Childhood and adolescence are the most active periods of life, and interest in exercise and sports is at its peak. It may well represent one of the most effective preventive medicine interventions a physician can undertake in his community. The leadership of a knowledgeable primary care physician who can lend assistance to a community organizing a youth sports program can be powerful and invaluable. It is appropriate to discuss the role of exercise in adolescents and younger children. It should be noted that the warm-up phase should never be eliminated. The period can be expanded to include 5 to 10 minutes of muscular strength and endurance exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, etc.). Overstretching, “ballistic,” and/or improper stretching have caused many acute soft tissue injuries (please refer to Chapter 8 for figures on poor stretching techniques). This should be followed by approximately 5 minutes of slow, gentle stretching (no bouncing) of major muscle groups, particularly those that will be heavily used during exercise. The purpose of warm-up is to increase blood flow to major muscle groups, gradually increase the heart rate, reduce muscle stiffness, facilitate enzymatic activity, and ready the body for more strenuous effort. Warm-up should begin with 5 minutes of low intensity activity, preferably the same type that will be done during exercise, although jogging is a good all-purpose warm-up activity. The two components to any warm-up program are low intensity activity and stretching. Orthop Clin North Am 1977 8:533-548.Ī warm-up lasting between 5 and 10 minutes should precede the beginning of every exercise program. Repeated sprints at maximal speed with complete recovery between repeatsĪTP-PC = adenosine triphosphate phosphocreatine LA = lactic acid. Similar to interval sprinting but longer work and relief intervalsĪlternating fast and slow running over natural terrain Two sprints interrupted by periods of jogging or walkingĪlternate sprints of 50 yd and jogs of 60 yd for distances of up to 3 miĬontinuous walking or running at a slow pace over a moderate distance (e.g., 2 mi) Long-distance running (or swimming) at a slow pace Long-distance running (or swimming) at a fast pace Gradual increases in running speed from jogging to striding to sprinting in 50-yd to 120-yd segments TABLE 6A.3 Definitions of Various Training Methods and Development of The Energy Systems

Athletic conditioning workouts