I think this applys you union as well -impact of "bulking up" on injuries

FORMER Australian rugby league captain George Peponis suggested the nature of today's football-related injuries, particularly pectoralis tendon tears, could be attributed to the players' weight-training programs, which had developed bodies the human frame cannot carry.

Dr Peponis, who skippered the Canterbury Bulldogs during ''The Entertainers'' era in the late '70s and early '80s, is a respected GP. He told The Sun-Herald the now common occurrences of injuries dismissed as ''freakish'' during his playing days should be a concern.

''It's why we're getting these injuries,'' Peponis said of the weight training. ''The tendons and ligaments don't grow, they can't expand, but the muscles are getting bigger and are putting greater strain on the muscles and ligaments than they've ever had before. That's why, in my opinion, we're seeing pectoral [tendon tears] and other things we've never seen before snap. I think I only saw one in 10 years [of playing football]. They were very rare.


"The tendons and ligaments don't grow, they can't expand but the muscles are getting bigger" ... Dr George Peponis. Photo: Steve Christo

''A simple way to look at [the strain on the ligaments and tendons] is if you had a single-axle semi-trailer, you can carry a certain amount of weight on it but, if you want to accommodate more weight, you need a double-axled semi trailer, otherwise something will give way.''

Last year, there was a 400 per cent increase in the number of pectoralis tendon injuries - which are more commonly associated with wrestling or bodybuilding - in the NRL. The toll prompted a review by the code's chief medical officer, Ron Muratore.

He asked clubs whether wrestling and dietary supplements were responsible for the likes of Newcastle five-eighth Jarrod Mullen, Manly co-captain Jason King and Canberra hooker Glen Buttriss being sidelined by the injury.

Peponis said there was little the game's hierarchy could do to eliminate the injury because every club wanted a ''competitive advantage'' and, in most cases, that started in the gym. ''When I was playing, we did weights for two months in the off-season, we never ever did them during the season,'' he said. ''It wasn't until the end of my career we started to do some light weights during the season. Now, weight training is all year round and every day …

''You look at these players now and they're cut, they're athletes now; much better athletes than we ever were. We'd get shoulder dislocations and broken bones and knee injuries, but now players are getting 'pec' muscles torn … and other freakish injuries.''

Peponis said the toll the game took on the body negated gripes about wages. ''They are exceptional athletes and they need to be because rugby league is … so fierce these days,'' he said. ''You have to admire them and respect what they go through because there are repercussions further down the track as they get older.

''Steve Mortimer had a hip replacement before he turned 50 and those things will happen because of the body contact nature of the sport … I don't begrudge them earning what they can because it is a short lifespan.''

George Hotel1895 wrote:http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/peponis-blames-bulking-up-for-injuries-20120616-20gor.html