ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. –
Members from the University of Maryland athletic department spoke about conducting physical training in the correct manner to prevent injuries April 28 at the Community Airman's Center here.
"The briefing was hosted by the 744th Communications Squadron and included guest speakers Darryl Conway, UM assistant athletic director of sports medicine, and Kala Flagg, UM injury prevention specialist," said Tech. Sgt. James Baird, 744 CS NCO in charge of airfield systems and member of the planning team for the event.
Joint Team Andrews members from the Malcolm Grow Medical Center physical therapy department, the fitness centers and health and wellness center attended the three-hour event.
"The briefing covered areas of injury prevention, proper running techniques, weight lifting principles and other subjects," said Sergeant Baird. "Diagnosis of individual runners was also available, followed by a question and answer session."
The briefing also covered areas that expanded on members' basic PT instruction.
"The 744 CS determined that we are taught the correct way to do push-ups and crunches, but nobody teaches you how to run," said Sergeant Baird. "This briefing was created to help improve run times, decrease injuries and motivate personnel through education."
This briefing gave members from Andrews valuable knowledge that may be utilized in the future.
"I feel the majority of individuals at the sports medicine presentation gained some valuable knowledge," said Maj. Mark McElroy, 779th Medical Group physical therapy element leader. "Having two experts in the field of sports medicine come to the base and present some of their talents was truly an honor. I would like to say that further partnering with some of our civilian experts in the sports field would be beneficial. I enjoyed the opportunity to make contact with them and hopefully in the future we can have some additional presentations through a partnering program."