Michael Hombsch, Physiotherapist
Reduce your injury risk with an AxIT strength assessment.
In the 2015 AFL season there was an average of 41 injuries per club which resulted in an average of 152 games missed per club. Soft tissue injuries such as hamstring strains make up a large portion of these injuries.
Researchers have estimated for every week missed due to injury the chances of achieving season performance goals are reduced by 25%.
In the 2015/2016 Premier League season, Leicester City shocked everyone by winning the league from 5000/1 odds at the start of the season.
What was critical to their success was the ability to keep their best players injury-free with the lowest injury numbers for the season.
Leicester had a total of 19 injuries throughout the season which was significantly lower than the competition average of 48.
Lockdowns over the last 2 years have only made risk of injury worse with short pre-seasons, no access to gym facilities and for the majority of us, a lot of time away from our chosen sports.
As we get back into pre-season training it’s very easy to notice our fitness levels aren’t what they used to be but what isn't as obvious is the reduced strength and reduced load capacity of our muscles after a prolonged period without sport.
This reduced strength and load capacity leads to a much higher risk of injuries, especially when there is little pre-season focus on building strength.
Do Muscle and Body Niggles matter?
It’s not uncommon to return to sport and notice small niggles arise. These can be an indicator of an old injury persisting or your body not tolerating the load being placed upon it.
Research has shown there is a 3-7x greater risk of becoming injured in the 7 days following an athlete reporting a mild to moderate niggle.
This highlights the importance of listening to your body and getting onto issues early.
A proper assessment of strength, power and movement can help guide injury reduction programs and help you spend less time on the side lines in the coming season.
For example, in female football players targeted injury reduction programs have been shown to reduce the risk of ACL injuries by 45%.
One thing the best athletes all have in common are high levels of strength and power and regular strength training is the best way to prevent injuries.
Regardless of your level of sport the AxIT assessment tools at Melbourne Sports Physiotherapy allow us to provide you with objective data that can highlight potential problems before they arise so targeted exercise can be prescribed to reduce your chance of injuries.
Strength programs are an integral part of high performance programs in elite sport. Working with experts who understand the demands of your sport, how to manage training load and the importance of recovery can have a much greater impact than generic programs.
If you're wanting to take your sport seriously and you aren't working on becoming stronger and more powerful on the field you’re being left behind by those who are.
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With the AxIT devices we can assess YOUR:
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Upper and Lower Limb Strength - in all directions, in multiple positions.
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Rate of Force Development - to determine if you have enough 'spring in your step'
- Limb Asymmetries - is one leg stronger than the other?
- Vertical Jump Height - how high can you jump, and are both legs equal?
- Landing Force - are you absorbing shock in both legs equally, and is there a timing delay?
While running and completing sharp changes of direction, there is only ever one foot in contact with the ground at a time.
For this reason athletes need to be strong, stable and powerful in single leg positions across all planes of movement.
The single leg vertical jump is a test that can quickly assess your ability to produce and absorb power with AxIT all while movement quality is assessed by a trained professional.
It’s strength in highlighting deficits has been shown through recent evidence in which after completing extensive rehab programs to restore horizontal jump performance and strength, ACL rehabilitation patients frequently still have large discrepancies in their single leg vertical jump performance when compared to their uninjured side (Kotsifaki et al 2022).
On the field, this may reduce your confidence when planting this foot, reduce your power when accelerating and reduce your ability to quickly decelerate and change direction.
All our programs utilise PhysiApp allowing you to access your program anytime, anywhere with videos to guide you through exercises as required.
Whether you're an individual wanting to take your game to the next level or a coach looking to increase player availability throughout the season, call us now to book an assessment session.
How can we help you?
At Melbourne Sports Physiotherapy our goal is to get you moving pain free as soon as possible.
But, we also want you to actually move better and live a healthier, more active and fulfilling life!
If your sports, fitness training or work has been wearing your body down, book in with one of our expert massage therapists so we can help you reduce your pain or stiffness.
If you are showing some signs of this condition or simply want help prevent this from happening in the future then book in with one of our highly experienced Remedial Massage Therapists today!
You can make an appointment by calling or booking online.
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