"Coffee With A Doctor" Free Lecture Series
Participation in sports activities can be wonderful for a child’s physical and emotional health. But where’s the line on your child’s exercise routine, and how much is too much?
The answer lies in each individual child. What might be too much for one child may be completely healthy for another. It’s important to know what your child can handle, and also to take steps to prevent exhaustion, injuries, mental “burn out,” and eating disorders.
While the risk of injury varies from sport to sport, the most common cause of injury, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is overuse:
According to the National Safety Council, falls occur most commonly in:
Among older adults, falls can result in serious injury and an increased risk of fatality. There are steps you can take to help prevent falls in your home or that of a friend or family member.
Flexible, strong muscles are the best way to keep your knees healthy and prevent future injury, so even if you have some knee pain, developing an exercise routine that will strengthen the surrounding muscles can help you in more ways than one. Strengthening the muscles surrounding your knee helps to alleviate some of the stress and strain placed on the knee when performing everyday activities. Stretching can also help you build more flexibility, which can reduce tightness that is sometimes caused by strengthening the muscles through exercise.
If you suffer from pain in your feet or lower legs, you may have considered using an orthotic to help restore balance. Orthotics are designed to reduce or eliminate foot pain, align the feet to eliminate abnormal foot motion, and to encourage optimal balance when walking. While over-the-counter orthotics are available in most drug stores, seeing a doctor to have your foot problem assessed and a custom orthotic designed for your foot generally leads to better results.
While it’s widely known that yoga is great for reducing stress and anxiety as well as promoting a healthy mind/body balance, yoga is also a perfect exercise program for athletes who want to master their breathing techniques and improve core strength, endurance, and flexibility.
As kids are heading back to school, many will be getting involved in school sports. Safe Kids Worldwide estimates that over 38 million school aged kids are involved in sports, and among those, one in three kids will suffer from a sports-related injury. As a parent, you always want to be able to protect your children. While you cannot be on the sports field with them, there are certain measures you can take to help prevent some common injuries.
Spring through fall is “marathon season” throughout the country. If you’re training for a marathon, these tips will help you train smart so that you can avoid injury and improve your performance.
Water exercises are ideal for hip strengthening because it minimizes the impact on joints, tendons, and ligaments.[/caption]
Hip strength is essential to maintaining good health and preventing hip related injuries. In addition, athletes and runners can also benefit from strengthened hips, as it provides them the vehicle to achieve maximum performance. Performing routine hip strengthening exercises throughout early adulthood can help to build stronger bone mass and reduce the risk of bone conditions such as osteoporosis in future. Regardless of age, adopting these hip strengthening exercises can lead to better overall health and reduce the risk of falls and related injuries.
Water-Based Hip Strengthening Exercises
Water exercises are ideal for hip strengthening because it minimizes the impact on joints, tendons, and ligaments. Patients experiencing hip pain can benefit from deep water running, walking, and even jumping jacks. By attaching a buoyancy belt or flotation device to the body, patients can perform these exercises safely and easily. Other water-based exercises include leg raises, knee to chest exercises, or other exercises designed to strengthen the hip abductors.
Have you ever considered running barefoot? While that may seem a little out of the ordinary, runners all over the world are adopting this new style of running. Although the majority of runners still wear shoes, the debate rages on as to whether barefoot running is more natural and beneficial than wearing running shoes.
Is Barefoot Running Beneficial?
Barefoot running is more than a trend; it has become an athletic movement over the last few years. Proponents of barefoot running cite several benefits to the practice-specifically that it results in a more natural stride and reduces the risk of injury. Certain running shoes, they contend, create an abnormal running pattern and encourage runners to land on the heel of their foot, which leads to a heavier impact on the knees, legs, and feet. According to those in favor of this technique, running barefoot is the way that the body was naturally intended to run and is therefore better for the body.