Stretching limits pain, NU trainer says
By Jeff Apei
Staff Reporter
A little warming up will go a long
way in helping to combat iryuries
suffered during exercise, but still
doesn’t immune anyone from sustaining
muscle pulls or sprained ankles.
Nebraska assistant trainer Jack
Nickolite said that anyone who exer
cises should do some light jogging or
walking before they participate in
strenuous activity in order to stretch
out their muscles.
But, Nickolite said, the best defense
against suffering nagftng injuries sus
tained during exercise is to see a
qualified physician before the training
program is begun. He said that a
physician can tell a person whether or
not they should participate in an exer
cise program and can also advise an
individual on the type of exercise they
should endure.
“No to people are exactly alike,''
Nickolite said. “Certain types of exer
cise will be more appropriate for some
people, while some types will be better
for others.
‘‘For some people, the best thing
may be to not exercise at all."
Nickolite said a physician would
advise an overweight person to avoid
jogging because of all the lower-body
pressure that would be created through
the constant pounding of the feet.
■—— ---—i
He said a physician would also tell a
person to avoid certain types of exercise
or to avoid exercising as a whole if
heart conditions or other types of
dangerous body faults are present.
“It’s essential that a person receive
a full physical,” Nickolite said. “That’s
the first and foremost thing 1 would
do.”
Nickolite said individuals can also
help themselves by beginning their
exercise programs slowly and then
increasing them, and also by working
out the same number of days each
week. He said an individual should also
see a physician if they sustain an acute
ir\jury — such as an ankle sprain —
during training.
Nickolite said he sees more iryuries
from “weekend athletes" than he does
from athletes who participate in sports
on a regular basis. He said that "week
end athletes” are more subject to
ii\jury because they often are not in as
good as physical shape as they need to
be.
Nickolite said the final element that
all people involved in an exercise
program should remember is to not
become frustrated. He said individuals
often become tired of their programs
because they are either not seeing
results or are constantly sore from
taking the wrong approach to the
exercise.
Softball s popularity
could strike out,
officials say
By Jeff Apel
Staff Reporter
With a decrease in participation
expected in the near future, Lincoln
Parks and Recreation officials are
planning how to use the Capital City's
softball fields in an alternative fashion.
Steve Hiller, the assistant superin
tendent in charge of athletics and
aquatics at the Lincoln Parks and
Recreation Department, said he pro
diets that Lincoln’s interest level in
softball will decrease in the near future
because of two factors.
Hiller said those factors include the
fact that Lincoln doesn’t have enough
of a population base to go beyond its
current 665-team status, and the fact
that the generation of individuals who
were born during the "baby boom" era
of the late 1940’s and early 50’s is
losing interest in softball because they
are reaching their middle to late 30’s.
"I really don’t see us growing,”
Hiller said. “We’ve been fairly con
sistent in terms of participation the
last couple of years, but we're expecting
a decrease."
Hiller said the Lincoln Parks and
Recreation Department plans to combat
the expected decrease by either playing
fewer games at each facility or using
the softball fields for soccer. He said
these two alternatives would help to
eliminate some of the concerns that
were raised by Parks and Recreation
Department officials.
"We have to take care of the masses
who want to play so we have to build a
number of expensive facilities," he
said.
Stan Campbell, the director of
campus recreation, said he can’t pre
diet whether Lincoln’s downtown trend
will effect the intramural softball pro
gram at UNL.
. See SOFTBALL on 8
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