Sports Medicine

Dr. med. Ulrich Schneider

Chief of

Sports Medicine / Internal Medicine

Whether performance or check-up examinations or squad testing for sports teams - competitive and top athletes go in and out of our sports medicine. Amateur athletes, sports novices and patients who want to use exercise and training for therapy also benefit from this know-how.

Our physicians and sports scientists examine health, endurance performance, check posture and measure strength in order to detect deficits and, if necessary, jointly create a training plan based on the respective personal goals and current ability. Our sports medicine department is the point of contact for athletes who want to optimize their performance, as well as for sports beginners or returners who want to start training well prepared and without risk. The sports medicine department is also the right place for patients with illnesses and sports medicine issues.

Prevention plays a major role in sports. Medical check-up examinations can prevent serious complications in sports and also at the same time make overloads clear and thus avoid them. In the Sports Medicine Department of the Hellersen Sports Clinic, we perform examinations for sports fitness according to the guidelines of the DGSP/ACSM and offer sports medicine consultations for health-oriented sports. At the same time, we are an examination center for squad athletes of the DOSB and the LSB.

Treatment focus

ECG
Long-term ECG
Exercise ECG
Long-term RR
Echocardiography
Performance diagnostics by means of spirometry and lactate analyses
Lung function

Performance diagnostics

An important performance focus in our sports medicine is performance diagnostics. Under medical supervision, physical fitness is assessed and performance is evaluated on an individual basis. The central questions: Is the athlete/patient healthy and in what form is exertion through sports recommended for him?

Performance diagnostics is therefore always preceded by a medical check. This can already exclude abnormalities, under whose conditions the test would not be possible. This initial check includes an anamnesis interview with a sports physician, a resting ECG and a resting blood pressure measurement.

Preparing for performance diagnostics:
Anyone undergoing performance diagnostics should arrive at the sports medicine clinic refreshed and healthy. This also means not training intensively or participating in competitions in the days before the test. The diet should be carbohydrate-emphasized in the run-up, but there should be two hours between the last meal and the test.

This is followed by the actual performance diagnostics. This is possible either on a treadmill, bicycle, rowing machine or on a hand-crank ergometer. During the test, a stress ECG is performed and the heart rate is determined via a chest strap. In addition, a respiratory gas analysis can be carried out and the lactate concentration determined via blood samples at the ear in order to record the degree of exertion. The evaluation of the results is part of the debriefing. In the discussion with the sports scientist, it is discussed where, for example, individual strengths and weaknesses lie, how improvements can be made and what should be avoided during training.

To obtain reliable data from your performance diagnostic examination, you should pay attention to the following aspects in the days before your performance test:

No intensive or circumferential training in the last 3 days before the test
The last competition should be at least 7 days ago
No low carbohydrate diet in the days before the test
No high carbohydrate drinks immediately before the test
Last meal and carbohydrate intake at least 2 hours before the test

Sportswear and towel
Utensils for showering
Clean running or cycling shoes

For cyclists: Shimano-SPD pedals (MTB) are available. For other systems, please bring your pedals as well as your shoes. Cyclists can also bring their road bike or mountain bike (mounting only possible with quick release and not with thru axle) and complete their test on the Cyclus2 ergometer.

If performance diagnostics have already been performed at another institute, documents from the test will help to assess individual performance development. Training records and/or previous medical findings can also be helpful.

The Back-Check is used as a test system for strength diagnostics. It is used to determine the muscular status of the trunk muscles. At the same time, sports medicine uses the test system to identify and quantify muscular imbalances. The test monitors the performance of the posture-stabilizing musculature and enables recommendations for health-oriented and targeted training of the trunk musculature.

Training planning is always individual and is based on the athlete's respective objectives - regardless of whether he or she is a competitive, amateur or ambitious hobby athlete. This can be, for example, the increase of endurance performance or structural competition preparation. The basic goal of training planning is to avoid overstraining and overload damage and to challenge the body only to a healthy extent. Therefore, training planning also includes regular medical checks for optimal and appropriate training, and training documentation. Targeted rest periods should also always be taken into account so that the body can adapt.

Bioimpedance analysis is used to measure body composition and derive energy expenditure. The analysis calculates the muscle, fat and water content of the body as well as the daily calorie consumption at rest. The calculation not only refers to the entire body, but also provides information about the distribution in the arms, legs and torso. The sports scientists at the Hellersen Sports Clinic also use the bioimpedance analysis to assess performance development, especially in sports where body weight is performance-limiting.

Since 1998, the Sports Medicine Department of the Hellersen Sports Clinic has had the status of a DOSB and LSB-NRW accredited examination center. This goes hand in hand with the task of examining athletes in the national and NRW state squads for health, performance and fitness for sport. And the DFB has also commissioned Sportmedizin Hellersen since 1998 for the examinations of the soccer league referees. Regular health checks are very important, especially in competitive sports, and are often a prerequisite for being allowed to take part in competitions.

The diving fitness examination determines whether the person is fit to dive and can safely practice diving. Our specialist performs the examinations according to the guidelines of the GTÜM (Society for Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine). Among other things, the examination records the general physical condition, the resting blood pressure as well as the heart rate and the blood pressure under stress. During a pulmonary function examination, the physician determines the vital parameters of the lungs (lung volume, vital capacity, etc.).