 By Dr. Cathy Utzschneider
In this article Dr Vonda Wright talks about her Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes (PRIMA) and answers a few questions about injuries, injury prevention, and advances in orthopaedic surgery.
Dr VonyaWright Tell us about the Performance and Research Initiative for Masters Athletes (PRIMA).
PRIMA is the first orthopaedically based initiative focused on the masters athlete. We harness the resources of the Center for Sports Medicine that are normally reserved for the young or Olympic caliber athlete and focus them on masters athletes from week-end warriors to elite competitors.
I have a loose definition of athlete. To me, an athlete is anyone who works out in a focused way to reach a personal goal – whether the goal is a personal best or a medal.
Who are the professionals who provide the services?
They are people with masters degrees, M.D.s, and Ph.D.s – the same people who are faculty at the Center for Sports Medicine.
When did PRIMA open?
We began seeing patients in July of 2007.
How much does it cost?
We have two programs. We have PRIMA START, a program which brings a person literally from the couch to a 5K in 12 weeks. We meet twice weekly to do group exercise as well as have lectures on nutrition, mental training, and injury prevention and equipment fitting. That costs $300 for 12 weeks.
We also have PRIMA Athletes. These are the competitors who work out four to five times a week, compete in local, regional and national races of all distances and frequently place in their age divisions.
These people receive Orthopaedic physicals, performance, and nutrition evaluations as well as an analysis of body composition, VO2 max, and mental training. The goal is to identify their specific individual weaknesses and design a program that will bring them to the next level of performance while minimizing injuries.
People ask what is the key to continue to compete as a masters athlete? A lot of masters athletes will say “I am injured 50% of the time, and that totally sets back my race.” The key is to be smarter than we were when we were 20 and to know how to ramp up without being injured.
The PRIMA Athlete program cost is $1200 over a six month period of time. You have a pre-performance physical with me and access to me by telephone or e-mail for six months. You have a performance evaluation at our performance center and six individualized training sessions, during which a specific training program is designed. Nutritional counseling and mental coaching are also included.
Do people attending the program represent all kinds of sports interests?
Most of them are runners and triathaletes although I have a few rowers and tennis players.
Do people come from all over? If so, how does that work?
Most people now come from Pittsburgh or the surrounding states…. It’s only been going a year, and we hope to take it other cities.
As an orthopedic surgeon, runner, and researcher on masters runners, you know a lot about orthopaedic injuries. What particular advances in orthopedic surgery and healing should masters runners be aware of?
They should be aware of two things. First, clinically, surgeons are becoming more and more willing to apply the surgical techniques that have been previously reserved for the young athlete to the masters athlete.
Second, my own basic science laboratory as well as other laboratories around the country are exploring ways to use our own bodies to increase healing. For instance, my lab focuses on the use of muscle stem cells for increasing rotator cuff repair which is a huge problem for people who are maturing.
The co-PI of my lab, Dr. Fabrisia Ambrosio, is examining ways to make old muscle young again – at not only a tissue level but also at a cellular level. It’s very exciting.
What are the most common preventable injuries you see among masters runners? Are there ways they can be prevented and if so, what do you recommend?
Tendonitis in general is common among masters athletes. Achilles tendonitis is common, as is patellar tendonitis. Trochanteric bursitis and Iliotibial band syndrome – pain down the side of your leg – is also common.
Runners and many masters athletes in general, don’t stretch. Failing to stretch on a daily basis can be devastating to the masters athlete. As we age our muscles and tendons naturally become tighter and tighter. Unless we stretch them back out to their optimal length they are more easily pulled or torn when we expect high levels of function from them.
In addition, flexibility is key for joint motion. When your muscle and tendons are tight your shoulder, hip and knee range of motion decreases and this will mean a shorter stride for runners or less fluid strokes for swimmers. Over taxing tight muscles and tendons predisposes us to all kinds of tendonitis. I recommend that every muscle group be stretched statically and dynamically every day.
In addition to getting on a stretching program, you have to strengthen your lower leg muscles. The other common complaint I see in masters athletes of all sports is knee pain.
There are many reasons for knee pain in the masters athlete but no matter what the primary cause, keeping your quadriceps at peak strength will protect your knees from the pain of tendonitits, some instability and even early arthritis. As I tell my athletes, “the quads are the keys to the knees!”
Read Cathy's first interview with Dr Vonda Wright where she discusses aging.
Cathy Utzschneider Ed.D. (human movement), M.B.A., professor of goal setting and competitive performance, Boston College; coach, Liberty Athletic Club, MOVE and Women-Running-Together.com.
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This article was originally printed in National Masters News.
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