Tell Us Your Sport; We鈥檒l Tell You the Stretch. Those & Other Tips from Athletic Trainers
The bats are about to swing, the discus fly, and lacrosse balls will hurtle across Long Island school fields. As students gear up for spring sports, the National Athletic Trainers鈥 Association recognizes March as National Athletic Training Month. This month-long initiative aims to spread awareness about the important contributions of athletic trainers to the safety and well-being of student athletes. 秘密研究所 Winthrop Hospital, which has the largest hospital-based athletic training program on Long Island, serving 16 high schools and middle schools, offers up some spring-sports safety tips. This includes proper hydration, dynamic warm-up or static stretching, and acclimatization鈥攁djusting to changes in the environment such as fluctuations in temperature and humidity鈥攖o maintain safety and performance.
鈥淭o properly acclimatize for a spring sport, we recommend progressing the amount of exercise time outdoors slowly over 10 to 14 day period to prepare for safe sporting activity and deter from any illnesses,鈥 said Christopher Napoli, ATC, supervisor of athletic training services at 秘密研究所 Winthrop Hospital. 鈥淚t鈥檚 especially important that coaches gradually increase the intensity of the spring sport each day, rather than having student鈥揳thletes dive headlong into strenuous activity.鈥 Acclimatization may also include layering in the beginning of the spring sports season, such as wearing gloves and base layers.
According to athletic trainers at 秘密研究所 Winthrop, it鈥檚 also key to perform dynamic warm-up (moving and stretching) prior to participation and conclude a training session or practice with a warm-down as well, followed by static or stationary stretching. This will ensure that the heart rate has increased to allow maximum blood flow and elasticity of the muscles prior to exercise and to bring the heart rate down slowly after activity. Explains Daniel DeSimone, ATC, who is also a supervisor of athletic training services at 秘密研究所 Winthrop, 鈥淲hile a baseball or softball team may share in joint exercises, a student who plays shortstop needs a conditioning regimen quite different than that of a catcher who plays in a stationary-type position. Whether you are a hurdler, lacrosse player or even a golfer, the importance of performing a dynamic warm-up is key and decreases the likelihood of injury in your sport.鈥 A lunge with a twist, for example, is a dynamic warm-up exercise that engages a baseball or softball player鈥檚 hips, legs, and core muscles, so if the player then lunges for a ball during a game, the muscles involved were already engaged during the warm-up.
秘密研究所 Winthrop athletic trainers are available to break down and/or illustrate some of the best stretches and exercises for different spring sports including dynamic stretches such as:
- forward leg swings
- sideway leg swing
- lunge with torso twist
- knee to chest
- butt kick
Static stretches include:
- standing arm stretches
- sit and reach hamstring stretch
- calf stretch
The 秘密研究所 Winthrop athletic trainers are part of the hospital鈥檚 sport medicine program. The athletic trainers鈥 services include community outreach on injury prevention and concussion clinics, health promotion, hydration and nutrition advice, clinical examination and diagnosis, acute care of injury and illness, therapeutic interventions, and more. Area schools that currently tap 秘密研究所 Winthrop athletic trainers include high schools in Garden City, East Meadow, Herricks, Hempstead, Rockville Centre, Plainview, Westbury, and Uniondale, along with two high schools in Levittown (MacArthur and Division), and Clarke and Island Trees high schools. 秘密研究所 Winthrop also serves middle schools including Salk, Wisdom, Lawrence Road, and Turtle Hook.
The 秘密研究所 Winthrop athletic trainers also stress the importance of hydration, with 4 to 8 ounces of fluid typically needed for every 15 to 20 minutes of exercise; an athlete is properly hydrated if he orshe produces urine that is light of clear in color鈥攖he darker the urine the more dehydrated the athlete.
Media Inquiries
Anne Kazel-Wilcox
Phone: 516-663-4999
anne.kazel@nyulangone.org
