Trinity Health - FASTER Injury Prevention Program

Overview

Trinity Health launched its FASTER (Flexibility, Agility and Strength Together Equals Ready) injury prevention program for area schools in summer 2007. The program, which consists of a variety of exercises with and without equipment, is designed to prevent specific common injuries that athletic trainers typically see with secondary school athletes. Examples are throwing overuse syndromes, ACL injuries, posterior shoulder weakness, and muscle imbalances that may cause knee, shin, or lower-back pain.

Impact

Trinity Health’s Sports Medicine team decided in spring 2007 to pilot the FASTER program with a local high school baseball team due to the high number of shoulder, elbow, and lower-back overuse problems experienced by athletes in sports that require throwing. The program was offered four times per week in the pre-season and twice per week after the season began. Results were outstanding. Each spring, the team experienced an overall increase in timed tests for foot speed, core-strength plank holds, as well as single-leg depth jump. Prior to the start of the program, the baseball team averaged five overuse injuries per year. Since the program’s inception, the baseball team has had only one overuse type injury. It should be noted that the team also managed to win the State Class “B” Baseball Championship three of four years.

Challenges/success factors

Support from coaches is an absolute necessity. Incorporating the program into the beginning of a practice can be most beneficial and can be fit into approximately 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the amount of equipment available and number of athletes. Most of the equipment needed is very cost-effective. The most expensive item has been pre-fabricated plyometric boxes, which some schools are capable of constructing themselves. Other equipment includes agility ladders, cones, Swiss/fit balls, balance discs, medicine balls, and Thera-Bands®. Many of the activities utilize the athlete’s body weight with no equipment required.

The FASTER program can be run with many different athlete levels of strength, speed, and flexibility since each exercise has different phases to make it harder or easier. It is up to the individual to decide how hard he or she wants to make it. It’s also a very adolescent-friendly program in that it doesn’t require weight lifting, and is fun due to the variety and mix of exercises.

Future direction/sustainability

Based on the success of the pilot program, Trinity Sports Medicine now offers its FASTER program during summers at area high schools. Because the equipment is relatively inexpensive and provided by the schools, the price of the program has remained reasonable, which greatly affects the number of athletes able to participate. What began as a trial at one school has now become a standard for 12 school and community athletic programs. It also expanded into a hockey-specific program with local figure skating groups also taking part.

FASTER continues to grow, with other area schools expressing interest in adding the program not only in summer but during the school year. Since 2011, the number of high schools and community teams taking advantage of the FASTER program has grown 50 percent. Also, the program has been extended to community colleges within an 80-mile radius.

Advice to others

Marketing this type of program to athletes and coaches is the first step. Offering a presentation, which includes showing the athletes and coaches the exercises and having them perform the activities, sold Trinity’s program easily. The trial’s success with the baseball team ensured the program’s success for the first summer. Sixty-five student athletes signed up the first time the trial program was offered at school. Providing pre-testing parameters to identify progress or weakness also proved a valuable selling tool.

Secondly, be prepared to take the show on the road. Several rural schools use Trinity Sports Medicine services. Many have taken to the FASTER program, numbering  12 to 18 athletes per session. Offering the program at these schools has helped increase attendance numbers because specific teams sign up to work out together. And given that the program is offered primarily to grades 5 through 12, it’s much easier for parents to take their younger athletes to their nearby schools rather than having to travel to a larger city.

Finally, having a wide variety of exercises keeps the program fresh and the athletes challenged. Watch for new ideas for dynamic warm-ups and specific exercises for injury prevention. Trinity Sports Medicine runs its program to timed music, which adds to the enjoyment and keeps the athletes fired up during the workout.

Contact: Mary Muhlbradt
Community Relations Coordinator
Telephone: 701-857-5116
E-mail: mary.muhlbradt@trinityhealth.org