Bounce back

DOWN at the gym, Mike Basham is doing some gentle leg curls. The York City centre back may not be under quite the same pressure to get back to match fitness as Kieron Dyer or David Beckham. But with pre-season training due to start on July 3 and his leg only just out of plaster after an operation to strengthen tendons and ligaments in his ankle, he can't afford to sit around.

His injury was typical of that which plagues many professional footballers, whose bodies are pushed to the limit.

"Over a period of time I've gone over on my ankle three to four times," he says. "It was a kind of weakness, so I had the operation to try to make it stronger."

After the operation he was in plaster for six weeks - and in that time, the muscles on his injured leg have noticeably wasted.

So as soon as the plaster came off, he started a six-week rehabilitation programme devised for him by his specialist. It begins with workouts on the cross trainer and exercise bike. After ten days he'll take to the treadmill for some running, before finally kicking a ball again.

The exercise is vitally important, he says, to enable him to build up his muscle strength.

"I find the quicker I do something with an injury, the quicker I recover," he says. "For example, if it's a torn hamstring, as soon as I can jog, I do jog."

That doesn't mean going too far too fast, he stresses. He will only do pain-free exercise while recovering from injury. "Otherwise you're pushing it too far."

Phil Walker, fitness manager at Fitness First in Clifton Moor, York, where Mike is doing his rehab, says the same applies to anyone else recovering from a sports injury - only probably more so.

Sporting professionals like Mike and England's World Cup stars are under pressure to recover as quickly as possible from injury, he says.

"The rest of us can be a bit more sensible. We don't have a World Cup to be fit for - as much as we might want to!"

So a vital part of recovering from sports injuries for the mere mortals among us is rest, he says.

That's not to say exercise properly managed can't help the healing process. An exercised injury will not only heal quicker but will heal more effectively, Phil says.

"Normally scar tissues collect around an injury and this tissue will remain if exercise is not taken.

"As a result, the body part will be far more susceptible to a repetitive injury as the scar tissue will not have healed and the injured fibres will not have realigned properly."

But it's important not to push too hard. Exercise, Phil says, can help speed up the healing process and have a positive impact in the long term.

"But you need to exercise to the right level and not attempt to run a marathon on a sprained ankle," he says.

"With an injury it is essential that not only is the injured part of the body exercised but that it is also given a considerable amount of rest.

"If you take a hamstring injury, for example, once the initial intense pain has disappeared you need to do gentle stretching exercise to build strength in the area, ensuring that you rest the injured area on alternate days."

Just what kind of exercise regime to follow will depend on the nature of your injury and how severe it is.

As a general rule, if you feel discomfort while exercising to recover from injury, you're doing too much, Phil says.

Here are a few simple tips from Phil to help you when planning your recovery regime - though remember, the best form of exercise programme will depend on your own personal circumstances and it might be worth consulting the physio or sports masseur at your gym.

Leg fracture

The regime will depend on the severity of the fracture. Generally, Phil says, once your leg comes out of plaster it is best to begin with some 'minimal resistance' exercise such as swimming, where no weight is brought to bear on the injury. He would recommend swimming up to three times a week, and keeping that up for up to four weeks.

You can then move on to light gym work - avoiding the treadmill to begin with, because that will put unnecessary strain on the injury. Instead, he recommends, try cardiovascular exercises such as the cross-trainer or exercise bike.

In between exercise sessions, it's important to rest and keep off your feet as much as you can, he says. You should give your injury time to heal, and be very careful to avoid aggravating the injury, for example by twisting the injured limb.

Sprain

The first thing is, rest the injured limb for a couple of weeks and relax as much as possible. Then, when you're ready for some exercise, do a couple of weeks of light gym work on the exercise bike, before finally moving on to the treadmill a couple of weeks later.

Muscle tear

These, Phil says from experience, can take months to heal. He once tore a pectoral muscle and it took three months. So you will have to be patient.

The most common cause of muscle tears, Phil says, is not warming up properly first before exercising or playing sport. Proper warm-ups are extremely important for any sportsman or woman.

For a serious tear, Phil recommends going straight to a sports therapist or sports massage therapist. "They can assess where you have torn it, the severity of the tear and give an estimate of how long it will take to heal," he says.

If it is only a minor tear, that may not be necessary: but it is still essential to rest the injury - for a couple of months at least if you are having treatment, longer if you are not.

Only then is it time to begin some very light exercise - stretching and flexing movements to begin to build up strength.

It is vitally important not to be impatient or push too hard, he says. "Otherwise you can end up damaging yourself even more."

Updated: 10:05 Monday, May 27, 2002