Preventative athletics training

Preventative athletics training covers all the non-medical and paramedical resources put in place to fully restore an athlete’s motor or functional efficiency, tailored to the demands of their sport. Liaising directly with the athlete’s medical, paramedical and technical staff, a preventative athletics training unit harnesses the full range of modern techniques to ensure an efficient and safe return to training and competition for athletes. This care is individualised. It takes into consideration all of the athlete’s physical, technical and mental aspects, as well as their training and competition context. Systematic profiling is carried out for new arrivals. This profiling, based on eight exercises, makes it possible to take a snapshot of the athlete when they arrive at INSEP and determine, working with staff from the various divisions and the federations, the preventative work to be organised in order to minimise the risks of injury and imbalance.

If they are injured, athletes are able to benefit from a treatment circuit following the medical and paramedical phases in order to be systematically profiled when they leave the “return to sport” department and tested on various physical indicators. Questionnaires are submitted to identify three stages: return to sport, return to training and return to performance.

INSEP offers a “dry” return-to-sport programme and a water-based return-to-sport programme (very deep 50m pool). The specific features of the aquatic environment make it possible to eliminate impacts on lower limb joints and contribute to a quick and progressive return to physical activity, without the risk of getting injured or making existing conditions worse. Aquatic fitness training is used by many INSEP sections as part of their general physical conditioning at the start of each season.