Creating and maintaining an athletic department with top performing athletes requires planning and training when dealing with constant conditioning, injuries and treatment. How athletic programs plan for the health and safety of their athletes’ conditioning and injury recovery can determine the success of a sport’s season.
Athletes performing at the top of their game require quality, commercial grade equipment designed for optimal conditioning when they are healthy, and safe and effective rehab when they are injured. By utilizing the properties of water in an environment customizable to the individual, workouts can be tailored to each athlete’s specific needs. Adding an underwater treadmill provides additional workout options to enhance rehab and conditioning while yielding better results more quickly, with less risk for injury or re-injury, than land-based workouts alone. Therefore, a program including this type of equipment offers advantages that equate to a successful athletic program.
Keep top performers in the game
Keeping athletes healthy and in the game all season is a huge challenge for coaches and trainers. Conditioning in an underwater treadmill provides 360 degrees of resistance throughout the range of motion forcing concentric and eccentric muscle contractions, resulting in better results in half the time as land workouts. With buoyancy reducing body weight, wear and tear on joints, risk for injury, and post-workout muscle soreness, athletes can work out at higher intensities more days in a row. Hydrostatic pressure increases blood flow, reduces swelling, and benefits the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems by decreasing peak heart rate and increasing VO2 Max. Working out in water is proven to give athletic departments the edge needed to keep athletes strong and healthy.
Rehab injured athletes quicker
Injuries and lengthy recovery protocols make safely and quickly returning athletes to the game difficult. Rehabbing an injury in an aquatic environment promotes relaxation, diminishes muscle guarding, and improves joint mobility with reduced pain and risk for re-injury. The natural properties of water promote healing and provide benefits to nearly all body systems, helping the athlete to not only rehab the injury, but also to maintain aerobic activity levels resulting in a quicker return to sport.
Why water?
- Buoyancy unweights the body, resulting in less stress placed on injured joints. This allows athletes to exercise or rehab without increased pain and irritation to the injury site, making it possible to improve strength and flexibility without increased pain.
- Viscosity provides constant, equal resistance over all areas of the body that are immersed. This added resistance strengthens the injured area and allows the athlete to simultaneously strengthen surrounding muscles and joints for increased stability and decreased risk for re-injury.
- Hydrostatic pressure will help to minimize any swelling around the injured area and increases oxygenated blood flow to muscles and tissues to promote healing.
Exercising in the water has been proven to reduce anxiety resulting from fear of increased pain, helping athletes to perform workouts utilizing the proper techniques without harmful compensations. Water provides a safe environment, reducing the risk for fall or injury, so exercises or activities can progress more quickly, with a greater focus on balance and stability, resulting in a quicker return to sport and reducing the risk for re-injury.
Adding an underwater treadmill system enhances the benefits of exercising in water, allowing form and technique to be critiqued and specific muscle groups to be targeted for strengthening or rehabilitation (with swimming alone, proper posture and gait functions cannot be specifically targeted).
Customized equipment for space and budget
While aquatic therapy and conditioning provides countless benefits to athletes, trainers and athletic facilities are also benefitted by the use of aquatic therapy and an underwater treadmill system. With equipment that is customizable to your space and budget, you can expect to achieve individual and measurable results. Look for equipment designed to reduce energy costs and maintenance requirements, along with safety features for both the athlete and trainer. Adding aquatic rehab/conditioning to your facility is easier than ever.
Learn more about adding aquatic therapy to your athletic program with equipment customizable to each athlete and injury. Visit http://www.hudsonaquatic.com for more information.