Adult Athletics

You play softball. You play volleyball. You play flag football. You play basketball. You bowl. You tough mud it. You warrior dash it. You play ice hockey. You play ultimate Frisbee. You play some kind of adult-post-work athletic sport. 

Redskins vs. Cowboys

First of all, your participation is absolutely...wonderful! I love it when adults continue to be active, and do not seize activity because they are no longer a kid; or they feel like they are out of shape. Have fun for goodness sake! Adults continue to enter into leagues of either the sport of their interest or in a sport in which they grew up playing. My only concern is do you workout for the recreational sport? Or, do you allow the sport to work you out? Either way, you can achieve a goal that you have set. Hopefully, you workout for the sport:

1. Ouch! I hurt. As you sit at work, your muscles tense up. With some strength and conditioning, you can keep your body wanting more activity. Plus, the transition from work to play will be easier as the potential to injure decreases.

2. I have not done this in years! But, if you practice some functional exercises for your given sport, then you will feel more natural. For example, if you play softball or baseball, then doing rotation drills can assist since they mimic swinging. Also, doing some free-press out exercises can help develop core strength - you can see that in this video at the 3:40 and 5:50 marks. Also, unless you are on a bowling, billiards, or skeet-shooting team, then running is great for your sport.

3. I do not know the rules. Let's keep this one very simple: learn them.

4. What do I do before and after the games? You do not always have to be in the gym or ready to take a stroll outdoors in order to warm up. It is still beneficial to break a sweat before a game. Your muscles will thank you. If your sport involves running, especially sprinting, then you need a very good warm up. Otherwise, strains could be your pains. Afterwards, a cool down/static stretching suffices. If you are even more advanced, then you could get away with a minor strength training workout to, at least, preserve strength.

That's it for now.

Purpose and Development,
Derek

Derek Arledge, CSCS         TEEM Performance Training        www.teempt.com