INJURY PREVENTION
Injury Prevention with Fergus Foley
How do you win over a roomful of triathletes?
- Deliver an extremely useful, information packed and entertaining talk on injury prevention?
- Flatter them by telling them their the most knowledgeable athletes?
- Give them lots of money?
- Tell them NOT to do situps?
You could also choose “all of the above”, which is exactly what Fergus Foley – official physiotherapy partner to Tralee Triathlon Club – went for last Thursday night at our Injury Prevention talk, the latest in our club lecture series.
Club Chairman Norman started the evening by introducing Fergus Foley and announcing that Fergus has agreed to be our sponsor for 2015 and 2016.
This sponsorship is a great boost to the club and will go towards subsidizing the cost of our training, club events and club gear. Fergus has already been our sponsor for 2014 and we are delighted to be able to continue our association with him and are grateful for his generosity.
Fergus gave a wide ranging and hugely informative talk covering that gave some great practical and easy to follow advice on injury prevention.
Some of the key points were:
Know your body
- Yes, there’s no gain without pain but know the difference between regular muscle soreness after training and something more serious.
- If you notice problems during training, talk to your coaches first. Most coaches nowadays are highly knowledgeable about injuries and may head things off before they become full blown injuries.
- Don’t ignore niggles and pains that last over a period of time. They may develop into serious injuries that hit you at the worst possible time.
- When training with a group, don’t try and keep up if they at a higher level than you. Swallow your pride and easy back to your level.
- Rest and Recovery is vital. Sleep, hydration, RICE (RICE – Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)
Some Injuries Are Easily Avoided
- Develop your balance and neuromuscular conditioning (speed of reaction). Balance will prevent some issues in the first place and your neuromuscular conditioning will help you react quickly to prevent others.
- Don’t forget to develop ALL the skills necessary for triathlon
Practice taking on and off your wet suit (people regularly pull muscles doing this!), reaching for your drink bottle and clipping in and out of cleats so you don’t fall off the bike, and so on. - Traditional sit ups, where you go from lying to touching your head off your knees are bad for your back.
Stretch
- In spite of what recent sports news headlines would have you believe, Fergus stressed that static stretching should be a part of your stretching routine
- A balance of roughly 50% ballistic/dynamic stretching and 50% static stretching is ideal.
- Always warm up before stretching! It is critical that you warm up properly before any stretching routine (e.g. some light aerobic exercise, a hot shower, etc). It warms up your muscles and gets your blood circulating. Spend up to 5 minutes warming up before stretching.
- Fergus was very positive about foam rolling and other forms of massage as long as you do it properly
One final key point that Fergus made over and over again – use common sense!
There was lots of other great information but hopefully this captures some of the key points.
Fergus is the official physiotherapy partner for Tralee Triathlon Club. His contact details are:
Fergus Foley M.I.S.C.P. Charted Physiotherapist,
Riverview, Clahane, Ballyard, Tralee
Tel: 066-7185533 / Mob: 087-2239910
Website: http://www.fergusfoleyphysio.com/
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