1. Preventing Injuries through Fitness Training

2. Introduction
Coaches and Athletic Trainers both recognize the importance of conditioning and training to prevent athletic injuries. However, it takes cooperation between everyone involved to gradually bring the athlete to a level of fitness that will prevent early season injuries. Both the coach and athletic trainer must understand the basic principles of T&C.

3. Concept of Periodization
Definition - periodization is a concept which organizes the conditioning of the athlete into cycles or periods of need.
Macrocycle - the complete training period.
Mesocycle - a smaller period of time, usually weeks or months, within the total T&C period.
Preparatory Period - generally during the off-season
Competition Period - training during competition
Transition Period - during early part of off-season
Cross Training - using alternative activities

4. Principles of Conditioning
Warm-up/Cool-down
Motivation
Overload
Consistency
Progression
Intensity
Specificity
Individuality
Minimize Stress
Safety

5. Flexibility
It is generally accept that flexibility is an important component of injury prevention.
essential for optimum athletic performance
maintains health of joints
allows for maximum range of motion about a joint
helps decrease injuries to muscle, tendon, musculotendinous unit, joint surfaces, ligaments, joint capsule

6. Flexibility Factors that Limit Flexibility
bony structure (fracture of elbow)
excessive fat
muscle and tendon tension
connective tissue
These may all be normal reasons for reaching the end of a range of motion

7. Flexibility Active and Passive Range of Motion(ROM)
Active ROM - also called dynamic flexibility, where the athlete moves the joint.
Passive ROM - also called static flexibility, where the joint is moved to its endpoints by someone else or with no muscle action.

8. Stretching
Background: it is helpful to review the function of agonistic vs antagonistic muscles in the movement of a joint.
Types of Stretching Techniques
Ballistic stretching
Static stretching
PNF stretching

9. Stretching Neurophysiologic Basis of Stretching
Mechanoreceptors in the muscle inform nervous system of changes in muscle length and tension.
Golgi tendon organs - sensitive to change in length and tension
Muscle spindles - sensitive to changes in length - need prolonged stretch (6 sec) before reflexive contraction subsides and GTO responds with reflexive relaxation of the antagonistic muscles.
The GTO can override the muscle spindles.

10. Muscular Strength, Endurance, Power
Importance of Muscular Strength/Endurance
Muscular strength = the ability of a muscle to generate force against some resistance.
Muscular Power = a large amount of force generated quickly
Muscular Endurance = the ability to perform repetitive muscular contractions against resistance for an extended period of time.
These are all important in the design of a sport specific conditioning program and used in the reconditioning of the athlete after sustaining injury.

11. Resistance Training Techniques
The training program may incorporate exercises using different types of muscle contraction :
Isometric exercise - muscle contracts to a maximum force but there is no change in muscle length - hold contraction for ten seconds - often used in the early rehabilitation stages -
isotonic contraction is either
concentric (the muscle shortens through the joint range as the muscle contracts - function to accelerate movement), or
eccentric (the muscle gradually lengthens throughout the contraction - function to decelerate motion).
Eccentric exercise is more fatiguing because less motor units are required to achieve a certain force - this type of exercise is essential in reconditioning tendon injury. A training program which incorporates an eccentric strength component will help reduce injuries to the susceptible decelerating muscles.

12. Resistance Training Techniques
Isokinetic exercise - muscle length changes while contraction is performed at constant velocity (this method can only be done with a machine and is used for speed training - relies on the motivation of the individual to use maximum strength for each contraction)
plyometric exercise - specific exercises that encompass a rapid stretch of a muscle eccentrically followed immediately by a rapid concentric contraction = forceful explosive movement over a short period of time
Must have a good strength base and technique to begin this type of exercise and must be incorporated into a rehabilitation program to prevent further injury.
Progressive Resistance Exercise - based on the principles of progression and overload.

13. Strength Development Physiology of Strength Development
There have been a number of theories given to explain why or how a muscle hypertrophies in response to strength training, such as:
fibers split in response to training
number of fibers is genetically determined and stay the same, but the number of capillaries is increased
the muscle’s myofilaments increase in both size & number, causing the fibers to increase in cross-sectional diameter
Resistance Training Techniques Used
The overload principle is the basis of all methods

14. Strength Training Methods
Isometric Exercise
Progressive Resistive Exercise
Isotonic Contractions
Concentric Contractions
Eccentric (Negative) Contractions
Free Weights versus Machines
Isokinetic Exercise
Circuit Training
Calisthenics Exercises
Plyometrics
Training the Female Athlete

15. Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Transport and Utilization of Oxygen
Effects on the Heart
Effects on Work Ability
The Energy Systems
Training Techniques for Cardio Endurance
Methods and Equipment Used

16. Summary
Total body conditioning contributes to decreased injury and improved health