Starting A New Sports Season? Try These Tips to Avoid an Injury
Winter’s settling in, and basketball season is just around the corner. The athletic trainers at Therapy Solutions want to ensure your student-athletes have a safe, positive experience this year as they strive for the championship.
The start of the season can be a time of high injury risk. Training schedules become more intense, and you may be performing movements you haven’t done in a while. The risk of an injury is even higher if you haven’t kept up with cross-training during the off-season.
Fortunately, our athletic trainers have some simple tips to keep you in the game all season long. From functional movement screens to general wellness tips, we can get you in top shape.
Five Tips to Avoid a Start-of-Season Sports Injury
Tip 1: Assess Your Injury Risk. Our athletic trainers can conduct a comprehensive assessment to help you pinpoint areas of muscular weakness or imbalance–and then help you correct them before they become a problem.
Tip 2: Warm Up Before Your Play. We know you’re excited to start playing, but don’t dive straight in. Take 10 minutes to perform some simple mobility exercises that will get your body ready to perform. We can show you which exercises will work best for you.
Tip 3: Drink Plenty of Water. Being dehydrated doesn’t just put you at risk for an injury–it can also negatively impact your performance! So fill up those water bottles and stay hydrated.
Tip 4: Fuel Your Body. Proper nutrition is vital to excelling at your sport. You need to eat healthy, balanced meals–and ensure you’re adequately fueled before you go to practice or play a game. Our trainers are an excellent resource for learning more about nutrition for athletes.
Tip 5: Cross-Train. We know you love basketball. But it’s also important to incorporate different movements and exercises into your training routine to build the strength and endurance you need to hit your performance goals. Our athletic trainers can help you develop a top-notch cross-training program to see you through the season–and beyond.
Don’t Get Sidelined By Injury This Season
An injury can be devastating to an athlete. Even in the short term, it cuts you off from the sport you love, and a severe enough injury can have a lasting impact. Your best bet is to work to avoid an injury altogether.
That’s why Therapy Solutions’ athletic trainers are invaluable. While we can help you recover from an injury, we can also provide the tools you need to prevent them from occurring at all.
7 Ways to Manage Your Stress This Holiday Season
Whether you’re feeling like Buddy the Elf or the Grinch, here are 7 ways to help you manage your stress this holiday season.
Set realistic expectations
Do you expect the Holidays to turn out like a Hallmark Christmas movie? Everyone should be merry and bright as snow falls and lights twinkle. Often we do not even realize we have expectations of others until we are disappointed by them. Rather than focusing on external factors and other people’s behaviors, which are out of your control, identify what your expectations are and adjust them to fit reality.
Consider a social media fast
Social media, has a way of reinforcing that all is merry and bright in everyone else’s world except our own. We can easily become preoccupied with other people’s lives and compare them to our own. This holiday season, make a commitment to stay off social media and enjoy life and the people in it as it unfolds before your eyes in real-time.
Embrace temperance
The holidays can often lead to over indulging in favorite foods and beverages, however, your body and brain want to say farewell to refined carbs (sugar, juice, pastries, pasta, white bread) and alcohol which worsen symptoms of depression and anxiety. Rather than using the entire month of December as an excuse to indulge in those things, try limiting yourself to these kinds of treats on a daily basis. Pick and choose which days will be your cheat days to indulge. Be mindful not to drink or eat to excess.
Exercise
The benefits of exercise on the body both physically and mentally, are immeasurable. Fitting in 30 minutes of exercise *most* days (whether it’s an intense round of cardio, a relaxing round of Pilates, or a leisurely walk) is all you need!
Get outside
Nature is good for the whole body, mind, and soul. Countless studies have reiterated that spending time in nature helps to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. When in nature try to think about how intricately and beautifully everything is created, how magnificent it is — and in a wonderful way, how small we are in comparison. It’s easy to come up with excuses for why you are better off staying inside by a warm fire. But this holiday season be committed to going outside, no matter how cold, even if it’s just for a five-minute walk!
Tend to your budget
The quality and thoughtfulness of your gifts are more important than the price tag. Set a budget and stick to it. Become creative with your gift giving: homemade gifts can be beautiful and so meaningful; or write a friend a note, bake some cookies, schedule a coffee date. There are a lot of fun ideas that will enable you to keep to your budget
Grieve and honor the past
Life doesn’t hit pause for the holidays. If you are missing a loved one this Holiday Season or going through any other type of painful experience, try not to pretend it’s easy or that it isn’t sad. Recognize the emotion you are feeling. Name it. Say, I feel sad. Accept the experience you are having. Yes you probably don’t like the feeling but the reality is the emotion is here at this moment. Become curious about the experience. Ask yourself questions, what thoughts are going through my mind? Finally acknowledge this feeling as valid and then know that feelings arise and will eventually pass. Take care of your feeling by journaling, talking to someone, going for a walk, praying and than let it pass.
It’s reported that symptoms of depression and anxiety increase during the holiday season so keep these approaches in mind as we journey into the new year, and continue to care for our body, mind, and spirit with thoughtfulness and intentionality.
Say Goodbye to Pain – Get Started with PT Now!
Ready to feel your best again? Come back to Therapy Solutions and let us help you achieve your wellness goals—book your appointment today!
Seasonal Recipe:
No-Bake Chocolate Peppermint Balls
- 10 tbsp cocoa powder
- 6 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup almond butter (can use SunButter or nut-free spread)
- 1/4 cup unflavored pea protein powder
- ½ tsp peppermint extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2-4 tbsp crushed candy canes
- 2-4 tbsp dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)
Put everything except the candy cane and chocolate chips into a bowl and mix well. Slowly add water if needed (You may not need any water if your almond butter is runny). Start with a teaspoon and slowly add until you get a well-mixed batter. If you add too much then the batter will be too soft to roll. Add the candy canes/cacao nibs and chocolate chips and mix again. Allow batter to chill in the fridge while you clean up, then roll into balls.
Staff Spotlights: Eric Halverson
Eric Halverson (OTR/L, Occupational Health Manager) recently celebrated his 14th Anniversary with Therapy Solutions. Congratulations, Eric! In honor of this milestone, we would like to share a retro flashback to his college football days at UND.
- Eric played high school football for the New Town Eagles where he was recruited to UND.
- Eric started and played left Defensive end wearing #90 – he played his sophomore year, and then became the left defensive end starter his junior and senior years.
- Eric played 5 years at UND (redshirted his freshman year) from 1998 – 2002.
- He was a starter on the UND 2001 NCAA Division II National Football Championship team, his junior year of football.
- It was UND’s first season playing indoors at the Alerus Center, Grand Forks.
- They were 14-1 on the season (the one loss was in overtime to University of Nebraska, Omaha).
- They defeated Grand Valley State University, Michigan for the national championship in Florance, Alabama.
- In 2011, Eric was inducted into the UND Hall of Fame along with the rest of the 2001 UND Fighting Sioux Football team.
Staff Book Club: “Shelf Care”
Mental Health Book Recommendation
This Too Shall Last
by K.J. Ramsey
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Our culture treats suffering like a problem to fix, something to hide, or the sad start of a transformation story. We silently wither under the pressure of living as though suffering is a predicament we can avoid or fix by having enough faith or trying harder. This Too Shall Last offers an antidote to our cultural idolatry of effort and ease through the authors’ personal story and insights from neuroscience. This book teaches those with pain to be compassionate with oneself instead of being so hard on oneself when you “can’t fix” your pain. This accepting attitude is refreshing and hopeful.”
—Brenda, Mental Health Counselor
Fiction Book Recommendation
West With Giraffes
by Lynda Rutledge
5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“This book is based on the true story of the first giraffes to be transported from the East Coast to the West Coast. If you are an animal lover you will enjoy this book even more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was an uplifting story of love, compassion and the bond we can sustain with animals and how they can change our lives.”
—Tera, Billing
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Ergonomics Stretch:
Hamstring
-Stand with right heel propped up.
-Gently lean forward at waist.
-Repeat for other side.
-Hold for at least 10 seconds.
“This stretch can be performed without foot propped up. Focus on slow controlled motion when leaning forward. Looking for a deeper stretch, try pointing toes toward the ceiling/sky.”
-Jared Erie OTR/L
Congratulatory Corner
Ashlyn Privratsky (Mental Health Counselor) recently got married to Elijah Vogle on October 5, 2024. The happy couple exchanged their vows in South Heart, ND. Congratulations, Ashlyn!
Photo Credit: Shawna Thomas Photography
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Meet Our Team
Jessie Binstock
DPT, Athletic Trainer
Terry Halverson
MOTR/L
Adrienne Belland
MS, OTR/L
Jared Erie
OTR/L
Eric Halverson
OTR/L, Occupational Health Manager
Terry Halverson
MOTR/L
Doug Jilek
Systems Manager
Jeanne Kilzer
MS CCC-SLP
Miranda Kuhn
MS, OTR/L
Heidi Schmidt
PTA, Athletic Trainer
Emily Carda
Athletic Trainer
