Getting In Shape

[Bernie Beckerman]

I'm an emergency physician and a referee and I think the most important thing for most of us is to stretch, especially the legs. I have seen too many people over the years who were running and suddenly ruptured their Achillees tendon. In most cases a ruptured Achillees means surgery...and of course the end of the season. For some it can also be the end of their refereeing career.

[zebraman]

I lift weights for 45 minutes a day and do 30 minutes of cardio (stationary bike or stairclimber) during the off-season, five days per week. Since tearing my achilles 4 years ago (see post above), I now do 20 minutes of stretching on my workout days as well.

[Chess Ref]

I pretty much do what the zebraman does. And for 45 I am in great shape. Also what Bernie says....I play lots of tournament tennis and the single most important injury prevention thing I do is Stretch and lots of it.....

[jkjenning]

Originally Posted by Bernie Beckerman

...I think the most important thing for most of us is to stretch, especially the legs.

Big ditto!
After taking my daughters through plyometrics training, I took away a basic set of warmup routines that I always do beforehand:
straight-leg toes
straight-leg heels
straight-leg march
lunges, forward/backward
...the goal is to stretch and also raise your core temperature before you begin running.
As far as building up to running a great deal, take it slow since running as an official is completely different than running as a player (i.e. someone chasing you!) - chances are we will have enough standing around time to get completely rested after a few sprints anyway.

[GarthB]

There's a fairly decent 12 part series on "Official Fitness" on the paid portion of this site that was written, in part, with the cooperation of Dr. P.Z. Pearce, Medical Advisor to the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon ( and seven time finisher of the event) a team phsysician to the Seattle Seawhawks, advisor to Gonzaga University athletic department, member of US Olympic medical and drug committee, Medical Advisor to the US Marathon Association...among other positions.

Dr. Pearce sugests that one warm up the body prior to stretching. He also states that flexibility, cardio/vascular fitness, strength, endurance and balance/agility should all be part of any fitness program.

He points out that injuries to athletes and officials usually are caused by what he refers to as "novel action", meaning a movement that is unexpected or that which the body has not been prepared to undertake.

While including all the elements of fitness in a home program sounds daunting, with some simple workouts and 30 to 40 minutes six days a week, I've found it easy to do.

http://allsports.officiating.com/x/article/5244