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| The last column discussed what sports injuries are and how to assess their severity. This column will tell you what to do when you have an acute sports injury. The three main goals... read more |
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| Acute Sports Injuries are traumatic in nature. Some are very dramatic such as when Mike Foligno broke his leg at centre ice the season before last. Although his was a bone injury m... read more |
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Cam
Borody |
Cam Borody graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Winnipeg. While at the U of W he was a member of the varsity men’s volleyball team. He graduated... read more |
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Detraining | Tuesday, April 11, 2006 |
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 NHL players are out of shape. This is the result of the long work stoppage now into the second month. We have all heard about training for a sport, but what is detraining.
Basically, when an athlete stops playing a sport and working out, there is a detraining process. How bad are the NHL players out of shape?
One of the main tragedies of the delayed season is that the players will be starting to play when not in peak condition. In the old days the players would do relatively little in the summer and collectively work themselves into shape as the season went on. In today's world hockey is a 12 month sport. The players are given detailed training schedules in the summer so when they arrive in training camp they are close to peak shape. To ensure this all clubs fitness test the players on the first day of camp. There is no escaping. The players will then only have to work themselves into ""game"" shape which they can only do by playing.
There are four areas of concern when it comes to detraining. They are:
1/MUSCLE STRENGTH AND POWER
Muscle strength has found to be significantly decreased in well trained athletes after only 15 days of inactivity. This is especially true in the totally immobilized limb(such as in a cast). Fortunately an athlete can maintain most of their strength and power by maintaining infrequent workouts. The important factor is the athlete must have the muscular strength and power before hand to maintain it with these weekly infrequent work outs.
2/MUSCULAR ENDURANCE
Muscular endurance will start to decrease after only two weeks of inactivity. The anaerobic capacity of an athlete(the ability to do short sprints) is maintained much better than the aerobic capacity(endurance of long exercise). This is mostly due to the loss of muscle glycogen(the energy).
3/LOSS OF SPEED AND AGILITY, AND FLEXIBILITY
Training speed and agility is very hard; therefore the loss with inactivity is not as great.
Also, peak levels of both can be maintained with limited amounts of training. It is important to realize that success on the ice relies on factors other than basic speed and agility. No amount of off-ice conditioning can substitute on ice training. Performance qualities such as form, skill, and timing can only be improved by actual on ice practice.
Flexibility is lost quickly if not maintained. We can never stress the importance of maintaining flexibility to improve performance and prevent injury.
4/CARDIORESPIRATORY ENDURANCE
This is where the most detraining occurs. The fitter you are, the quicker and greater is the loss. Not only that, it will the well conditioned athlete much longer to regain the loss that developed with inactivity. The longer the rest the harder it will be to get back into shape. Studies have shown an 8% loss in as little as two weeks.
There are other factors to keep in mind. The players motivation is diminished. In preparation for training camp, they have a set date to prepare for. Now, they do not know when they will be playing so it is hard to motivate themselves to train. It is easier to train as a team than as an individual. Normally they would be training as a team with the coach pushing them. Now they are still on their own without the motivation of team mates and coach. They are also not in game competition and players need that training to maximize their playing ability. Diet is also important. The potential to gain weight and body fat is greater when not in season. Poorly conditioned players are setting themselves up for potential injuries.
So, how out of shape are the players? This will depend on how much each individual player is doing to maintain their fitness and skills. No matter how much they can do it can not match what they would be doing if they were in full season. The longer the delay in the season goes on the worse it is going to get. When it comes to detraining; the bigger you are or the more fit and skilled you are, the harder you will fall out of shape.
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