Adherence to the recently updated NSCA document can help limit liability in your weight room.

This article provided by Training-Conditioning

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) released an updated version of the “Strength and Conditioning Professional Standards and Guidelines” in December 2017. This document is intended to help identify areas of risk exposure, increase safety, and decrease the likelihood of injuries that might lead to claims and suits. Its goal, overall, is to improve the standard of care being offered in strength and conditioning programs. It is a valuable resource for every person who oversees a weight room or strength and conditioning program.
“The document provides a digestible format of key legal concepts relative to strength and conditioning, and is a reference for quick determination of what has been established as a legal standard vs. what is a suggested guideline,” explains N. Travis Triplett, PhD, CSCS*D, FNSCA, lead author and President-Elect of the NSCA. “This is really the only document of its kind available for the field of strength and conditioning. It uses examples specific to strength and conditioning, and addresses situations most likely to be encountered in the strength and conditioning field.”
The strength and conditioning profession involves the combined competencies of sport/exercise science, administration, management, teaching, and coaching. Practitioners must also comply with various laws and regulations while responding to instances of potential injury and related claims and suits. This creates remarkable challenges and requires substantial experience, expertise, and other resources to effectively address them, especially in multisport (e.g., collegiate and scholastic) settings.
Ample resources are available in some of these settings but in many others, they are not. Budgets, equipment, facilities, and staff are often limited (or lacking altogether), with a resulting mismatch between the participants’ demand for safe and effective programs and services and the institution’s provision of them. It is important for strength and conditioning practitioners and their employers to understand that this standard of care is a shared duty. The institution and individual are thus jointly responsible for fulfilling it.
“This document is most appropriate for the strength and conditioning professional working in a college or high school,” explains Triplett. “While there are elements that can be used universally among all strength and conditioning professionals, it is not specific enough for personal trainers or tactical strength and conditioning facilitators.”
The standards and guidelines are based on published scientific studies, pertinent statements from other associations, analysis of claims, and a consensus of expert views. There are nine primary areas of importance, which encompass 11 standards and 14 guidelines.
“The primary updates involve the incorporation of the latest data and statistics related to the legal aspects of strength and conditioning, such as injury and participation data,” says Triplett. “There is also new information regarding safety in outside environments (e.g., lightning protocols).”
It is hoped that strength and conditioning practitioners and the institutions employing them will mutually benefit from applying this information, and in turn significantly enhance the quality of services and programs provided to their athletes.

You can download the Strength and Conditioning Professional
Standards and Guidelines at this link: bit.ly/2iKGRiY.

With summer upon us, here are some Heat Illness Prevention Strategies

This article was provided by Training and Conditioning

By Rebecca Moore

In 2015, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) published a Position Statement on Exertional Heat Illnesses to present best-practice recommendations for the prevention, recognition and treatment of exertional heat illnesses and to describe the relevant physiology of thermoregulation. This document outlines years of research and data that give athletic trainers a solid foundation to understand and prevent heat illness. In terms of prevention, their tips can be broken down into three categories: acclimation, hydration and education.

 

Heat Illness Prevention Strategy #1: Acclimation

Just like you wouldn’t ask an athlete to enter a practice or game without warming up, you shouldn’t expect them to start practicing in warm temperatures without adjusting them to the heat first. The NATA suggests that developing a pre-season heat acclimation policy should be your first step in heat illness prevention.

“Individuals should be acclimatized to the heat gradually over 7 to 14 days…The first 2–3 weeks of preseason practice typically present the greatest risk of exertional heat illness, particularly in equipment-intensive sports. All possible preventive measures should be used during this time to address this high-risk period” (Casa et al. 2015).

Alongside this policy, a careful medical screening should be administered during pre-season to identify athletes with risk factors. Some of these risk factors include history of heat injuries and a prior muscle, tendon or ligament injury (Casa et al. 2015).

 

Heat Illness Prevention Strategy #2: Hydration

According to the NATA’s Position Statement covering Fluid Replacement for Athletes, establishing a pre-exercise hydration, hydration and rehydration protocol for athletes is another key staple in preventing heat illness. Here are the NATA’s recommended considerations while building an efficient hydration strategy:

• Athlete’s sweat rate
• Sport dynamics
• Environmental factors
• Acclimatization state
• Exercise duration
• Exercise intensity
• Individual preferences (SOURCE 2).

 

Pre-Exercise Hydration

Getting ahead of hydration issues can prevent them from happening in the first place. “To ensure proper pre-exercise hydration, the athlete should consume approximately 17 to 20 fl oz of water, or a sports drink two to three hours before exercise, and 7 to 10 fl oz of water or a sports drink ten to twenty minutes before exercise” (Casa et al. 2000).

 

Hydration During Activity

It’s easy for both coaches and athletes to get carried away during practices and games; everyone wants to compete, keep up a strong pace and get the most out of every minute. However, not taking breaks to maintain proper hydration levels is extremely detrimental to the health of each athlete; no matter how much of the event they’ve participated in or the environment in which the event is taking place. Just how much should athletes be hydrating? According to the professionals at the NATA, it depends on the sport.

“A proper hydration protocol considers each sport’s unique features. If rehydration opportunities are frequent (e.g., baseball, football, track and field), the athlete can consume smaller volumes at a convenient pace based on sweat rate and environmental conditions. If rehydration must occur at specific times (e.g., soccer, lacrosse, distance running), the athlete must consume fluids to maximize hydration within the sport’s confines and rules” (Casa et al. 2000).

An appropriate hydration plan involves many factors, but most notable is having unlimited beverages available to athletes at all time. To check this off your hydration plan checklist, purchasing equipment like the Cramer PowerFlo Pro Hydration Unit gives everyone access to safe hydration on the field. Especially convenient when working in multiple locations and changing fields regularly, this unit has a rechargeable battery and zero-maintenance wheels that never go flat. Portability and stability that can’t be beat!

 

Rehydration

Post-exercise rehydration restores any fluid loss accumulated during a game or practice. Ideally completed within two hours, rehydration should contain water to restore hydration, carbohydrates to replenish glycogen stores, and electrolytes to speed rehydration (Casa et al. 2000).

Many athletic trainers or team physicians measure hydration with urine color against a color scale. But, an easier (and less invasive) method of hydration measurement is monitoring body weight; athletes should see less than 2% body weight reduction post-activity.

“I think it all starts with educating our athletes,” said Mike Harrison ATC, LAT, Sports Medicine Coordinator and Head Athletic Trainer at Allen High School. “We weigh our athletes in and out every day in the hot months, and for every pound that they lose they have to make that up with 20-24 ounces of fluid.”

 

Heat Illness Prevention Strategy #3: Education

You can’t prevent what you don’t understand or aren’t anticipating. As healthcare  professionals, it’s essential that athletic trainers take control of their athletic environments and properly inform coaches, athletes, administrators, parents on the signs and dangers of heat illness.

Need help getting started? Here are some potential topics that you can cover:

• Preventing heat illness
• Recognizing heat illness
• Treating heat illness
• Best drinks for hydration
• Sleep regulations
• Proper diet
• How to rest the body effectively

To find data to support these topics, expert advice on heat illness and return to play recommendations, read through the NATA’s Position Statement on Exertional Heat Illnesses. Together, we can all play a huge role in reducing or eliminating these conditions and keep the athletes where they belong; on the field.

Cramer^® | 800-345-2231 | www.cramersportsmed.com

 

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Sources:

Casa, Douglas J., et al. 2015. National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Exertional Heat Illnesses. Journal of Athletic Training 50.9: 986-1000.

Casa, Douglas J., et al. 2000. National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for Athletes. Journal of Athletic Training. 2000;35(2):212-224.