament and interstate play over this period, this can mean a lot of action across a smaller time period like a weekend or fortnight. 

If you’re a sporty teen, a returning adult or a weekend warrior make sure you take a moment to check on what your body might need leading into the next part of your year so that you can be ready to go when it’s here.

Thanks for reading.

Return To Sport

By Cameron Allshorn

Gyms are open, boot camp is back, trails and national parks are opening their gates, community sport is on the horizon and we’re all excited!!

The lockdown has impacted each and everyone of us and we are all ready to get out a back into our hobbies and activities as soon as we can. 

With the excitement of this return comes an increased risk of injury due to the lengthy lay-off period and overall decrease in movement and activity over the past 8 weeks, add to that the cold Hobart winter days and there is a discussion to be had. This blog to outline how to safely return to activity and reduce the risk of picking up a pesky injury that could see you with another stint on the sideline just as things get going again.

The Risk

Injuries to soft tissues are the most likely to occur in this type of situation due to shortening of muscle fibers during inactivity as well as lack of load exposure. “Soft tissue injuries” cover most muscular or ligamentous injuries, in which hamstring, calf, quad and rotator cuff have the highest increased risk of injury. 

A recent ABC article has outlined the increased risk and rate of incident we have seen as sport has returned across various professional leagues.It is expected that this will spread all the way down to community level as the majority of us return without the network of a professional grade support team. 

A lot of us have turned to running and/or cycling over the past 2 months in an effort to keep active and fit which is great for our wellbeing and aerobic fitness however it does not replicate or correlate to sport specific actions such as landing, pivoting, throwing, kicking and so on. Now is the time to get back into sport specific training situations.

4-6 weeks of graded gradual sport-specific return is recommended to reduce the risk of injuries upon return which means starting now is imperative. It is likely that competitions will be eager to reboot their seasons and with calendar restrictions and venue clashes also to consider it could see match-day competition return in a quick turnaround that will not account for such a training period to occur.  

Snapshot of Professional Returns

Bundesliga (German Premier Soccer League) returned on May 24 and has seen an approximate  rate of injury increase of 3 times the pre lockdown records (.27injuries per game pre lockdown, .88injuries per game since restart) injuries have predominantly been of soft tissue nature (hamstring, calf, quad). Locally we have seen the AFL and NRL return over the past month and while there hasn’t been large spate of injuries across the board. The restart began with a number of players unavailable due to similar soft tissue injuries sustained in a shortened “pre-season” prior to the return (predominantly lower limb soft tissue injuries).

Who’s at risk

• Age >25, 

• Previous injury history (particularly in past 18 months) 

• Returning to a sport involving a lot of change of direction, quick decelerating/accelerating or lateral movement (tennis, hockey, AFL, netball, basketball) 

What can you be doing now 

Each sport and venue is likely in the process of opening up training facilities and you should check with them about access and the guidelines in place. Some restrictions may be placed on access time and amount of people allowed.

To reduce risk, you should now be considering sport-specific programs that are tailored to the requirements of your sport. However some broad protocols to follow are; 

• Warm up/ cool down with stretches and mobility exercises. 

• Lower limb eccentric exercises (hamstrings, calf, hip flexors) (these help increase overall muscle length reducing risk of tearing) 

• Gradual increase of load, duration and intensity of training.

• Sorting out any existing niggles (tight hamstring, sore hip, stiff lower back etc) before jumping into training.  

For any information or advice regarding getting you back into playing sport and the activities you loved before covid-19, feel free to contact your Osteopath for what is best suited to you. 

Headaches from an Osteopathic perspective

By Cameron Allshorn

Headaches are one of the most common disorders across the world and likely something that most will encounter at some stage during life. For many this becomes a debilitating, limiting and repeating process.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that 50% of the global adult population has reported a headache in the past 12 months (1). 30% of those indicated presence of migraine while around 4% of people reported 15 or more headache days per month (1). Often we see people who have suffered from chronic and repetitive headaches for many years but help is out there and Osteopaths can be a part of that network. 

Common Headache Types:

The starting point of a headache may be attributed to a variety of intrinsic origins like muscle tightness, joint dysfunction as well as influence from external forces (such as sleep, stress, mental health, diet, nutrition and exercise habits) . As osteopaths we work to improve the function of muscle, bone and joints alike to restore and maintain a balanced working body and managing headaches are no exception. As Osteopaths, some of the areas we will look at when managing and treating a headache presentation include cervical, thoracic and rib function as well as observing your breathing and diaphragm control.

• The relationship of the head and neck is key to managing symptoms.

• Often there can be an underlying restriction or dysfunction that is causing a disruption to multiple subconscious body functions such as blood and air flow.

• A key function of this fluid flow is to drive the oxygen our brains crave and thus are so important to our cognitive function.

• Disruption to these fluid dynamics can be part of what is driving the recurrent nature of chronic headaches in some cases. 

• As osteopaths we will work to restore this balance and improve these functions in addition to addressing muscular tightness and/or joint restriction.

The overall picture is important which is why when managing a headache presentation we will often get people to complete 2 weeks of a headache diary to track and isolate potential triggers and causes so that they can be addressed. This provides us as practitioners a broader perspective on your headaches and how they relate to your lifestyle. (In the case of headaches caused by the female hormonal/menstrual cycle, an 8 week diary would be recommended)

Helpful links:

Headache Australia (Migraine and Headache diaries: https://headacheaustralia.org.au/headache-management/headache-migraine-diaries/

https://headacheaustralia.org.au/

References:

(1) https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/headache-disorders