Shout out to Trainer Kristen Sasonoff for her TWENTY guest blog entries during the past 3 months. When I asked her to begin this project, I never expected her to create TWENTY incredibly informative entries. We are so lucky to have her! Great job Kristen!
Athletic Training Blog Series #20
Reconditioning from Quarantine Life
Phase 2.5 Here we go. Things are starting to open back up, maybe you have eaten on a local sidewalk, or hit up Marshalls. Some of you have heard from your summer teams or clubs that practices and games could be coming your way soon. The Ice House is opening, and there will be leagues there this summer; baseball and softball teams have started to hit the diamonds. But wait, we have all been without a gym, practice, weight room and organized activities for months. Hopefully you have found a way to some activity during this time, I have walked over 300 miles and counting, I saw Coach Hiltz out for a run, Coach Hughes has made sure we have had plenty of opportunities through PLT4M. All those nagging overuse issues should be resolved. Are we ready for full go sports? Nope not a chance. So before I have a line socially distanced outside my room all the way to the gym, I figured I would give everyone some ideas about reconditioning back to sports and away from Tiger King and homemade bread.
- Start SLOW- you will hate it, but your body will thank you.
- Weightlifting-
- You will not be able to lift what you did in March-that’s ok
- Drop down, start with light weight and high reps.
- It will come back, small increases every time your back in the weight room will lead to big gains over time
- Throwing
- FORM FORM FORM
- If you haven’t been throwing-limit your throws each day
- Work on building distance-long toss helps build strength but you can’t start at 100 yards
- Team Sports
- DRILLS DRILLS DRILLS
- Your skills will be rusty, this is a great time to re-learn technique
- Small field, small group activities
- Build up towards full field over a few weeks
- Conditioning
- NO ONE IS IN THE SHAPE THEY WERE IN MARCH!!
- Start slow. Full field sprints is not the way to begin
- Jog before running, running before sprinting
- HYDRATE and EAT
- When your activity level rises your body will need more nutrients than it did while binging netflix all day.
I tried to keep this very generic as every sport is starting from zero this summer. It will be SUPER important to listen to your body-and rest when you need it. As other states have started back 2 athletes have already passed away from exertional heat stroke. Acclimatization is real. Do your hardest workouts early in the morning, or after the sun starts to set-skip the middle of the day. Take breaks. Consistency will be the key to getting back to top form. I, like all of you, am ready to roll-but if we do this slow and steady there will be less injury. And remember to follow the state guidelines. Stay socially distant, wear your mask (when not working out) when unable to be 6 feet away, and wash your hands.
This is my last blog of Quarantine 2020. I have thoroughly enjoyed this project, and will find a way to start back up in the fall on a semi consistent basis. I hope you all enjoyed reading these. Happy Summer to all!!! If you need anything over the next few months-please reach out to me sasonoffk@cantonma.org
