How Weekend Warriors Can Stay Well
We all know weekend warriors. You may even be one. Sedentary during the week and very physical on the weekends. Pick-up basketball games, running 5Ks, heavy yard work, office softball tournaments; the list goes on. These people may be more likely to get an injury. In this podcast, find out why, what to do if you get injured, some ways to prevent injury and much more.
Featured Speaker:
Megan Wilson, DPT, ATRI-C
Megan Wilson, DPT, ATRI-C is a Senior Physical Therapist at UMUCH Center for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. She graduated from University of Maryland College Park with a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Genetics in 2000 and went on to earn her Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Originally from Connecticut, she settled in Harford County with her husband in 2003 after graduation to raise her family. Megan has provided physical therapy to a wide range of diagnoses including orthopedic, balance and vestibular conditions and has been with UM Upper Chesapeake Health for over 10 years. She is certified in aquatic therapy and particularly loves treating shoulder, knee and hip conditions. Her recent coursework centers around concussion management and vestibular rehabilitation, a growing interest of hers since the clinic obtained a Neurocom Balance Master in 2015. She is a skilled manual therapist and provides a patient-centered hands-on approach to her rehabilitation programs. In her free time, you can find her riding her Peloton, honing her cooking skills or on the soccer and lacrosse sidelines with her husband cheering on her three children Ian, Alexa and Brenna. She loves to travel and her favorite place is the beach with the sun shining and warm breeze blowing. FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL: 443-643-3980 Transcription:
How Weekend Warriors Can Stay Well
Maggie McKay: Do you love working out, but only have time on the weekends or part-time, and then suffer the consequences later with injuries or aches and pains? A lot of us do. So today, we're going to find out how weekend warriors can stay well, still play their favorite sports, but avoid the pain, what to do if it's too late, who to go to for help and more.
Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This podcast is sponsored by the University of Maryland Rehab Network.
Our guest is Megan Wilson, senior physical therapist from the center for sports medicine, and rehabilitation at university of Maryland, upper Chesapeake health. Thank you so much for joining us today, Megan. It's a pleasure to have you here.
Megan Wilson: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
Maggie McKay: Well, let's dive right in. What is a weekend warrior?
Megan Wilson: So, yeah, a weekend warrior, most people think about this as the traditional definition as a person who is not really all that physically active during the week, and then hits the activity really hard and intense on the weekends. Most of the time, we think about working out or running weekend races or any sort of softball tournaments or you're going to go play flag football with your friends. But we can also kind of look at it as doing some prolonged and heavy work around the house that you're not used to doing during the week.
Maggie McKay: Oh, I never thought of that, actually. You're right. I thought of just people who work out. So what makes it more likely for someone with this lifestyle to get injuries?
Megan Wilson: Right. So we weekend warriors are more prone to injury because of these sudden bursts of intense exercise will increase the strain on muscles and ligaments, creating injury. There's not enough training to support the excess weekend activities with regards to strength, flexibility, endurance if you're only doing it one or two times on the weekend. There's just not enough training involved.
Maggie McKay: And what kind of injuries can happen from doing too much on the weekend?
Megan Wilson: So there's definitely a multitude of injuries that can happen. I can kind of put it into three separate categories. We can look at overuse injuries, such as tendonitis, which is an inflammation of the tendon, which is the part of the body that attaches muscle to bone. And that's just like an inflammation. Also bursitis, if you think about what a bursa is, it's a fluid-filled sac that cushions either bony prominences on your body, or they also kind of are in-between muscles and they can get inflamed creating pains. And finally, most people are very aware of them, shin splints, where the muscles in the lower part of the leg can pull away from your bone creating pain. So we look at that category as a number one category of overuse injuries.
The second thing that can happen is acute or traumatic injuries, such as a broken bone, what we like to call fractures. And this really can be if you're running and you accidentally fall off the curb, or you're not paying attention to what you're doing and you fall down, you can break something. Or, if you're doing your work around the house, you could fall off the ladder, lose your balance. So we look at fractures.
And then finally, sprains and strains. And when we really think about the differences between the two, most people use them interchangeably. But the true meaning of a sprain is you sprain a ligament which attaches bone to bone, or you can strain a muscle. And typical muscles that we strain are our hamstrings, our hip flexors, our groin and our back. And this can be from prolonged gardening, heavy lifting, sudden bursts of running fast, where you're overstretching the muscle. Anything along those lines can create a sprain or a strain. So those are the three categories that we look at.
Maggie McKay: That covers a lot. So if you get injured on the weekend, where should someone go or what should they do? Because sometimes their doctor isn't in on a Sunday.
Megan Wilson: Right. Right. So if we're looking at an acute injury or just something that happened right away, say a fracture, your best place to go is urgent care. They're going to be there to help you with an x-ray, maybe some anti-inflammatories. But if you just start with an injury that's kind of nagging and the pain is gradually increasing, contact a local orthopedic or your primary care, and they will help you diagnose and recommend appropriate treatments. And usually those treatments for those nagging injuries, the overuse injuries and the sprains and strains, usually is rest, medication management and of course physical therapy.
Maggie McKay: And ice or heat. That's always the question. I guess it depends on the injury, right?
Megan Wilson: Right. So usually when we talk about acute injury, so something that just happened, we use ice and then heat is usually for more of a prolonged chronic injury, like a strain of the muscle that's still lingering after about a month.
Maggie McKay: Megan, why are weekend warriors more susceptible to getting injuries?
Megan Wilson: Well, that's a very simple question. It basically comes down at the fitness level that is required for the heavy activity on the weekends is not maintained during the week. Although most people feel like they may be in really good physical shape, if you don't do anything during the week, you're just more susceptible on the weekends for injury, so you're just not maintaining that level of fitness during the week.
Maggie McKay: And so what are some ways to keep healthy during the week to prevent injuries from weekend activities?
Megan Wilson: So there's multiple things that you can do to just kind of help you avoid injury. The first thing is make sure that you're staying hydrated and you're drinking plenty of water. And not just prior to the activity. Being dehydrated can decrease muscle force. It can decrease speed and reaction time. So sipping on water throughout the week and making sure that you're hydrated is one of the first things you can do.
The second thing is, on the weekend, make sure that you're performing a proper warmup. Gradually increase the intensity of activity to a moderate level. Use dynamic stretching of muscles, because we know that static stretching performed before an activity can actually reduce muscle force output. So examples of dynamic stretching are frankensteins, butt kick, walking hip rotations and walking lunges.
Maggie McKay: What's a frankenstein?
Megan Wilson: You're kind of walking and kicking your legs straight forward. It's like a straight leg, almost like high step march. Some people call it a goose step. There's multiple different ways to call that exercise.
So then, the next one you would want to perform a proper cool-down. So once you've gotten your heart rate up and everything, you want to gradually decrease the level of activity to reduce your heart rate slowly, and then finally do your static stretching afterwards when your muscles are warm so that you maintain good flexibility.
Maggie McKay: Some ways to prevent injury, stretching, walking before running, staying hydrated, all these are during the week. Anything else during the week before you hit your exercise or housework?
Megan Wilson: Well, we have to really think about the proper footwear. Making sure that you invest in a good pair of shoes or hiking shoes or whatever the shoewear that's for what you're doing. Because the ones that are specifically designed for your feet can greatly reduce injuries, so they can cushion the shock from the ground. They can stabilize your foot, preventing ankle and other injuries. And remember it all starts when the foot hits the ground. And those three-year-old tennis shoes, absolutely get rid of those. We want to replace them every 300 to 400 miles. It's your fitness equipment, don't skimp on that.
And then finally, gradually building up activity levels over time. I personally like to go by the rule of 10%. Don't increase anything more than 10% each week as far as either the speed at which you're running or the distance that you're running or the lengths that you're running or walking or doing whatever you're doing, just so that eventually you'll hit your goal, but you'll hit it safely.
Maggie McKay: And you mentioned housework and other activities, not just sports. When people come in for injuries, do you see it as a result more of sports, or like you said, just around-the-house activities or, you know, gardening?
Megan Wilson: Really, I think I really see a mixture depending on the age of the person. So when I think more, my younger middle-aged population who really has a lot to do with their kids during the week, they might be running a race and they strain their hamstring or, you know, your little bit older population who is in their late 50s and they decided they want to go clean out the whole garden, and then they're bending over and poor body mechanics and they come and their back is hurting. You know, I think it's really age-related.
Maggie McKay: Megan, do you have any other sage advice you'd like to leave with our listeners?
Megan Wilson: Sure. Yeah. Just really maintaining a baseline of fitness can really help prevent injuries. Walk during your lunch hour. Choose to use the stairs instead of the elevator. Finding 15 to 30 minutes a day for some strength training, flexibility training to support your weekend efforts is going to greatly reduce your chance of injury. Don't be that weekend warrior. Take that time for yourself to create a nice, healthy lifestyle. Be smart. It's much easier to present an injury than it is to recover from one. And exercise, it releases endorphins that can help with your energy level, mood and help you rest better at night. So exercise is good.
Maggie McKay: That is so true. And those are good reminders, especially things we know, but we just don't think about them sometimes like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or stretching in the morning before you even get up or walking during lunch. Little things that really add up if you do them every day, is that right?
Megan Wilson: That's correct. Anything that you can do during the week is going to help your weekend efforts.
Maggie McKay: Great advice. Thank you so much. I'm sure a lot of people listening can relate and are going to benefit from your knowledge and your advice. Thank you, Megan.
Megan Wilson: Thank you. It was a pleasure being here.
Maggie McKay: This episode is sponsored by the University of Maryland Rehabilitation Network. Offering a full range of physical rehabilitation services, the UM Rehab Network brings together a committed team of experts from across Maryland to help patients recover from illness or injury, such as stroke, joint replacement or traumatic injury.
The University of Maryland Rehabilitation Network, bringing world-class comprehensive rehabilitation services directly to your neighborhood. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. Thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System.
If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels. We look forward to you joining us again. Be well. I'm Maggie McKay.
How Weekend Warriors Can Stay Well
Maggie McKay: Do you love working out, but only have time on the weekends or part-time, and then suffer the consequences later with injuries or aches and pains? A lot of us do. So today, we're going to find out how weekend warriors can stay well, still play their favorite sports, but avoid the pain, what to do if it's too late, who to go to for help and more.
Welcome to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System. We put knowledge and care within reach, so you have everything you need to live your life to the fullest. This podcast is sponsored by the University of Maryland Rehab Network.
Our guest is Megan Wilson, senior physical therapist from the center for sports medicine, and rehabilitation at university of Maryland, upper Chesapeake health. Thank you so much for joining us today, Megan. It's a pleasure to have you here.
Megan Wilson: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.
Maggie McKay: Well, let's dive right in. What is a weekend warrior?
Megan Wilson: So, yeah, a weekend warrior, most people think about this as the traditional definition as a person who is not really all that physically active during the week, and then hits the activity really hard and intense on the weekends. Most of the time, we think about working out or running weekend races or any sort of softball tournaments or you're going to go play flag football with your friends. But we can also kind of look at it as doing some prolonged and heavy work around the house that you're not used to doing during the week.
Maggie McKay: Oh, I never thought of that, actually. You're right. I thought of just people who work out. So what makes it more likely for someone with this lifestyle to get injuries?
Megan Wilson: Right. So we weekend warriors are more prone to injury because of these sudden bursts of intense exercise will increase the strain on muscles and ligaments, creating injury. There's not enough training to support the excess weekend activities with regards to strength, flexibility, endurance if you're only doing it one or two times on the weekend. There's just not enough training involved.
Maggie McKay: And what kind of injuries can happen from doing too much on the weekend?
Megan Wilson: So there's definitely a multitude of injuries that can happen. I can kind of put it into three separate categories. We can look at overuse injuries, such as tendonitis, which is an inflammation of the tendon, which is the part of the body that attaches muscle to bone. And that's just like an inflammation. Also bursitis, if you think about what a bursa is, it's a fluid-filled sac that cushions either bony prominences on your body, or they also kind of are in-between muscles and they can get inflamed creating pains. And finally, most people are very aware of them, shin splints, where the muscles in the lower part of the leg can pull away from your bone creating pain. So we look at that category as a number one category of overuse injuries.
The second thing that can happen is acute or traumatic injuries, such as a broken bone, what we like to call fractures. And this really can be if you're running and you accidentally fall off the curb, or you're not paying attention to what you're doing and you fall down, you can break something. Or, if you're doing your work around the house, you could fall off the ladder, lose your balance. So we look at fractures.
And then finally, sprains and strains. And when we really think about the differences between the two, most people use them interchangeably. But the true meaning of a sprain is you sprain a ligament which attaches bone to bone, or you can strain a muscle. And typical muscles that we strain are our hamstrings, our hip flexors, our groin and our back. And this can be from prolonged gardening, heavy lifting, sudden bursts of running fast, where you're overstretching the muscle. Anything along those lines can create a sprain or a strain. So those are the three categories that we look at.
Maggie McKay: That covers a lot. So if you get injured on the weekend, where should someone go or what should they do? Because sometimes their doctor isn't in on a Sunday.
Megan Wilson: Right. Right. So if we're looking at an acute injury or just something that happened right away, say a fracture, your best place to go is urgent care. They're going to be there to help you with an x-ray, maybe some anti-inflammatories. But if you just start with an injury that's kind of nagging and the pain is gradually increasing, contact a local orthopedic or your primary care, and they will help you diagnose and recommend appropriate treatments. And usually those treatments for those nagging injuries, the overuse injuries and the sprains and strains, usually is rest, medication management and of course physical therapy.
Maggie McKay: And ice or heat. That's always the question. I guess it depends on the injury, right?
Megan Wilson: Right. So usually when we talk about acute injury, so something that just happened, we use ice and then heat is usually for more of a prolonged chronic injury, like a strain of the muscle that's still lingering after about a month.
Maggie McKay: Megan, why are weekend warriors more susceptible to getting injuries?
Megan Wilson: Well, that's a very simple question. It basically comes down at the fitness level that is required for the heavy activity on the weekends is not maintained during the week. Although most people feel like they may be in really good physical shape, if you don't do anything during the week, you're just more susceptible on the weekends for injury, so you're just not maintaining that level of fitness during the week.
Maggie McKay: And so what are some ways to keep healthy during the week to prevent injuries from weekend activities?
Megan Wilson: So there's multiple things that you can do to just kind of help you avoid injury. The first thing is make sure that you're staying hydrated and you're drinking plenty of water. And not just prior to the activity. Being dehydrated can decrease muscle force. It can decrease speed and reaction time. So sipping on water throughout the week and making sure that you're hydrated is one of the first things you can do.
The second thing is, on the weekend, make sure that you're performing a proper warmup. Gradually increase the intensity of activity to a moderate level. Use dynamic stretching of muscles, because we know that static stretching performed before an activity can actually reduce muscle force output. So examples of dynamic stretching are frankensteins, butt kick, walking hip rotations and walking lunges.
Maggie McKay: What's a frankenstein?
Megan Wilson: You're kind of walking and kicking your legs straight forward. It's like a straight leg, almost like high step march. Some people call it a goose step. There's multiple different ways to call that exercise.
So then, the next one you would want to perform a proper cool-down. So once you've gotten your heart rate up and everything, you want to gradually decrease the level of activity to reduce your heart rate slowly, and then finally do your static stretching afterwards when your muscles are warm so that you maintain good flexibility.
Maggie McKay: Some ways to prevent injury, stretching, walking before running, staying hydrated, all these are during the week. Anything else during the week before you hit your exercise or housework?
Megan Wilson: Well, we have to really think about the proper footwear. Making sure that you invest in a good pair of shoes or hiking shoes or whatever the shoewear that's for what you're doing. Because the ones that are specifically designed for your feet can greatly reduce injuries, so they can cushion the shock from the ground. They can stabilize your foot, preventing ankle and other injuries. And remember it all starts when the foot hits the ground. And those three-year-old tennis shoes, absolutely get rid of those. We want to replace them every 300 to 400 miles. It's your fitness equipment, don't skimp on that.
And then finally, gradually building up activity levels over time. I personally like to go by the rule of 10%. Don't increase anything more than 10% each week as far as either the speed at which you're running or the distance that you're running or the lengths that you're running or walking or doing whatever you're doing, just so that eventually you'll hit your goal, but you'll hit it safely.
Maggie McKay: And you mentioned housework and other activities, not just sports. When people come in for injuries, do you see it as a result more of sports, or like you said, just around-the-house activities or, you know, gardening?
Megan Wilson: Really, I think I really see a mixture depending on the age of the person. So when I think more, my younger middle-aged population who really has a lot to do with their kids during the week, they might be running a race and they strain their hamstring or, you know, your little bit older population who is in their late 50s and they decided they want to go clean out the whole garden, and then they're bending over and poor body mechanics and they come and their back is hurting. You know, I think it's really age-related.
Maggie McKay: Megan, do you have any other sage advice you'd like to leave with our listeners?
Megan Wilson: Sure. Yeah. Just really maintaining a baseline of fitness can really help prevent injuries. Walk during your lunch hour. Choose to use the stairs instead of the elevator. Finding 15 to 30 minutes a day for some strength training, flexibility training to support your weekend efforts is going to greatly reduce your chance of injury. Don't be that weekend warrior. Take that time for yourself to create a nice, healthy lifestyle. Be smart. It's much easier to present an injury than it is to recover from one. And exercise, it releases endorphins that can help with your energy level, mood and help you rest better at night. So exercise is good.
Maggie McKay: That is so true. And those are good reminders, especially things we know, but we just don't think about them sometimes like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or stretching in the morning before you even get up or walking during lunch. Little things that really add up if you do them every day, is that right?
Megan Wilson: That's correct. Anything that you can do during the week is going to help your weekend efforts.
Maggie McKay: Great advice. Thank you so much. I'm sure a lot of people listening can relate and are going to benefit from your knowledge and your advice. Thank you, Megan.
Megan Wilson: Thank you. It was a pleasure being here.
Maggie McKay: This episode is sponsored by the University of Maryland Rehabilitation Network. Offering a full range of physical rehabilitation services, the UM Rehab Network brings together a committed team of experts from across Maryland to help patients recover from illness or injury, such as stroke, joint replacement or traumatic injury.
The University of Maryland Rehabilitation Network, bringing world-class comprehensive rehabilitation services directly to your neighborhood. Find more shows just like this one at umms.org/podcast. Thank you for listening to Live Greater, a health and wellness podcast brought to you by the University of Maryland Medical System.
If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels. We look forward to you joining us again. Be well. I'm Maggie McKay.