Among all kinds of athletes, both professional and recreational, tendinopathy (also known as tendinitis) is one of the most common injuries.

About one-third of runners suffer from Achilles tendinopathy, as will approximately 14 percent of volleyball players. Soccer players are also susceptible to tendinopathy, and athletes who frequently participate in overhead maneuvers (serving, pitching, etc.) are four times more likely to deal with tendinopathy compared to other athletes. Kobe Bryant famously tore his Achilles tendon in 2013 in a game against the Golden State Warriors, sidelining his season for nearly 8 months.

If you play one of these sports, or are an active person in general, it’s important to understand what can be done to prevent and treat tendinopathy. Read on to learn more about this condition and the steps you can take to keep it at bay while you continue to play your favorite sports.

What is Tendinopathy?

Tendons are tissues that connect the muscles to the bones. They bear the weight of muscles and allow the joints of the body to move freely.

Tendinopathy occurs when the tendon becomes inflamed. Repetitive motions — swinging a tennis racquet or golf club, for example — often cause tendinopathy in athletes.

The most common sites of tendinopathy include the shoulders, biceps, and elbows (tendinopathy of the elbow is often referred to as tennis elbow). Read the rest of this entry →

As any sportsman knows, if you have a team that is not happy eating, sleeping and playing together, then you are less than likely to have a successful season on the track or field. No matter if you are playing in a small-time league, or are trying your luck professionally, if your team does not get on, or has found it hard to bond, then you will no longer be able to bring the trophies home. So, if you are looking to help your team improve, and bring home the gold, then you need to consider taking part in team building activities, different ways that you can train and even alter your overall mindset if you want to succeed.

Team building activities

If your teammates all enjoy each others’ company and have fun together even while they are enjoying time away from the field, then your team is much more likely to have a successful season. Consider booking your team in for a team building activities, so that they can learn to work together on each other’s weaknesses and develop their strengths. From a cookery course to trying a new outdoors activity, the choice is endless when it comes to choosing a team building activity for you all to enjoy. Consider Des Moines Escape Room if you want your teammates to work on their logic and puzzle solving skills against the clock. Team building activities should be your go-to first step to help improve your team’s performance. Read the rest of this entry →

Good posture helps you feel more confident, gives you more energy, and can even make you appear taller and slimmer. Good posture is also essential for athletes who want to perform their best and avoid serious injuries.

Athletes with Posture Issues

Many athletes struggle with genetic posture issues. For example, Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth, was born with a curvature in his spine that has affected his hamstrings.

Others, like running back Arian Foster and quarterback Tony Romo, have suffered from non-genetic issues like bulging and herniated discs, which have caused them severe back and leg pain.

Good posture can’t completely prevent these issues, especially when they’re genetic. But, improving posture can help those with both genetic and non-genetic posture issues heal faster and avoid additional injuries.

How Good Posture Prevents Injury

Good posture is essential for athletes who want to maintain strength and optimum health on and off the field. Some ways that posture contributes to injury risk (or lack thereof) include:

Less Stress on the Joints

When you stand or sit incorrectly, it’s easy for your muscles to tighten. This tightening, in turn, puts extra stress on the joints. Athletes’ bodies already takes a beating during practices and workouts. To reduce this damage, it’s important to avoid adding stress to the joints by slouching. Read the rest of this entry →

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus probably first said that “the only constant in the universe is change.” This phrase definitely applies to sports injuries, at least to some extent.

Some people still remember the 1992 NBA All-Star game which featured the return of Magic Johnson. A few months earlier, he had retired after announcing he was HIV positive. Several other players, including Karl Malone, openly expressed misgivings about Johnson’s return and their own risk of contracting AIDS. We now know these fears were foolish, but they were very real at the time.

Fortunately, deadly sexually-transmitted diseases like AIDS are not a problem on most sports teams. But sports injuries are a constant concern. In some cases, the treatment approach has changed significantly in recent years; in other cases, not so much.

Football and Concussions

Head injuries have been an issue in football ever since William Harvey laced up the cleats for Penn in 1894. “In a scrimmage behind the goal I was knocked insensible, but recovered in about fifteen minutes,” he later wrote. For the next hundred years, every player who received a head injury in football got basically the same treatment: a few plays off, some smelling salts, and a cursory “how many fingers am I holding up” medical exam.

Things began to change in 1994 when then-NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue ordered league doctors and other scientists to examine the problem more closely. Today, no one is really sure how the NFL and other football leagues should handle head injuries. Players want to play, coaches want to win, and fans want to see lots of action, but a player’s long-term health is at stake. There’s a balance there somewhere.

New innovations should help improve treatment protocols. For example, the Food and Drug Administration recently approved a concussion diagnosis blood test. Very soon, this test could eliminate the guesswork involved in this area. Read the rest of this entry →

If you are a professional tennis player at heart or you simply love hitting aces to get your daily cardio and stay physically fit, you may be toying with the idea of installing a tennis court on your property. One thing all homeowners need to get a court within their property bounds in uninhibited space. Once you have space, the rest of the feat is in the planning and the physical labor. Here’s what you should know before you start buying decor to make it look like you have Wimbledon in your backyard:

Start with the Zoning First

The very first thing that any property owner needs to do when planning to install a tennis court is to get approval by the city zoning officials or by the Homeowners Association. If you live in a neighborhood without an HOA, the first step would be to contact the city you reside in for information on zoning restrictions and how to apply for a permit.

If you live in a community where there is an HOA, you will need to review your bylaws first. These bylaws will clearly lay out restrictions and what is needed to get approval to build a tennis court. Since the zoning and permitting process can take a significant amount of time, it’s wise to start this early on with the city. Read the rest of this entry →

Finding a new job is probably the most boring, exhausting and daunting things that you could be doing with life after college, but switching careers from a secure job to another industry? That’s a huge challenge! When you’ve been working in a particular career for a long time you could become too comfortable, and while this is great for your business, it’s not going to be good for you if you aren’t entirely interested in what you’re doing. If you wanted to move into a career in sports because you love it so much, and your resume doesn’t have much on it that includes sports involvement beyond cheering on your team, what do you do?

Well, you need to think of your brand. You may well have been running your own company with a good PayPal working capital that keeps your branding and marketing going, but that doesn’t mean you have any idea what it means to brand yourself. A lot of people base their own brand on what they do for a living, but if you’ve never worked in sports before you’re going to need to know how to rebrand yourself to be attractive to recruiters. It’s important to look at your resume for exactly what it is: a way to market yourself. Your resume isn’t your job application, it’s your document that explains exactly who you are and what you can do. If you’re an artist who is looking to move into a creative marketing role in the sports industry, make yourself shine by showing your own logo and design the company you’re hoping to move to a funky new artwork for their logo, too. Those who want to be sports readers could start up a vlog on YouTube reporting the local sports results and giving commentary on games. You could provide your interviewer with a link on your resume and they can watch how confident you are on camera. Read the rest of this entry →