Flex Time

I would nominate myself for the designation “least likely to sustain a sports injury.” My last attempts at a game not played on a card table date back to junior high.

About six years ago, after a run, I collapsed on our living room floor to stretch. And then I couldn’t get up. The muscles in my lower back, butt, and hips seized up; I was in a lot of pain, and terrified at being temporarily paralyzed. After a magnetic-resonance imaging scan turned up only everyday wear-and-tear on my lower spine, and doctors ruled out sciatica (an irritation of the sciatic nerve resulting in pain or tingling running down the inside of the leg), I resorted to self-diagnosis: I had a debilitating pain in the ass (PIA).

Mine might not be a typical sports sprain or strain story, but the underlying cause of my sudden breakdown is typical. The problem wasn’t what I was doing, but rather what

I had neglected to do—core strength exercises, a proper warm-up, and paying attention to pain cues. I was getting busier at work, so I was sitting for longer hours, which is hard on the back (and butt). I had cut out weightlifting and was just jogging for exercise. And

I was ignoring my body’s cues—increased dull back pain while running. As I approached 30, my body was warning me that it needed better conditioning to keep performing the way it used to. But, like a typical weekend warrior, I got the message the hard way.

Faded-Glory Days

Doctors like Chris Larson, a surgeon at the Eden Prairie office of Orthopaedic Consultants, know my type. “Not warming up, having poor strength and endurance, and age are the more common reasons people are predisposed to muscle pulls,” Larson says. Aging muscles are less pliant and resilient, and the muscle memory we develop by doing an activity quickly fades when we stop.

“If there’s an alumni touch-football game with people ranging from their 20s to 40s, I’ll see hamstring strains, Achilles tendon ruptures, and degeneration of tendons,” Larson says. (Presumably, anyone past their 40s is wise enough to referee or sit out!) He also sees tears in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the creaking knees of volleyball, soccer, or baseball players who no longer practice those sports regularly. 

It may be a buzz kill, but Larson’s advice for avoiding sprains and strains doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for a spontaneous game of pick-up basketball, at least, not if it’s been a few years. “Before you get out on a court or a field, do [the activity] on your own and do it gradually,” he says. “You have to work harder to be preparing yourself and be in shape than when you were 25 years old.” The standard advice about seeing your doctor before beginning any exercise program applies here, too. Before embarking on your first set of slam-dunks, make sure you don’t have any underlying heart problems or other health issues.

Get to the Core

One of the best tools for preventing injury is to strengthen your glutes, abdomen, inner thighs, and lower back, or your so-called area of “core strength,” Larson says. These muscles provide good balance and posture. They also help us lift more weight, jump farther, or improve the speed of a tennis serve.

“The idea is that your arms and legs are just levers, and the power comes from your midsection,” says Dr. Grant Morrison, a sports and family medicine physician at Edina Sports Health and Wellness. And it’s not just the geezers who need to pay attention to core strength. Younger athletes can also run into trouble if they overtrain one area of the body and neglect another. Morrison had a teenage patient who pitched baseball and played hockey. After baseball season, the patient’s hockey abilities suddenly suffered, because he had overdeveloped the muscles in his pitching leg to the point that his other side was substantially weaker.