Warm-Up Exercises To Prevent Arthritis
Warm-up exercises aren’t just for professional athletes
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Warm-Up and Stretching Exercises
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Athletes of all ages - including kids - need to do warm-up exercises. Warm-up exercises can help kids avoid injuries now and, perhaps, arthritis in the future.
Some research indicates that children who play sports without doing warm-up exercises end up injured and develop arthritis when they’re older.
These sports-related injuries, especially in the knees and hips, increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis later in life. Children between the ages of 5 and 14 account for more than one third of all sports-related injuries, according to the Arthritis Foundation.
In April 2002, athletic trainers and sports medicine staff from the University of Missouri decided to help children learn how to prevent injuries.
MU strength and conditioning staff Bill Hughan and Kelly Cronin, athletic trainer Eric McDonnell, and other staff members visited five elementary schools in Columbia and Mexico, Mo., to teach students basic facts about arthritis and what they can do to prevent it.
During these visits, the MU staff taught about 750 kids to do the same warm-up exercises that all 500 MU Tigers do to prevent injuries. “I think we touched a large number of kids,” said Scott Stevens, Director of Life Skills for the MU Athletic Department. “The message was spread.”
And the kids had a good time.
After McDonnell explained basic facts about arthritis, Hughan and Cronin led several children through the warm-up exercises. Their schoolmates laughed as they watched the young volunteers try to imitate the two trainers.
Giggles aside, Stevens said teaching the children about the importance of warm-up exercises is crucial because most boys and girls play sports today, and some children even lift weights.
Many sports are organized and have adult supervision, said Stevens, but if a physical education teacher, a coach or a parent is not present, children often skip warming up.
Stevens said he hopes the presentation will help get the children in the habit of doing warm-up exercises, something that will benefit them in the long run.
The project is a cost-effective way of disseminating information about arthritis and its prevention, said Stevens.
“Pretty much the investment here is simply time. Not much financially,” he said. But if it prevents arthritis, that could have a big impact financially. Research shows that arthritis costs the United States about $65 billion in direct and indirect costs. In addition to the fiscal costs of arthritis, it is the No. 1 cause of disability in this country. Osteoarthritis affects 21 million people in America.
The presentations marked the first partnership between the MU Athletic Department and the Arthritis Foundation to teach school children about arthritis. The project began when the Arthritis Foundation’s Central Missouri Branch approached the MU Athletic Department about the possibility of teaching children about arthritis prevention.
Stevens said the MU Athletic Department wants to continue the “joint” project with the Arthritis Foundation in the future.
Click here to download pdf version of exercise and stretching descriptions.
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