Whether you’re a professional athlete or weekend warrior, the same rules for preventing sports related injuries apply. Most injuries—except, of course, accidents—are preventable. Unfortunately, the methods for preventing these serious injuries that can sometimes take years to fix or are often forgotten or overlooked. Follow these four simple rules to prevent injury and stay on track to reach your fitness/exercise goals:
Rule #1: Warm up and cool down
While most of us know that a proper warm up before strenuous exercise is good for our muscles, many of us don’t spend enough time at this stage. The purpose of a warm-up is to get your heart pumping, blood flowto your muscles and joints, which helps prevent them from getting injured. Cooling down and stretching is equally important. A cool-down, like jogging stretching, brings your heartratedown at a gradual pace heart. Stretching also helps you maintain your flexibility, which is another important component of injury prevention. Don’t forget to stretch!
Rule #2: Pace yourself
Starting your workout at full throttle is an easy way to get hurt. While your determination is excellent, your body needs to gradually If you’re new to weight training, what’s more important than the weight you lift is your form (as discussed below). Lifting weights that are too heavy quickly lead to injury and torn muscle, which will force to take time off and therefore prolong your exercise goals.
Another important part of pacing yourself is ensuring you get enough rest in between workouts. Considering that rest days are when your muscles repair themselves and grow stronger, they are just as important as your time at the gym.
Rule #3: Wear proper equipment
No matter what, your performance will suffer without wearing proper equipment. There are many reasons to take what you wear seriously. Equipment like helmets, kinesiology tape, cups, mouthshin guards protect your vulnerable areas from injury. Your clothing also plays a significant role in your performance and physical safety:
Shoes: proper footwear that fits well and supports your arches and/or ankles. sports shoes should be worn during physical activity. Not wearing proper footwear can problems such as plantar fasciitis, sprained ankle, lower back pain, and shin splints.
Sportswear: Your clothing should not obstruct your movement in any way. It should be made of breathable material like cotton and have a considerable amount of stretch. It should also be able to withstand a great deal of sweat, and should therefore be easily washable. does not allow you to stretch and move as easily, which can lead to injury as it prevents a full range of motion.
Rule #4: Learn proper technique
If your knees hurt every time you bend down for a squat, you might be doing it wrong. If you’ve been weight training for months and still don’t see the results you were expecting, that’s also a hint that there’s something wrong with your technique. Learning the right way to train not only prevents injury, but it will also help you see results faster.
To learn the proper techniques:
personal trainer to spot you during your exercises to ensure you’re moving the right away. Having an extra set of eyes is a great way to gain better perspective on your movements.
A Selective Functional Movement Assessment® (SFMA) at a chiropractic and massage therapy clinic will allow your clinician to test and identify problem areas in your movement patterns that might be contributing to your pain during specific exercises.
While exercise and sport are crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it’s important to take care of your body before injury occurs. To book an appointment for chiropractic or massage therapy services, contact Pacific Health and Sports Therapy today.
