Athletic Trainers
Libby King and Matthew Nicolai
From Orthopedic Rehab Specialists
(517) 699-7453
Libby King MS, AT, ATCLibby graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Athletic Training and from Ball State University with a Master’s Degree of Science in Exercise Science. She joined the ORS family in 2019. Her clinical interest is mostly in soft tissue manual therapy. Libby is certified in BOC, “Heads Up to Clinicians”, and BLS. When she isn’t working, Libby enjoys spending time with her cat, weight training, hiking, and collecting vinyl records,
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Matthew Nicolai AT, ATCMatthew graduated from Saginaw Valley State University with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Athletic Training and Austin Peay State University with a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration. He then joined ORS in 2019. Matthew is clinically interested in using the Graston Technique® and is BOC certified. He is the youngest of three and has a black tabby cat. In his spare time, Matthew enjoys spending time traveling with his girlfriend, reading, running, and biking.
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Athletic Trainers are Educated and Experienced in Providing:
- Injury prevention
- Immediate injury care
- Injury assessment
- Rehabilitation and conditioning
- Education and counseling
Getting Ready for Sports?
Here are some tips to help keep you from getting injured.
MSU Sports Medicine
- Don’t exercise too hard too soon. We all have a lot of enthusiasm initially when we start an exercise program, but your body needs to get used to the new activity you are asking it to do. Slow and gradual increase in activity works best.
- Make sure you warm up before any activity. This increases oxygen to your muscles and lets them know that you are going to ask them to work. It also gives you time to focus on what your body is telling you. Does it hurt anywhere? Do you feel strain or tightness anywhere? These are signals that you may need to change the intensity or the actual activity that you were going to do.
- Understand your sport and how to do it properly. Get training in it if you have to.
- Dress properly for your sport. Wear safety equipment if your sport calls for it. Wear appropriate foot gear that fit your feet. Layering clothing is a good idea, so you can peel the layers off as you get hot.
- Take some rest days for your body to recover.
- Use cross training activities to use different muscle groups and not the same ones. This gives you a total body work out and helps to maintain muscle balance.
- If you do get injured, listen to your body and stop. Seek the help of a physician if you have any questions or concerns.
MSU Sports Medicine
How much water should I be drinking?
Factors that influence water needsYou might need to modify your total fluid intake based on several factors:
In addition, beverages such as milk, juice and herbal teas are composed mostly of water. Even caffeinated drinks — such as coffee and soda — can contribute to your daily water intake. But water is your best bet because it's calorie-free, inexpensive and readily available.
Sports drinks should be used only when you're exercising intensely for more than an hour. These drinks help replace electrolytes lost through perspiration and sugar needed for energy during longer bouts of exercise.
Energy drinks are different from sports drinks. Energy drinks generally aren't formulated to replace electrolytes. Energy drinks also usually contain large amounts of caffeine or other stimulants, sugar, and other additives.
Staying safely hydratedYour fluid intake is probably adequate if:
To prevent dehydration and make sure your body has the fluids it needs, make water your beverage of choice. It's also a good idea to:
Athletes — especially if they participate in long or intense workouts or endurance events — are at higher risk of hyponatremia. In general, though, drinking too much water is rare in healthy adults who eat an average American diet.
- Exercise. If you do any activity that makes you sweat, you need to drink extra water to cover the fluid loss. It's important to drink water before, during and after a workout. If exercise is intense and lasts more than an hour, a sports drink can replace minerals in your blood (electrolytes) lost through sweat.
- Environment. Hot or humid weather can make you sweat and requires additional fluid intake. Dehydration also can occur at high altitudes.
- Overall health. Your body loses fluids when you have a fever, vomiting or diarrhea. Drink more water or follow a doctor's recommendation to drink oral rehydration solutions. Other conditions that might require increased fluid intake include bladder infections and urinary tract stones.
- Pregnancy or breast-feeding. Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding need additional fluids to stay hydrated. The Office on Women's Health recommends that pregnant women drink about 10 cups (2.4 liters) of fluids daily and women who breast-feed consume about 13 cups (3.1 liters) of fluids a day.
In addition, beverages such as milk, juice and herbal teas are composed mostly of water. Even caffeinated drinks — such as coffee and soda — can contribute to your daily water intake. But water is your best bet because it's calorie-free, inexpensive and readily available.
Sports drinks should be used only when you're exercising intensely for more than an hour. These drinks help replace electrolytes lost through perspiration and sugar needed for energy during longer bouts of exercise.
Energy drinks are different from sports drinks. Energy drinks generally aren't formulated to replace electrolytes. Energy drinks also usually contain large amounts of caffeine or other stimulants, sugar, and other additives.
Staying safely hydratedYour fluid intake is probably adequate if:
- You rarely feel thirsty
- Your urine is colorless or light yellow
To prevent dehydration and make sure your body has the fluids it needs, make water your beverage of choice. It's also a good idea to:
- Drink a glass of water or other calorie-free or low-calorie beverage with each meal and between each meal.
- Drink water before, during and after exercise.
- Drink water if you're feeling hungry. Thirst is often confused with hunger.
Athletes — especially if they participate in long or intense workouts or endurance events — are at higher risk of hyponatremia. In general, though, drinking too much water is rare in healthy adults who eat an average American diet.
Sports Nutrition
The importance of sports nutrition
Consuming the right balance of food and drink is important for everyone. Yet those actively participating in sport on a regular basis need to be aware that it can also affect their performance. Athletes, for example, may need more calories than the average person. So if you’re an athlete, or simply someone who’s made the decision to start exercising on a regular basis, you shouldn’t let a good nutrition plan fall down on your list of priorities.
Sports performance and energy
Fats, protein and carbohydrates all provide your body with fuel to maintain energy. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel used by working muscles. Adequate intake is essential for preventing muscle fatigue. While you should monitor your fat intake, you should not remove it from your diet completely. Fats provide fatty acids that can be used as a source of energy - especially if your exercise sessions last longer than one hour. Fats also provide the building blocks for hormones and formation of cell walls. Protein can be used as a source of energy and is critical for building new muscle tissue. If you are taking part in resistance training, your body will require additional protein.
Weight management
To maintain a healthy weight, eating well is crucial. If you are looking to lose weight for sport, strictly reducing your protein, fat or calorie intake can not only have a negative impact on your performance, but it can severely harm your body.
The types of food that you should include in your diet for optimum sports nutrition include:
Hydration
It’s crucial to stay hydrated when you are taking part in sports. Inadequate fluid intake leads to dehydration. This affects your performance; and can be dangerous for your health too. Although dehydration can happen in any activity, it’s more prevalent when exercising in hot and humid conditions. Water is perfect for rehydration, but if you are engaged in physical activity for longer than one hour, sports drinks that include electrolytes can be helpful.
After the event
Even if things haven’t gone to plan in your game, or you’ve had to walk the last half-mile of your run because of fatigue, you shouldn’t neglect your nutritional needs. It should be a priority, no matter what the result is. Athletes, casual runners, footballers and so on typically do not consume enough fluids when they are taking part in events, or even training. So restoring the balance after the event is crucial. Water is perfect for rehydration.
How a sports nutrition professional can helpThe aim of a sports nutritionist or dietitian is to create a nutrition plan for an individual’s training needs. The plan will incorporate both food and hydration. It doesn’t matter if you're casually exercising or training for a professional event, sports nutrition is integral to performance. These strategies can also help to:
Nutrients
Carbohydrates
There are two key forms of carbohydrates – starchy or complex, and simple sugars. Simple sugars are carbohydrates, found in refined products and provide a sweet taste. Simple sugars are naturally found in milk products, fruit and vegetables. They can also be added to foods using white sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses and maple syrup etc. Though all of the sugars which we eat (whether they occur naturally or are added) are used by the body in the same way, it is better to get your simple sugars from foods in which they occur naturally as these foods also contain fiber and important nutrients.
Complex carbohydrates, also known as starches, include grains such as bread, pasta and rice. Similarly to simple sugars, there are some complex carbohydrates that are better than others. Processed refined grains such as white rice and white flour are less favourable as the nutrients and fibre are removed.
Instead, nutritionists recommend that where possible, individuals opt for unrefined grains, which are still packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Fats
Fat is an essential component of any diet as it helps the body to absorb nutrients as well as being a great source of energy.
Although fats are important, we should still attempt to monitor how much we are eating. Large amounts could lead to excess weight gain and could result in an increased risk of serious health concerns.
Saturated fats are commonly found in animal products and processed foods such as meat, dairy and chips. This type of fat is not considered to be healthy for the heart and is thought to raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
Unsaturated fats are found in foods such as avocados, olives, nuts and oily fish. They are considered to be heart healthy, can work to lower your LDL cholesterol levels and raise your HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
Protein
Protein is present in every cell of the body and is important for helping to build and repair tissues. It’s also used to make enzymes, hormones and a variety of additional body chemicals as well as forming the building blocks of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood.
Protein foods include meat, fish, eggs, pulses, nuts, seeds and soya products.
Consuming the right balance of food and drink is important for everyone. Yet those actively participating in sport on a regular basis need to be aware that it can also affect their performance. Athletes, for example, may need more calories than the average person. So if you’re an athlete, or simply someone who’s made the decision to start exercising on a regular basis, you shouldn’t let a good nutrition plan fall down on your list of priorities.
Sports performance and energy
Fats, protein and carbohydrates all provide your body with fuel to maintain energy. Carbohydrates are the primary fuel used by working muscles. Adequate intake is essential for preventing muscle fatigue. While you should monitor your fat intake, you should not remove it from your diet completely. Fats provide fatty acids that can be used as a source of energy - especially if your exercise sessions last longer than one hour. Fats also provide the building blocks for hormones and formation of cell walls. Protein can be used as a source of energy and is critical for building new muscle tissue. If you are taking part in resistance training, your body will require additional protein.
Weight management
To maintain a healthy weight, eating well is crucial. If you are looking to lose weight for sport, strictly reducing your protein, fat or calorie intake can not only have a negative impact on your performance, but it can severely harm your body.
The types of food that you should include in your diet for optimum sports nutrition include:
- vegetables
- whole grains
- fruit
- sources of lean protein and low-fat dairy produce
- healthy fats.
Hydration
It’s crucial to stay hydrated when you are taking part in sports. Inadequate fluid intake leads to dehydration. This affects your performance; and can be dangerous for your health too. Although dehydration can happen in any activity, it’s more prevalent when exercising in hot and humid conditions. Water is perfect for rehydration, but if you are engaged in physical activity for longer than one hour, sports drinks that include electrolytes can be helpful.
After the event
Even if things haven’t gone to plan in your game, or you’ve had to walk the last half-mile of your run because of fatigue, you shouldn’t neglect your nutritional needs. It should be a priority, no matter what the result is. Athletes, casual runners, footballers and so on typically do not consume enough fluids when they are taking part in events, or even training. So restoring the balance after the event is crucial. Water is perfect for rehydration.
How a sports nutrition professional can helpThe aim of a sports nutritionist or dietitian is to create a nutrition plan for an individual’s training needs. The plan will incorporate both food and hydration. It doesn’t matter if you're casually exercising or training for a professional event, sports nutrition is integral to performance. These strategies can also help to:
- increase energy levels
- promote good health
- help manage weight
- improve concentration
- develop body composition and growth
- enhance recovery.
Nutrients
Carbohydrates
There are two key forms of carbohydrates – starchy or complex, and simple sugars. Simple sugars are carbohydrates, found in refined products and provide a sweet taste. Simple sugars are naturally found in milk products, fruit and vegetables. They can also be added to foods using white sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses and maple syrup etc. Though all of the sugars which we eat (whether they occur naturally or are added) are used by the body in the same way, it is better to get your simple sugars from foods in which they occur naturally as these foods also contain fiber and important nutrients.
Complex carbohydrates, also known as starches, include grains such as bread, pasta and rice. Similarly to simple sugars, there are some complex carbohydrates that are better than others. Processed refined grains such as white rice and white flour are less favourable as the nutrients and fibre are removed.
Instead, nutritionists recommend that where possible, individuals opt for unrefined grains, which are still packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre.
Fats
Fat is an essential component of any diet as it helps the body to absorb nutrients as well as being a great source of energy.
Although fats are important, we should still attempt to monitor how much we are eating. Large amounts could lead to excess weight gain and could result in an increased risk of serious health concerns.
Saturated fats are commonly found in animal products and processed foods such as meat, dairy and chips. This type of fat is not considered to be healthy for the heart and is thought to raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels.
Unsaturated fats are found in foods such as avocados, olives, nuts and oily fish. They are considered to be heart healthy, can work to lower your LDL cholesterol levels and raise your HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
Protein
Protein is present in every cell of the body and is important for helping to build and repair tissues. It’s also used to make enzymes, hormones and a variety of additional body chemicals as well as forming the building blocks of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood.
Protein foods include meat, fish, eggs, pulses, nuts, seeds and soya products.