The woes of a weekend warrior: Longer house at work lead to increased injuries at play
We want to make sure we put on our A-game at work, so we may not have time to work out during the week. Many of us make up for it on the weekend, cramming a whole week of workouts into a Saturday or Sunday.
We're in the gym working out harder, playing more aggressively, running further and lifting more than we would during a normal day ... which is increasingly leading to injury.
Mitchell Yass, Farmingdale, New York-based physical therapist, author and creator of the revolutionary Mitchell Yass Pain Resolution Method, calls people who do this weekend warriors.
"They neglect their bodies during the week and then go into over-drive at the gym or on the field on Saturday ... it's a recipe for disaster," Yass says.
So what are the most common weekend warrior injuries? And how can they be prevented? Here's Mitchell Yass' take on things:
Knee Pain -- This is by far the joint most likely to be injured during these strenuous workouts or sports as it absorbs the bulk of the shock. To an extent, your knees are used to a certain level of stress due to walking, bending, sitting and standing, however while over-working the body, the stress results from a different type of extreme activity such as abruptly switching directions or stopping short (like in sports) or piling on the weight when using machines. These actions put a tremendous amount of strain on the muscles that support and move the knee. The muscles most affected by this are the hamstrings and the quads. If the muscles fail to support the knee during aggressive and often times unstable occurrences, then the ligaments, cartilage and even bones that make up the knee are susceptible to injury.
Prevention and Treatment -- To maximize the function of the knee and prevent injury, squats, straight leg dead lifts and calf raises are essential. Theu are the most effective strength-training exercise for the quads, hamstrings and calves. Be sure to stretch the quads, calves and groin muscles.
Lower Back Pain -- A lower back injury is the second most common injury when exercises are not done correctly. This happens with quicky, jerky motions. Back injuries happen most often when lower back muscles strain, and can be excessively painful if the muscle starts to spasm.
Prevention and Treatment -- To keep lower back muscles from straining, have strong glutes, hamstrings and hip abductors. Do straight leg dead lifts and hip abduction raises to strengthen these muscles.
Shoulder Pain -- For weekend warriors who throw ball, the potential to strain a muscle is high. The rotator cuff sustains the arm bone in the shoulder joint and decelerates the arm during the throwing motion. If your body is not ready for the throwing motion, expect pain in the rotator cuff as well as in the other shoulder and shoulder blade muscles.
Prevention and Treatment -- To maximize shoulder function and prevent joint injury, do posterior deltoid lifts, lat pull-downs in front of the face and tricep extensions lying on the back. These exercises will stabilize the shoulder and shoulder blade, maximizing their function.
So weekend warriors who don't want to become regulars in the weekend ER are best served by strength training during the week to avoid injury.
—Kimberly Hayes Taylor, The Detroit News
