Quick exercises, quality results
While research indicates the “Remain in the Game” exercises will prevent osteoarthritis, the on-the-field benefits have made believers out of coaches, athletes and parents.
For exercises that take so little time, the payoff is big for athletes in all sports.
That’s what coaches, athletes, parents and regular folks who work out to stay healthy will find when they incorporate a few exercises from 22 step-by-step videos developed by the UNC-based Osteoarthritis Action Alliance and a team of physical therapists, athletic trainers, exercise experts and orthopedic doctors.
Using the “Remain in the Game: A Joint Effort” toolkit, coaches in sports will have their athletes healthy and ready to perform at peak levels. Players will prevent injuries and play more minutes. Parents will feel more confident about their children’s health and continued joy of playing. Everyday athletes can enjoy those benefits and also know that they are preventing a degenerative joint disease called osteoarthritis.
“We’re very thorough and earnest researchers, and as we developed the program, we focused on the fact that it prevents osteoarthritis,” said Leigh Callahan, director of Carolina’s Osteoarthritis Action Alliance and associate director of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center. But when the development team talked about the osteoarthritis research and showed the program to Carolina Women’s Soccer Coach Anson Dorrance and his team, they offered some blunt advice.
“They’re smart people and they got it,” Callahan remembered. “They said, ‘This is all great, but just leave the research out. It’s way too scientific.’” Instead, the “Remain in the Game” toolkit helps coaches keep their best players on the field and improve performance.
Kirsten Ambrose, associate director of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance, said that research shows that performing the program’s exercises for 10 minutes during a structured warm-up can maximize their effectiveness for preventing injuries. “Coach Dorrance helped us to think of it this way — just 10 minutes a day can save 10 months spent recovering from an injury,” Ambrose said.
The 22 videos, which can be tailored for any sports team or athlete, demonstrate exercises to improve strength, agility, balance and flexibility. One set of videos also shows plyometrics exercises for increasing muscle power. Ambrose said that including one or two exercises from each category is critical. “If you mix and match, make sure that you have a variety that touches the spectrum of exercises,” she said.
“Remain in the Game” also offers a coach’s guide, printable instructions and links to video tips with Coach Dorrance.
The program requires little-to-no equipment, and an athletic trainer doesn’t necessarily need to supervise. “Not all community sports programs and schools have athletic trainers, budgets and resources, so it may be a coach or parent who’s directing,” Ambrose said. “They can easily adapt the program, no matter what the resources they have.”
Athletes can watch the videos on their own to learn proper technique. They also are useful for training remotely or rehabilitating after an injury.
The development team includes Darin Padua, a professor in the exercise and sport science department of UNC’s College of Arts & Sciences and director of the Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, and Yvonne Golightly, an associate professor in the epidemiology department of the Gillings School of Global Public Health and co-director of research for the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance. UNC Health orthopedic surgeons Drs. Jeff Spang and Dave Berkoff have also advised the alliance’s injury prevention efforts.
Ambrose said that Dorrance noted that the program would especially help coaches who have limited-time use of practice facilities and fields. Dorrance includes “Remain in the Game” exercises in his team’s warm-ups. “Some coaches, like those in youth leagues and community programs, only have so much time, so if it becomes part of the routine that they do, then it only takes a few minutes to get the benefits,” Ambrose said.
The alliance plans to launch an app in spring 2022 that coaches can use on the field during practices and others can use as they perform the exercises. The app will provide data that the alliance can use to improve the program.
