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Here is the Personal Training Article and Sports Training Article that I write each month for the Chapel Hill News — Enjoy the August Edition!!

The Weekend Warrior

David Hansey
NASM Certified Performance Enhancement Specialist
NASM Certified Sports Fitness Specialist
NASM Certified Personal Trainer

I write a lot about Sports Specific Training and Injury Prevention for the athlete. Sometime I think that many people get confused when it comes to the term “athlete”. While I train and appreciate the professional, Olympic and elite athlete as much as anyone else does, I also appreciate Mr. “Joe Average” who goes out on Saturday morning for a fun round of golf with his friends. Or the weekend casual tennis player or weekend cyclist. It is this group of people who generally ignore their fitness and whether their body is in condition for their sport. Sports Specific Training is as critical to this group as the elite athlete, especially when it comes to injury prevention.
How many weekend casual golfers do you know who complain about back pain the day after they play a round of golf. What they fail to also tell you is that the second half of their game, the back 9, was much worse than the front 9. Why is that important? Well, it is generally a sign of fatigue. Most likely, your body is not in condition to play 18 holes of golf. Some cardiovascular training will help with the fatigue factor and some strengthening of key muscles for golf (such as your core) will allow you to use the proper mechanics that you were taught when you learned to play golf to ensure accuracy on every stroke.
Another example is with weekend tennis players who falter in the last game or last few sets or miss balls that they think they normally would have returned. The reasoning is that you need to work on your lateral strength and agility which are not common to everyday activities so the only time you may be using those key muscles for tennis may be on the court, which accounts for your lack of progress. Again, pain in the knees, ankles, elbows, shoulders and wrists are all common to tennis players who are not properly conditioned for their sport. These minor aches and pains can be repetitive use injuries that get worse every time you play so learning a few conditioning moves to add to your workout to eliminate these is always a good idea.
I think many people don’t realize that sometimes it is only changing or adding a few moves to your workout to get the results you want, improve your game and prevent injury. Often, depending on your current workout and sport, we may be talking about as little as 2-3 exercises so not a huge time commitment and often these replace or improve moves you are already doing. And with some clients, learning to train more specifically for their life and body has allowed them to reduce their workout time commitment. So if you are unsure what to do and feeling those weekend warrior aches and pains, a few sessions with a certified personal trainer is always a good idea. For more information on Sports Specific Training, call me at 404-514-1896 or visit my website at www.4fitbodies.com.

Tags: Chapel Hill News, Douglasville, Personal Training, Sports Fitness // Comments Off