Bristol Rovers- Testing Day

I have now started my internship with Bristol Rovers Academy players (9-16 year olds). Before Christmas we had a meeting with the other sports science staff where we decided how to organise a test day for the 15 and 16 year old players. We were lucky to have several  member or staff and interns available to help out which meant that we were able to run all the tests we wanted on one day (within 2.5 hours to be precise). Time is always a big concern in most clubs as you don’t want to take up to much of the players training time, hence why we decided to try and get it all done in one day.

Why do we test players?

Because it helps us identify physical abilities and areas of improvement. It is also a good way of setting goals and targets for players.

Fotball is a complex game with several physiological requirements. The requirents will depend on the player's position, but in general fotballers need to have a combination of aerobic/anaerobic endurance, speed, agility, balance, coordination, strength and power. After you have choosen the tests you want to use, you need to organise the tests in the "right" or most logical order. This means that you always do the non fatigue tests such as anthropmetry (height and weight) first and finish with the most fatiguing tests such as for example the Bleep Test. The main reason  for doing this is to avoid fatigue to optimise each test result.

We did the following tests:

• We started with non fatigue tests first such as height, weight and flexibility tests

• We then did a functional movement screen consisting of overhead squat, back squat, single leg squat, and   80cm hop on one leg that (We filmed all these movements)

• We then did 10 and 30 metre sprints (walk in start with time gates)

• The next was countermovement jumps and squat jumps on a forceplate

• We then did a pro agility test through time gates

• Before we finished off with the lovely Bleep Test (Believe me I have suffered through this test numerous times when playing football and handball and know it can be a killer, so well done boys!)

Considering this was quite a lot to get through with two squads in the time we had available I think it was a really good experience. I have been involved with this kind of testing before, but not with this many players at the same time. It was really interesting and I found it useful as we had to be very structured as we didn't have many seconds to waste. Looking forward to get started with the coaching and get to know the players now.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Do YOU need a sports massage to help you recover?

Does your quadriceps feel like a pair of rocks at the moment?

Have you trained hard recently and feel that your calves constantly feels tight?

Or do you just want to make sure your muscles gets looked after on a regular basis to make sure you keep on top of any stupid knots and pains?

If you have answered yes to any of the questions above and live in the Cardiff area, get in touch!

I am a mobile sports therapist that can come to your house, office or wherever it would be most convenient for you!

I have worked with a variety of athletes and sports people such as the Rugby Super League Referees, TASS (Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme) athlete tennis players, rugby players, badminton players, footballer players, netballers and professional runners.

Interested? Contact me to get information about prices and arrange an appointment

Email: mtorland@googlemail.com or phone: 07942461440

Remember you don’t have to play sport to get a sports massage, anyone can benefit from a sports massage!

Looking forward to see you soon!

New Year, New Opportunities

First of all: Happy New Year everyone! Hope u all had a good Christmas and are ready to start the New Year. I managed to get home to my parents 10 days later than expected, but at least I got to spend a week at home which was lovely as usual. Christmas in the UK was pretty good after all and the turkey was excellent!

As usual a lot of people have loads of goals and courage to lose weight and get fitter as soon as January approaches. Nothing wrong with that, but a lot of people are unable to keep the enthusiasm up for too long, cause the changes people are wanting make are too extreme. Make sure you set yourself long term and short term goals, but be realistic. If you are planning to run a marathon and have not been running before, you may want to give yourself more than a month to prepare for it.

I wanted to give you a few progressions of some simple core exercises today, but if you haven’t read the previous blog post on basic core training http://strengthandrehab.blogspot.com/2010/09/tennis-injury-prerehabilitation.html you may want to start with them first. If you have never done a plank before you will probably find it quite hard the first few times, but you will progress sooner than you think (I had a coaching session in the living room with mum and dad when I was home over Christmas and the plank seemed to be a success. Keep up the good work as I will be checking your progress next time I am home:)

These exercises are similar to the exercises in the previous blog post, but with some progressions.

1. Plank with side steps

Starting position

• Start with your toes, elbows and forearms on the mat

• Your toes should be placed shoulder width apart and your elbows shoulder be placed under your shoulder

• Make sure your abdominals are pulled in and that your hips are parallel to the floor throughout the exercise

• When you are ready start taking a small step with your right toes towards the right side, step back into the middle and step out to the left side with your left toes (No picture of this)

• Make sure you keep your hips stable and don’t let them rock from side to side while moving your legs

• Keep moving from 30 – 45 seconds, then rest on the floor for 60 – 90 seconds between your sets, and repeat 3 sets

2. Side plank – lift the top leg


Starting position

• Start with your left forearm flat on the mat (in line with your shoulder)

• Stack your feet on top of each other

• Lift your body onto your forearm and the side of your left foot (only the leftfoot is in contact with the mat)

• Work to have a straight line between your head and feet

• When you are ready lift the top leg (right leg) straight up into the air (No picture of this)

• Rest your left arm by the side or lift it straight up towards the sky

• Hold this position without letting your hips drop down between 30 - 45 seconds

• Turn around and repeat on the left side

• Aim to do this 2-3 times on each side, progress the time you are holding to make it harder


3. 1-2-3-4 from a press up position



Starting position

•Start on the mat in a press up position
•Make sure your abdominals are pulled in prior to starting

• For example your left hand is 1, right hand 2, left leg 3 and right leg 4

•Let a partner shout out a number from 1-4 (or just choose a number yourself). If the number is 1 lift your left hand off the floor 1-2 cm off the floor. If the number is 2 lift right hand of the floor etc

• It is really important that you don’t lift the hand or leg far off the floor at all

•The aim is to keep the rest of your body still while lifting either your hand or leg off the floor

• Aim to hold the position for 30 – 60 seconds whilst moving hand and feet continuously. Repeat 2 – 3 times 

Left hand off the floor



Left foot of the floor



Remember the main reason why I think having a strong core is injury prevention and it supports your whole body, but of course it also helps you getting a stronger and firmer abdominal area which is always a bonus. Remember if you want to get a nice looking and faboulous abdominals (that people can see), you need to burn the fat as well...

Wise words of the day: Consistency is key! Never give up, just keep working hard!

THE CHRISTMAS snow was falling in the UK....

Today I just need to get a little bit of frustration out of my system. As most people have probably seen and heard on the news, the weather here in the UK has been pretty crazy since Friday which means that thousands of people have been and are still stuck in various airports across the country.

As I said in previous blog I was supposed to fly back to Norway (via Amsterdam) on Friday, but that never happened as both of the flights were cancelled, lucky enough I realised this before I went to the airport. I was “lucky” to get another flight for Sunday morning, but again this flight was cancelled due to the weather. Since I have tried to contact KLM probably about 50-60 times over the weekend I decided to turn up at the airport (in Cardiff) to see if someone could actually help me there, but the message everyone got there was:  Contact the airline to get a new flight!! I couldn’t believe it! Well never mind, I realised that there was not much for me to do at the airport so along with several other passengers we got the bus down to the train station to head back home. We soon realised that wasn’t a smart move as the message we got when we got down to the train station was: All busses and trains to Cardiff are not running! What??? This meant that we were all stuck at the train station for 1 hour and 30 minutes in the freezing cold weather. Eventually we managed to get the shuttle bus back to the airport; at least it was warm in there. After this I had to stay in the airport for another 2-3 hours before we finally managed to get hold of a taxi to take a few of us home.

When I finally arrived back home I decided to give up on being able to get on another flight before Christmas, it just isn't going to happend. Since I don’t get to see my family and friends at home very often I decided to book another flight from Gatwick Airport in London for Sunday night (Boxing Day), so if the weather calms down over the next few days and the roads aren’t too bad I will be driving to Gatwick on Sunday and get a direct flight to Stavanger which means I can at least spend a week with my family. I will keep my fingers, toes and everything else crossed!!!

I also wanted to mention that I contated by my local newspaper in Norway. They had heard I was "stuck" in the UK and wanted to hear my story. So since my norwegian readers will be able to read this in the paper tomorrow (Wednesday) or online. I thought I would share it with my UK readers as well. Norwegian readers can check out the article here: www.jbl.no. I was asked to take a photo of myself so people could see the snow, but that is not easy when you are on your own. Didn't fancy knocking on the neighbour's door to ask if they could do it for me, so this was all I managed to do! The funny thing is that there isn't acutally that much snow:)



Looking at the whole situation from a positive point of view I will be spending my first Christmas in the UK, and I am sure the English turkey will taste just as nice as the Norwegian one :)

I hope all of you get to spend Christmas with your loved ones. Merry Christmas everyone:)

MoTo

Update from Cardiff

Just a little update on what I have been involved in over the last week:

UWIC - ATHLETIC GRAND PRIX

Last Saturday I was invited to come along to the UWIC Indoor Athletic Centre in Cardiff to perform pre and post event massage for the competing athletes. I got to meet eight second year students and two third year students from UWIC University doing Sports Conditioning, Rehabilitation and Massage who were also there to perform massage. It was quiet when we first started as most of the athletes wanted post massage rather than pre massage. After a couple of hours it started getting busier and all of the massage tables were used. I came across a variety of athletes and met a lot of nice people. It was a great day which I really enjoyed. Hopefully I will be able to get more involved with the athletic team and join some more of their events and competitions.

FIRST MEETING AT BRISTOL ROVERS

On Monday this week I got in my car to head off to the first meeting at Bristol Rovers. As I have never driven there on my own before I wasn’t too sure of how long it would take me, and since I never like to be late I was in the car park at Bristol an hour before the meeting started, but at least I got there! I met Lee Southernwood (1st team’s S&C coach), Ken Oram (from Centre of Excellence) and Ollie which is the other intern I will work alongside. Lee and Ken introduced what we will be responsible for and how we are going to work as a team to achieve this. We also planned how we are going to perform the physical testing with the players when we start back after Christmas.

We then got to meet some of the other coaches and staff and got a tour around the facilities we will be using. We also had a look at the training session where the kids were training hard. I am looking forward to get started after Christmas, it should be good.

So I am starting to get to get involved with some sport in Cardiff. On Friday I will be heading home to Norway to see my family and friends, I am looking forward to it. I will come back with more updates after Christmas.

In people have any question regarding Injury Prevention, Rehabilitation or Strength and Conditioning in general feel free to get in touch. Here is my email address: mtorland@googlemail.com

  

  

Merry Christmas Everyone! Enjoy, but remember to get some training in as well!:) 

 

Have a good xmas!

MoTo

THE DEADLIFT- PROPER LIFTING TECHNIQUE

First a little update from the big city of Cardiff. I have now signed up to a gym nearby which means I have attended 4 spinning sessions this week, not bad! Spinning or indoor cycling is something I have always enjoyed as a way to vary my training, I especially think it is a great alternative to keep my fitness up when the roads outside are icy and dangerous! Enough about me and my training, let’s move on to the important topic of the day.

I will be talking about the importance of PROPER lifting technique, not just necessarily lifting technique in the gym, but also principles for people to apply in everyday life when lifting any objects, shopping bags or Christmas shopping off the floor. Most people have hopefully heard at some point to “bend the legs and not lift with the back” when picking things off the floor. But what does this actually mean and how should you perform it?

I thought this was a great opportunity to describe the famous Deadlift that every S&C coach, Sports Therapist or Physiotherapist should know about. The Deadlift is one of the key lifts for several strength/power exercises that start by picking a barbell off the floor, but the Deadlift is also an excellent strength exercise to use as a separate lift. The Deadlift is a compound exercise that works all of the key muscles (prime movers) and several synergist muscles in the abdomen and lower and upper back, as well as the hamstrings, quadriceps and gluteus muscles.

Underneath I have described the way to correctly execute the Deadlift with a barbell; however the key principles are the same when lifting any object of the floor which will be summarised towards the end.

The Deadlift

Starting position (Picture 1 and 2)

Picture 1. Starting position

• Stand with your feet flat and placed between hip and shoulder width apart with the toes pointed outwards slightly

• Squat down and grab the bar with a closed pronated grip (can used a mixed grip as well)

• Place the hands on the bar slightly wider than shoulder width apart, outside the knees with the elbows fully extended

• Position the bar approximately 3cm in front of the shins and over the balls of your feet

• Position the body with:


Picture 2. Starting position



o Back flat



o Trapezius relaxed

o Chest up and out

o Head in line with the spine or slightly hyper extended

o Shoulder over or slightly in front of the bar and eyes focused straight ahead

• All the repetitions begin from this position



Upward movement phase

• Lift the bar off the floor by extending your hips and knees

• Don’t let the hips rise before the shoulders

• Maintain a flat back (this is really important!)

• Keep the elbows extended and the shoulders over or slightly ahead of the bar



Picure 3. End of upward phase



• As the bar raises, keep the bar as close to the shins as possible

• As the bar rises just above the knees, move the hips forward to move the thighs against and the knees under the bar

• Continue to extend the hips and knees until the body reaches a fully erect torso position (Picture 3)

Downward movement phase

• Allow the hips and knees to flex to slowly lower the bar to the floor

• Maintain the flat back position, don’t flex the torso forward (Important!)

Some key pointers to remember:

1. Always keep the object you are lifting close to your body

2. Never round your back, keep your back flat

3. Bend your knees and hips to make sure you can lift with your legs

4. Perform the movement slow and controlled, never rush the movement as you may lose form

One important thing to remember which I think a lot of people get forget is that these principle should not be forgotten if the object you are lifting is “light”! Acute back injuries can be a result of incorrect lifting even if the object you are trying to lift are considered light, so I will encourage people to never underestimate the importance of correct lifting technique. That was my wise words of the day:)

I know it is cold and icy in most places of the UK (and Norway) at the moment, so if you are training outside remember to dress accordingly (hat and gloves is a must).  Enjoy December, it is a great month! If you train consistently between New Year and Christmas, you don’t have to worry about what you eat between Christmas and New Year is my philosophy:)

One last tip of the day: Nicole Scherzinger’s song Poison is a great training song!!

MoTo

My New Car

Hi everyone!

Been in Cardiff for two weeks already, felt like we just arrived! Last Saturday I managed to buy myself a new car, it is actually my first car! Previously I have been driving my parents' old car when I have been home over the holidays, and that was an amazing car...Someone told me once that it looks like a hearse!! That's a big rude! It wasn't exactly a Ferrari, but it always took me where I wanted which is the main thing, right?:) Unfortunately the hearse is dead now so I can't drive it anymore which is a bit of a shame, but you can check it out underneath and see what I am talking about:)



The Hearse!! What a sight!

But like I said I have managed to get my own little car now. I have only driven once on UK roads before and as far as I remeber I was told that I was "cutting the grass" on the side of the roads! Don't know why! Since I am not used to having the steering wheel on the right hand side and driving on the left side of the road, that will be a fun challenge! If you are going to the Cardiff/Bristol area in the nearest future please don't be surprised if you see a little Ford Fiesta coming towards you in opposite direction, it will only be me:) I have attacted a few photos of my little speedo underneath!

My new speedo!

A bit overexcited by the looks of it!

Saturday night is here, time to recover and relax!I will come back with more training and injury blogs soon:)

Have a good weekend everyone!

MoTo

Women, Strength Training and Sport

I am back in business. I have now moved to a nice little place called Radyr in Cardiff. So far I have tested out a few forest rides around where we live and the views are pretty amazing! I have also purchased a little Ford Fiesta Ghia that I will put up pictures off shortly. Enough about me and my new life, I will move on to the interesting topic of the day: Women and Strength Training

With the increasing number of females competing in sport across the world, there is definitely a need to look at the advantages for female athletes to include strength training as part of their training. I know a lot of women are afraid of getting “bulky” and “manly” if they start training with weights, but another thing is to understand what advantages strength training can provide on the track, field or wherever you are competing. Just so people know I am today talking about specific strength training for sports like football, basketball, badminton, tennis, athletics etc, NOT power lifting or body building just so we don’t confuse this. So the chances of looking like the "woman" underneath is pretty slim....

This picture is from http://www.triplem.com/

Before I start talking about strength training I want to reassure women:

It takes a lot and I mean a lot of hard, consistent training for women to get BIG!

From a sports point of view you would never want to train to get big anyway. As an athlete whether you are a footballer or tennis player you need to be able to move quickly, change direction and produce a certain amount of power every time you hit the ball! What I am trying to say is that as long as you train specific to the sport you are playing, which is most likely not going to involve a lot of hypertrophy training all year around (except in the off season and possibly preseason depending on the sport) this will not make you bigger. So please look below for the main big advantage of including strength training in your programs and see if I can convince you!

INJURY PREVENTION (What a surprise I would say that!)

Knee injuries are a subject that is very much related to female athletes. According to a National Collegiate Athletic Association report, female basketball players were six times more likely to incur an ACL tear than male players!! (1, 2 & 3). There could be several reasons why this number is so high, one factor could solely be that so many more females compete in organised sport compared to before like I mentioned above. Other people have suggested more causative factors such as joint laxity, limb alignment, ligament size, hormonal changes etc could affect the observed differences in knee injuries between men and women (1 & 3). No matter what the reason is for all the knee injuries, it is important that we try to strengthen ligaments and enhance neuromuscular control of the knee joint prior to and during sport participation. We can't change the way we are born in terms of ligament size, our joint angles etc, but we can certainly do something about the muscles that keep it all together.

It is a fact that most ACL injuries occurs from non-contact mechanisms such as deceleration, landing, change of direction, lateral pivoting etc. For this reason it is important to take part in a conditioning program that is designed to strengthen the supporting structures around the knee and also increase the neuromuscular control of the knee which may reduce the risk of sports related injures (4 & 5). I think a combination of strength training, balance and proprioception can make a massive difference to this.

For young female athletes in particular it is really important to perform some type of resistance training regularly to increase their resistance to injuries and approach their genetic power and strength during adulthood. So for younger athletes it is important to start preparing their bodies for the demands the sport they are playing will place on them. If I could change one thing about the way I trained when I was younger (not that I am THAT old now!) that would definitely be to train more strength and balance, rather than doing the million running sessions like I used to do. Don’t get me wrong, it was good being able to run solid for 90 minutes, but it would definitely have been an advantage to be stronger than I was when I played. But you learn through experience and hopefully I will be able to help and develop other athletes to improve their performance and reduce their chances of injuries, let’s hope so:)

What’s your view on strength training and women?

MoTo

References:

1. Arendt, E & R. Dick (1995). Knee Injury Patterns among men and women in collegiate basketball and soccer: NCAA data and review of literature. Am J Sports Med 23:694-701.

2. De Loes, M., L. Dahlstedt & R. Thomee (2000) A 7-year study on risks and costs of knee injuries in male an female youth participants in 12 sports. Scand J Med Sci Sports 10:90-97.

3. Hewett, T (2000) Neuromuscular and hormonal factors associated with knee injuries in female athletes. J Knee Surg 18:82-88.

4. Emery, C (2005) Injury prevention and future research. Med Sci Sports Exerc 48:179-200.

5. Hewett, T., G. Myer & K. Ford (2005) Reducing knee and anterior cruciate ligaments injuries among female athletes. J Knee Surg 18:82-88.

The Back Squat- How do you perform it and is it a good exercise?

I have really started enjoying the blogging lately and I find that the best place to pick up inspiration is when I am in the gym training. Today this wasn’t the case as I actually got my inspiration to write about the Back Squat when I woke up this morning. My gluteus muscles were so sore after the squats I did yesterday that I could barely get out of bed, but it is a great feeling knowing you have worked hard!! So today I will talk a little bit about the Back Squat.

The Back Squat is a very common exercise in the world of Strength and Conditioning, in fitness centres and pretty much everywhere people do some form of strength training. It is an exercise that every S&C coach should have in their exercise “library”. The Back Squat works the key muscles groups in your legs as well as your core muscles. In almost every sport where you move your own body weight around is it important to have strong legs.These are the muscles that you work in a Back Squat if you do the exercise correct:

• Quadriceps, Gluteus Maximus and Medius, Hamstrings, Erector Spinae, Latissimus Dorsi, Abdominals and the Adductors

As with every exercise it is important to perform the exercise correctly and the Back Squat is definitely no exception. I will therefore describe how to perform the Back Squat (from a Squat Rack):

Equipment needed: Barbell, Squat Racks, Weight Discs and enough floor space

Starting position

• Grab the bar with a closed pronated grip (overhand)

• Step under the bar and position your feet parallel to each other

• Place the bar in a balance position on the upper back and shoulder in one of the two locations:

o Low bar position: across posterior deltoids at the middle of the trapezius (using a handgrip wider than shoulder width)

o High bar position: above the posterior deltoids at the base of the neck (using a handgrip only slightly wider than shoulder width)

• Hold your chest up and out and tilt the head slightly up

• When you are ready to lift the bar off the rack, extend your hips and knees to lift the bar off

• Take one or two steps backwards, position your feet shoulder width apart (or wider), with the toes pointed slightly outwards (Picture 1 and 2)
 

Picture 1- Starting position from the side

 

Picure 2- Starting position from the front

Downwards phase

• Maintain a position with the back flat and chest up and out

• Allow your hips and knees to slowly bend while keeping the torso-to-floor angle relatively constant

• Keep the heels on the floor and the knees in alignment over the feet

• Avoid rounding your back or lean your upper body forward

• Keep bending your hips and knee until your thighs are parallel to the floor, the trunk begins to round or bend forwards or your heels lift off the floor (Picture 3)
  

Picture 3 Bottom position




Picture 4- Bottom position

Upwards phase



• Maintain your back flat, elbows high and chest up and out



• Extend your hips and knees, whilst keeping your heel son the floor and your knees in alignment over your feet

• Avoid bending forward or round your back

• Continue extending until you reach the starting position, don’t lock your knees fully

• At the end of the set, step forward towards the rack

• Squat down until the bar rests in the rack

It is great if you can look at yourself in the mirror when performing a Back Squat as you can keep an eye of your own technique, at least from the front. I am not going to describe the most common mistakes people do when squatting in this post, but one thing you can look at if you have a mirror is whether your knees are moving inwards or the distance between your knees stays the same throughout the movement. Knees moving inwards is particular common in women and there can be several reasons why this happens, but sometimes it is possible to correct it by just focusing on it (if you are aware it is happening).



There are a lot of discussions on how deep you should go in the back squat. I personally think that you should aim to get your femur parallel to the floor (like described above). The reason for this is because the gluteus maximus (the big hip extension muscle) becomes more active when you get full range of movement (Picture 5) This is not only positive from an athlete’s point of view, but also for people wanting to get a strong and powerful bottom! From an injury prevention point of view the back squat is a very important strength exercise for the quadriceps muscles, which is important in relation to knee injuries and knee pain so it is definitely a good exercise in my eyes.



Picture 5- Gluteus Maximus

 I know a lot of girls are scared of getting “bulky”, “big” and “massive” which I think is a bit sad (I will come back to this on another blog post) but surely everyone wants to have a nice, strong bum??!

So people, let’s get our bottoms strong, explosive and powerful!

Have you ever tried the Back Squat? Do you like it?

MoTo

The RICE principle

Acute injuries are unfortunately a big part of the sporting world today. No matter how much we try to reduce injuries by making sure our joints and muscles are strong and stable enough, acute injuries have always occured and will keep occurring. If you are lucky to have a Sports Therapist present when you suffer an injury you don’t have to worry about what to do, but not every team or club are lucky to have access to a therapist’s assistance on every single training session. I think it is important that athletes and sports people understand what the RICE principleare, how it works and most importantly how you should use it. Following the simple steps underneath can help you reduce the injury time of acute injuries and therefore helping you return to your sport quicker. This is the reason why I wanted to talk about the very common RICE principle that I am sure a lot of athletes have heard about already.

So what does the letters RICE principle stand for and how can you use it?

REST, ICE, COMPRESSION AND ELEVATION

REST: I am sure most of you agree that it is self explanatory what rest means, but you may also agree that it is not always easy to rest even if you are in pain!? Does this sound familiar? I definitely know by experience that it is not always easy to go off the pitch when you get injured, if you are playing an important match or competing in an important competition. Everyone has got different pain threshold and can handle different amount of pain and discomfort. Therefore it is important to remember that if you suffer a painful injury and keep playing, all you do is probably increasing the healing and recovery time of the injury which means you might be out for several weeks/months, rather than days. I believe that players and athletes get to know their bodies’ limits better with experience and therefore are able to make the right decisions about when it is best to stop playing or competing.

ICE: Everyone has seen sports therapists and physiotherapists carrying several bags of ice packs or frozen ice when they are pitch side. This is because ice is one of the first things that you put on an acute injury, like a sprained ankle. But why do we actually do it and is there anything you have to be aware of when using ice? When an acute injury occurs, the body’s reaction is to increase the blood flow to the injured area (inflammatory response). This is why people’s ankles and knees get red and swollen after severe injuries (Picture 1). The injured area often feels warm as a result of this and the ice gets put on to try to reduce this. Ice decreases the size of the blood vessels (called vasoconstriction), which slows down the blood flow to the injured area and it also decrease pain by doing so. Ice also reduces the risk of cell death by decreasing the rate of metabolism. The important thing to bear in mind when applying ice is to never put it straight onto the skin. If you do this you can actually burn the skin and cause severe damage to the skin! To be safe, it is recommended to put 2-3 layers underneath the ice like  bandage or anything you have available to make sure you avoid any burns. Keep the ice on initially for 20 minutes.

Picture 1. Bit of swelling present here.

Picture 2. An example of ice packs (Made-in-China.com)

COMPRESSION: Compression simply means to wrap something tight around the injured area. This can be a bandage, but it can also be anything you have available like a t-shirts or scarf etc. Compression is also used to decrease the blood flow to the injury and therefore reducing recovery time, just like ice. The only thing you have to watch out for is if the compression is wrapped too tight. You can notice this is if the distal part of the limb (for example your toes or fingers) change colour and becomes blue/red. All it means is that the blood flows is being cut to the rest of the limb as well as to the injured area, so make sure you undo the compression a bit if this happens.

 ELEVATION: This simply means to elevate the injured area above your heart. So if for example you have injured an ankle, you can lie down and place your foot onto a chair or a bench. By doing this gravity helps to draw blood away from the inured area. It is advised to elevate the injured area for the first 48 hours after the injury occurred.

Hopefully those of you that weren’t too sure of how the RICE principle works know now. I tried to make it as simple as possible so that everyone is able to use and apply it when needed. It is simple and it can save you a lot of time in recovering from the injury.
 As I will be moving to Cardiff this weekend I may not have proper internet connection the first week or so, but I will keep you all posted as soon as I can:)

MoTo