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by Russell Jones I speak to this topic firsthand as a parent whose daughter suffered a knee injury playing women’s basketball and as a fitness expert who shakes his head at the lack of teaching of position and engagement of the right musculature to promote the right action. While theories abound as to why there are so many ACL Knee Injuries, none are really new. Yet growing numbers of our young athletes are undergoing surgeries that will take 8-12 months of tough rehab to get back to their sport. Few come all the way back, many never play again. I closely followed my oldest daughter's basketball career from 5th grade up through college. I also drove her to all the Doctor, Chiro, PT and hospital visits as well. Multiple ankle injuries, torn knee PCL & chondromalasia, stingers, various stitch work & 10 concussions (I'm still not sure what the concussion protocol was back then). After all this, my perspective is that the greatest thing a parent can do for their child's life in sports is to get really WISE. The reality is that you just can't trust your kid's health to Coaches, Trainers and the Medical community. There is so much mis-information that is blindly accepted as truth in sports. Just look at the incredible number of injuries in all sports at all levels for both women and men. It's staggering. As I see it there are 2 problems. The failure to properly prepare for competition. And allowing athletes to return to action too soon after an injury. I've learned that what controls your structure is your muscles and what controls your muscles is your nervous system. When muscles turn on and off properly they absorb force coming into the body. That's very important when you want to protect joints like your knees! And if an athlete does not train their nervous system properly, they may get beach muscles but they will get just as injured and sometimes more injured than someone who doesn't train at all. If muscles are not absorbing force, they are not protecting joints like your knees. I can remember my daughter 'coming back' from a severe ankle injury. It was in an air cast and still swollen. But she was tough and a star player and the team 'needed' her. So the school's trainer put her through some 'tests' to be sure she was okay to return. She jogged through some 'suicides' and then did a slow ladder drill... and she was cleared to play! Think about this. Crutches can hold you up and they can also hold you back. If someone immobilizes your ankle, where do you think the force will go? Not the air cast. It will go to your knee, your back and it will make your 'good' leg work that much harder. You develop neurologic compensations that perfectly set you up for more injuries. At least by the time my youngest came along, I was exposed to training that made sense. It took time and hard work to develop real strength needed to excel in sports. A big deception in sport's training for young people is the alleged 'results'- stronger, faster, bigger. The reality is most kids would get stronger, faster and bigger doing just about any kind of consistent hard work while eating a healthy diet rich in proteins, fats, vegetables and some fruit. I'm not going to yell about how my child's coach runs his team or picks who plays. But I am going to be the parent when it comes to my kid's health. And if that means questioning conventional wisdom regarding preparation to compete or when it's appropriate to return from injury, that's my job. Find a year round training system since real strength is not gained from just some pre-season exercises. When you see a team that your child is on not preparing properly, do it yourself. In season, you need only adapt the volume of outside work to whatever the coach is or is not doing. If you need help, let me know. www.MyBackandBodyClinic.com

by Jane DoCampo I read so often in scoliosis forums and support groups about people who have undergone bracing or surgery to treat their scoliosis, but next to nothing about the importance of training the body to improve itself alongside these treatments. I find that many people who have tried a brace or surgery to correct their scoliosis still experience pain and discomfort. Just as we learn a job, a sport, an instrument, or any other skill, a person with scoliosis needs to: Learn essential skills to improve awareness, coordination, and proprioception, and to build strength. ?Yoga for Scoliosis training can help people with scoliosis to relieve pain and improve body posture in the long term. It is crucial to: 1. Move the curve in and move the concavity out Your skilled Yoga for Scoliosis teacher can bring your attention to the location of your curves and give you exercises to contract and build strength in muscles that are over-lengthened, fatigued, and weakened around the curve. Different exercises will expand and build strength in muscles on your concave side that are shortened, underutilized, and also weak. This way, you can develop enough strength to restrain the progression of your scoliotic pattern and begin to reverse it while relieving aggravated muscles. 2. Elongate to decompress the spine Besides working with your lateral curves, you can learn actions to move out of hyper-kyphosis or hyper-lordosis, which are compressive in either the front or back of the spine, and build enough strength and knowledge to maintain a more neutral lengthened spine. These interventions can reduce muscle strain, the entrapment of nerves, wear and tear on joints (and remember the spine is a series of joints), and improve organ function. 3. Recognize how the rotation of your spine is affecting your whole body Scoliosis can create pain and wear and tear in the neck, shoulders, back, chest, pelvis, knees, and feet. Learn to de-rotate the spine and train your musculature to support better positioning from head to toe to find relief. 4. Empower yourself with the right tools Yoga for Scoliosis classes teach you life long skills which, with consistent effort and correct action, can be applied to all your activities to improve your quality of life. Braces and surgery are passive treatments and will not teach your body how to address the underlying momentum of scoliosis—a lifelong condition. Braces and surgery should always be paired with appropriate training of the body and mind—Yoga for Scoliosis can help! Jane DoCampo is the co-owner of My Back and Body Clinic in Woodcliff Lake, NJ www.MyBackandBodyClinic.com New Jersey’s home of Yoga for Scoliosis and back pain relief! She was certified to teach backcare and wall ropes classes by Alison West of Yoga Union Backcare, Scoliosis and Therapy Center, NYC where she is also a member of the teaching faculty.