Reconditioning: A Performance Based Model for Injured Athletes by Bill Knowles

Description

Reconditioning is a performance based model for injured athletes. It is centered on the principles of athletic development rather than rehabilitation. This concept shapes the approach toward treating all injuries the same, especially in regards to Return to Team Training. We must prepare the athlete to reduce, stabilize and produce force with coordinated movement patterns. Even if the biology of the injury has healed, this does not mean the athlete has been properly prepared. A protocol driven process based on biological helming often underestimates the required demands to train and compete at the professional level, thus potentially predisposing the athlete to poor performance or re-injury. Reconditioning allows a multidisciplinary approach towards designing and implementing Return To Team Training and Competition strategies that effectively involve strength coaches, personal trainers, technical coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists and physicians. This approach more effectively prepares the athlete, as opposed to focusing on the injury.Reconditioning is a performance based model for injured athletes. It is centered on the principles of athletic development rather than rehabilitation. This concept shapes the approach toward treating all injuries the same, especially in regards to Return to Team Training. We must prepare the athlete to reduce, stabilize and produce force with coordinated movement patterns. Even if the biology of the injury has healed, this does not mean the athlete has been properly prepared. A protocol driven process based on biological helming often underestimates the required demands to train and compete at the professional level, thus potentially predisposing the athlete to poor performance or re-injury. Reconditioning allows a multidisciplinary approach towards designing and implementing Return To Team Training and Competition strategies that effectively involve strength coaches, personal trainers, technical coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists and physicians. This approach more effectively prepares the athlete, as opposed to focusing on the injury.

Learning Objectives

• Define physical literacy and understand the importance it plays in the reconditioning process.
• Discuss the difference between rehabilitation and reconditioning.
• What are the benefits of using water-based training as part of the early reconditioning process?
• Understand the difference between a load compromised athlete and a joint compromised athlete.
• What is the greatest risk factor for injury?
• Understand the link between acute/chronic workload and re-injury.
• What training techniques and tools can be utilized to combat AMI?

Course Content