Intermountain Health Sports Program Helping Student Athletes Avoid Injuries During Summer Training

School is out for summer which means kids will be getting out and enjoying their time off. For student athletes it also means training for sports, but not always having the supervision of a coach or trainer.

Stessie Zimmerman, MD, pediatric sports medicine physician at Intermountain Health, says parents should help their youth athletes plan a training regimen and take into consideration some of the environmental factors like outside temperatures.

“Kids tend to be so energetic and their bodies so reliant we forget they can be injured like any other athlete if they’re not careful,” said Dr. Zimmerman. “A little bit of planning and practice can go a long way in keeping them healthy and in the game.”

Dr. Zimmerman notes even though kids can bounce back quickly it’s important to take a break and return to sport when ready.

She suggests a series of exercises and stretches to both prevent and recover from sports injuries.

1. Heel Raises – Stand on the ground and go up on your toes and raise your heels I the air for about 4 sets of 10. This helps strengthen the ankle and strengthens the calf muscle. To get a better stretch on the calf you can also do heel raises on a bottom step or slight overhang so heels dip down before a person raises up.

2. Balance Training – Working on balance is great to strengthen your entire leg and makes people less susceptible to lower body injuries. Athletes can do varying levels of difficulty from standing on one leg to even using a balance ball which is a harder workout.

3. Hallow Hold – The core is vital to an athlete’s performance and overall injury prevention. Having a strong core can help prevent hip, leg, and back injuries. Hallow Hold is done by laying on your back and holding your legs and upper body up and then slowly bringing your knees into your chest. Athletes should do 4 sets of 10 to strengthen their core.

4. Hamstring Stretch – All sports that include quick and prolonged movement rely on the hamstring and it’s a common injury to sideline players for weeks. By doing multiple hamstring exercises before competition, it can help prevent these types of injuries.

Also, a good way to get started on this plan is to get a sports physical at the start of summer break.

These are required for school sports and are good for a year. A doctor can see where an athlete is at and help advise on the level of training. It also prevents last minute scramble to get a physical done before the season starts.

When training outside of a structured sport it can be easy for athletes to forgo a warm-up or stretch before training. Doing dynamic stretching and slowing ramping up a workout helps prevent injuries and gets the body ready for harder training.

If those exercises are being done outside in the heat it’s also vital to stay hydrated and avoid heavy workouts during the hottest parts of the day. Dr. Zimmerman says heat illness can creep up on people and go ignored if athletes are pushing themselves.

“Athletes are taught to push through adversity, but it can be easy to confuse that with serious warning signs your body is giving you,” said Dr. Zimmerman. “Pushing through signs of heat illness can be dangerous which is why it’s important to plan more breaks and hydration.”

The effects of heat illness can be exacerbated depending on the surface where athletes train. Concrete, artificial turf, or a track, absorbs more of the sun’s rays and create higher temperatures in the surrounding area.

According to Dr. Zimmerman one thing often overlooked for preventing injuries and heat illness is nutrition. People often think of food as fuel for workouts, but fruits and vegetables also contain a lot of water which helps with hydration.

Eating the right foods can also play a big role in preventing injuries. Bone fractures are common among runners and other high impact sports. They are made worse and more frequent by a lack of proper nutrients to keep bones strong.

Stessie Zimmerman, MD, is a primary care sports medicine specialist with Intermountain Medical Group at the Intermountain Orthopedic Specialty Group. For more information on Intermountain Health’s sports medicine programs, click here.

About Intermountain Health

Headquartered in Utah with locations in seven states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Health is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,900 employed physicians and advanced care providers, a health plans division called Select Health with more than one million members, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information or updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.