Off – Season Conditioning Program for Middle and High School Athletes

In today’s athletic society our preadolescent and adolescent athletes are working out and training year round. Many professionals report that the results of these year-round conditioning and training regimens are bigger, faster, and stronger athletes. These results are not in question. However, the question isn’t fully answered. Our preadolescent and adolescent athletes are getting other results also…

According to the November 2000 issue of the USA Today, knee ligament injuries for females have increased by 172%. Additionally, a study chronicled in the December 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicated that 1.4 million injuries occurred during the 2005 – 2006 school year.

What should be done about these alarming injury rates? Should our athletes work out and train even more? Should they continue to do more of the same? Athletic Training & Conditioning, Inc. proposes, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got”. Something different must be done to decrease the probability of injury for our athletes.

The “something different” is a Performance Based Functional Assessment performed by Athletic Training & Conditioning, Inc. A Performance Based Functional Assessment is an evaluation of an athlete’s movement patterns designed to identify any underlying physical imbalances that would affect an athlete’s competitive edge or predispose an athlete to injury. An athlete performs a series of functional movements designed to identify orthopedic and neuromuscular deficits that would adversely affect his/her athletic performance. From the results of the assessment a specific corrective exercise program is designed to assist the athlete in gaining a competitive edge and to begin to realize his/her athletic potential.