Athletico Health Resources

Foot injuries can occur when playing sports but a shoe or cleat can often protect the foot from injury. Some sports, like gymnastics, are performed barefoot. Gymnasts have extra demands placed on the small muscles of the foot as they are not getting the support of a shoe. When training barefoot, there is an increased demand of the muscles in the foot and lower leg. These muscles will help to stabilize the foot and ankle which may reduce the risk of ankle sprains or injuries higher up the leg such as in the knee or hip. How can gymnasts help prevent injury when training barefoot? Here are some ways gymnasts can strengthen their foot muscles to improve their performance.

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Golf is like any other sport or physical activity, regardless of how often you play or skill level, there are injuries that pop up. Injury prevalence studies have shown that the most common injury among amateur or recreational golfers is low back pain, ranging from 15-34% of active players. So whether you are someone who just picked up the game, a scratch golfer, walk the course, or ride in a cart, here are some tips on how to stay healthy and continue enjoying your time on the course!

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Walking, running, jogging, dancing, are all functional activities we do daily without thinking about it. They simply come second nature to us and are essential to a healthy life. What if your big toe, also known as the hallux, was amputated? Would you still be able to do what you love at all or even with ease?

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As young kids’ participation in sports increases, strength training in youth athletes also continues to be seen more frequently. Strength is an important part of daily life as well as for participation in sports. Strength training at a young age can be beneficial for coordination, flexibility, and bone density as well as general health. We know that preventative exercise (prehabilitation) focuses on strengthening muscle groups that are overused in specific sports (i.e. rotator cuff for overhead throwing athletes) and it may reduce overuse injuries in these athletes. Increasing incidence of strength training may lead to questions about safety and how much training children should be doing for their age and level.

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The start of the spring season means that it is finally time for many athletes to implement off-season drills, workouts, and preparation for competition. For baseball players and other throwing athletes, especially pitchers, this means a lot of throwing.

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Knee pain in young gymnasts is a common complaint. Many times these young athletes begin having pain due to overuse of the area. A common overuse injury is Osgood-Schlatter’s disease (OSD). OSD is inflammation of the patellar ligament below the kneecap. Often, there is a painful bump below the kneecap (the tibial tuberosity) where the ligament attaches.

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The ongoing pandemic has changed many of our everyday lives – including those of athletes, many of which had to completely stop, pause or alter the way they participated in their sport. For gymnasts, their training had significantly changed since the end of the last high school or club gymnastics season. To help gymnasts return to their sport safely, here as six tips to keep in mind during the modified season.

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Overhead athletes are required to have tremendous strength and stability in not only their shoulder, but their entire body. The forces that go through the shoulder during a pitching motion are some of the highest that occur within the sports realm, with the fastest motion recorded at over 7000 degrees of rotation per second (that equates to 20 full arm revolutions in a second). It makes sense that these forces require tremendous strength and stability throughout the whole body (often referred to as kinetic chain with throwing), and special care for the arm is to be taken through all seasons of play. What follows will be exercises and stretches that are key to helping provide strength and stability required for throwing.

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