Club Blog

By Cynthia Hunter, NASM CPT, PES

While the UTC Fitness gym is a controlled environment there is still concern of injury caused from improper form, musculoskeletal-imbalances and lack of stabilization. Read on and learn how to prevent injuries!

1. Ladies, this one’s especially for you. Seated Adductor Machines. I know you like to sit on them in the hopes your thighs will be firmer and fat will disappear, but I must interject some wisdom. The majority of individuals have tight adductor muscles making use of this machine detrimental to optimal function of the body. This could potentially lead to medial knee pain and some ACL injuries.

2. Next on the blacklist are seated abductor machines. This machine can increase dysfunction of the piriformis. This can lead to piriformis syndrome. A tight piriformis can eventually lead to chronic back pain, hip pain, and lateral knee pain. If you do suffer from the effects of a tight piriformis muscle, be sure to foam roll!!

3. Torso Rotation Machines (of any kind). These machines lure gym members with the thought of a tighter core and slimmer waists. However, this machine should NOT be used by individuals with a weak and underdeveloped core. Without properly developed core stabilization, these exercises could lead to low back pain and increased translation of the vertebrae. After you can perform the stability ball “iso” rotation exercise, and keep your abs engaged and hips stable, you could safely move onto this type of machine.

4. Your chest is tight. Chances are your pectoral muscles are severely overactive. This is because we use computers, drive, and do other daily tasks in a forward motion using the chest muscles more than our back muscles. Strength and agility training the chest is a good thing, as long as you pay equal (or more) attention to the back muscles. But there is one archaic chest machine that should never be used. Good trainers cringe at the very sight of these dinosaurs. The pec dec. Use of this machine puts an extraordinary amount of stress on the anterior shoulder complex and could eventually lead to bicepital tendonitis and cervical strain. Just stick to the traditional chest press machine and let this machine do what it’s best at…holding the floor down.

5. Leave the plie-like squats to sumo wrestlers and ballerinas. Some individuals and San Diego Sporting Club trainers swear this helps target the glutes better than traditional squats….bullcrap. Over time this exercise can lead to increased low back pain, sciatic nerve pain, knee pain, and ankle/foot complex pain and plantar fasciitis. A good replacement for this exercise is the stability ball wall squat.

Any questions?
Shoot.

Reference
Lucett, Chere. Common Resistance Training Exercises and Machines to Re-think

Over-eating is usually the solution, not the problem. Often over-indulgence is the result of going a long period of time without food. At this nutrition gym, we can help you recognize this, and it will be helpful for people who feel guilty when they make poor food choices or over eat.

Journal your foods, amounts and include the times that you eat. This way, you can see if the larger portions are a result of not eating enough during the day or going too long without food.

If you are someone who does not eat breakfast, this may be a set up for over-eating, later in the day. By minimizing the time between meals or adding healthy snacks, you have a much better chance at making food choices that support your goal and can reduce the chance of eating too much.

Let Sandra Blackie, the Nutritionist at The Sporting Club, support you as you pursue your health & fitness gym goals.

Here is a fitness gym tool to help you become more aware of your internal hunger and satiety cues. It is called the Rating of Perceived Hunger Scale. Think of “0″ as indicating “extreme hunger.” Your stomach is growling and you feel light-headed. Think of 10 as signaling “extreme fullness”, like 5 plates of food at Thanksgiving. Keep these guidelines in mind when you begin to read your body’s signals.

You should begin to eat at a level “3″ on the RPH Scale and stop at a level “7 or 8,” when you are comfortably full. When we go too long without food, we usually don’t feel our best and we over-compensate with too much food as a solution to extreme hunger. This makes it challenging to exercise “portion control” and may interfere with fat loss.

I am offering a free half-hour nutrition consultation at The Sporting Club to go over your nutrition goals and concerns. Call today! 858-552-8000

Sandra Blackie

Stop the “diet mentality.” When a client talks to me about being on or off a diet, I remind them that eating healthy is a lifestyle change, not something we go in and out of. Being on or off a diet suggests that one has not absorbed the concept of a lifestyle change. In the dictionary, the word “diet” means, “a way of eating.”

As a fitness professional of a UTC Health Fitness Center, I am going to suggest that your “way of eating” be healthy, most of the time, not a diet that changes dramatically from one extreme to the other. Also, being the nutrition gym that we are, we strongly suggest our Freedom of Fitness Nutrition Program to our clients because it focuses on “changing lifestyle habits.” Even our tagline says, “It is a lifestyle, not a life sentence!” Eat healthy foods you enjoy, in sensible amounts, frequently throughout the day. You will not only feel great, but look great, too!

Initial treatment after an injury can have a profound effect on the speed of recovery and period of disability.  One of the most common areas of confusion after an individual sustains an injury is whether to use ice or heat as the initial treatment.  Sports medicine treatment principles are based on an understanding of how the body responds after an injury and how the response of the body can be modified to hasten recovery.

Fundamentals

Swelling
Swelling is the protective mechanism by which the body localizes an area of injury.  Damaged tissues in the area of injury release cellular contents into the tissues that in turn stimulate surrounding blood vessels to dilate and release reparative cells into the tissues.  The increased blood flow to the area of injury in conjunction with an increased volume of cells results in a swollen area that effectively splints the injured body part or joint. In this way, the body has immobilized the injured area thereby protecting it from further injury.

Pain
The continued perception of pain after an injury is often related to the amount of swelling that has occurred.  Swollen tissues place excessive pressure on free nerve endings and as a result, can directly initiate a pain signal.  In addition, the damaged cells in the injured area release cellular contents that act as a chemical trigger to initiate pain. Pain is a protective mechanism that the body uses to localize an area of injury and discourage the use of this area while healing is taking place.

Ultimately, the combination of pain and swelling after an injury can result in joint and muscle stiffness, muscle atrophy (loss of size and strength), decreased neuromuscular coordination, and a prolonged period of disability.  Initial treatment therefore is directed to prevent pain and swelling and thereby minimize these adverse effects of injury.

Ice versus Heat

Ice
Ice has a profound initial effect by constricting blood vessels and limiting the extravasations of fluid into the surrounding tissues.  This limits the swelling and minimizes the pain that will result from pressure on free nerve endings.  Ice also temporarily slows the metabolic activities of cells and decreases the blood flow required to sustain normal cellular function.  This is particularly important after an injury since the local circulation may be disrupted as a result of small vessel ruptures that occur with a traumatic injury. Lastly, ice decreases nerve conduction velocity and thereby can diminish pain signal propagation. The resultant decrease in pain can minimize the chance of initiating a pain and spasm cycle and allow an individual to pursue an active recovery as the injured body part heals.

Heat
Heat acts to increase local circulation by warming the tissues and causing a dilation of local blood vessels.  Heat is best utilized 48 hours after a trauma to increase local blood flow and expedite removal of damaged cellular components.  Heat should also immediately be followed by the use of ice if active swelling is still periodically occurring in the body part involved. For example, 5 days after sustaining an ankle sprain it would be reasonable to perform ankle motion exercises with the ankle placed in bath filled with warm water or a Jacuzzi. The application of ice after 15 minutes of exercises in warm water causes an abrupt constriction of the blood vessels that effectively pushes the fluid in the blood vessels out of the injured area and back towards the heat.  This use of heat followed by ice is often referred to as contrast therapy and can be very effective at reducing residual swelling in an injured area.

My Recommendations

●  Place ice on affected area for 15-20 minutes and repeat 2-3 times a day for the first 48 hours after an injury.

●  Heat can be utilized after the first 48 hours but should be followed by the use of ice to minimize the rebound swelling that can occur.

Ultimately, the initial treatment of an injury influences the timeline for an individuals return to sport or activity.  As a result, early implementation of these fundamental principles can minimize the time lost from participating in strength fitness gyms and athletic activities, minimize disability, and hasten recovery.

For more information on ankle sprains, or topics in sports medicine visit www.vallettaortho.com or call 858-657-0000. For more information on UTC Fitness Gyms, UTC Health Fitness Center Gyms and more, check out our blog regularly.

*Dr. Valletta is a fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine and is the orthopedic sports medicine consultant to The Sporting Club. He also serves as a Team Physician for the United States Soccer Federation.