Book review: Enhancing Recovery

Enhancing Recovery: Preventing Under Performance in Athletics edited by Michael Kellmann

Overtraining is a common problem amongst combat sports athletes. Because of the intense demands of training and competition, fighters often find themselves failing to recover sufficiently between training sessions. Often health and performance suffers, in extreme cases leading to injury and illness. In many other cases, athletes suffer psychological effects, including a loss of enjoyment, increased anxiety and depression.

The book “Enhancing Recovery” is a multi-disciplinary collection of work by authors working in psychology, physiology and sports science. It describes research and interventions that are aimed at improving an athlete’s ability to cope with the demands of hard training, as well as tools for identifying overtraining at an early stage and improving recovery and performance.

It isn’t exactly light reading. However, most of the chapters don’t require a lot of technical background knowledge, and there are plenty of case studies throughout the book. Even a casual glance reveals a number of straightforward practical methods that can be easily adapted for use with either an individual fighter or a whole team.

If overtraining is a problem that you or your athletes struggle with, this book is well worth a look. Or to book a consultation, contact us via our Liverpool or Manchester clinics.

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Q&A: Who should I go to for help with my injury?

This post contains information that is specific to the UK.

My doctor is rubbish! When I go to him with an injury he just sends me away with painkillers. What can I do?

General Practitioners often have limited options when it comes to dealing with sports injuries. From your point of view this can be immensely frustrating, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that s/he is a bad doctor, or that all doctors are rubbish – simply that they aren’t specialists in that particular area.

So, who else can I go to? 

Osteopaths and physiotherapists both treat sports injuries, and both are regulated professions. There are similarities and differences between them; which one is “best” may depend on the individual practitioner, the nature of your injury and personal preference.  Continue reading

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How to help yourself if you’ve just hurt your back

Many people hurt their back at some time in their lives, and when this happens it’s common to worry that it might be something serious, or to be unsure as to the best thing to do.

Here’s a quick guide for people involved in combat sports about what you should do if it happens to you. Continue reading

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Knee injuries – part 2

Continuing from part 1, we look at a few more common causes of knee pain. In part 3, we’ll cover some simple self care advice for minor knee injuries, and a few things you can do to help keep your knees healthy.

Patellofemoral pain

Patellofemoral pain is pain that occurs under and around the kneecap. There may be a “grating” or “creaking” feeling when the knee moves, and it is often worse when going up or downstairs. Continue reading

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Lower back workshop

On Saturday February 4th from 3-4.30 pm, Rosi Sexton will be running a lower back care workshop at Strength and Performance gym in Stockport.

Suitable for athletes from all sports, this workshop will cover the basics of core strength and injury prevention for the lower back. It will address the common causes of back problems in both training and everyday life, and include ways that you can tweak your existing training program to increase strength and reduce your chances of injury.

Cost: free to S&P members, £20 to everyone else.

Rosi is a registered osteopath and professional MMA fighter.

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Knee injuries – part 1

Knee injuries are a recurring topic in MMA. They are one of the most common injury sites, and many fighters have been sidelined by a cartilage tear or ACL rupture. This blog will discuss some of the most common knee injuries. If you are experiencing knee problems yourself, we recommend that you see a qualified professional for a diagnosis and advice!

The knee is almost a hinge joint – but not quite. While it’s main movements are bending and straightening the knee, it also allows a little bit of rotation. This added movement is important for everyday activities such as walking, but it comes at a cost. The knee is a less stable joint, compared to the elbow, and unfortunately this can become all too evident when the knee is subjected to the stresses that occur in contact sports. Continue reading

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More thoughts on medical issues and weight cutting

Weight cutting is a frequent topic of obsession for fighters and debate amongst fans. Some have argued that it amounts to cheating. Others point out that when done badly, it can be one of the most dangerous aspects of MMA. Dehydration can result in heat stroke, kidney failure or heart arrhythmias. Although there’s very little research on this subject, it’s possible that fighters quite commonly dehydrate themselves to a level that affects kidney function. And when it goes badly wrong, it can kill you.

I’ve noticed a trend amongst fighters. Those who seem least concerned about their health when planning a weight cut are often the quickest to plead “medical reasons”  when it goes wrong. I don’t want to pick on anyone in particular, so let’s have a fictional fighter, say John Anthonyson. Continue reading

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Weight cutting and your kidneys

Your kidneys are two fist sized organs, each shaped like a bean. They lie either side of the spine, just below the rib cage. Their main function of the kidneys is to filter the blood and to regulate what is in your circulatory system. They eliminate waste products, control blood pressure, and balance levels of electrolytes (salts). Continue reading

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Medial elbow pain – golfer’s elbow

Golfer’s elbow, or medial epicondylitis, is a common cause of pain on the medial side of the elbow (the side nearest your body, if you hold your arms with your palms facing forwards).

There are two groups of combat sportspeople who are most likely to suffer from this problem – gi grapplers (such as BJJ players or judoka) and those who spend a lot of time holding focus pads or thai pads. Continue reading

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Rosi Sexton on Cyborg: “Now we can all stop pretending”

Following the news of Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos’ positive drugs test, I was invited to write a guest editorial for the MMA news site Bloody Elbow. It’s provoked some discussion – and you can see the original article with comments here. I’m reposting the article below for CSC readers.

When I saw the news on twitter last night, I felt a little like a ten year old whose parents have just admitted that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. A tiny bit disappointed, but mostly relieved that now we can all stop pretending. Continue reading

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