Sports injuries happen to every athlete at some point, but there are many things you can do to prevent or reduce the severity of a sports injury. What do you do to prevent injuries? Do you have a favorite warm up, cool down, or training routine that you believe helps you avoid injury? Share your best tip with other sports medicine readers. Share Your Favorite Tips
Sun Salutations
- Sun salutatins increase flexibility and are a great warm up for all athletes that use all muscles
- —Guest JT
Know your limits
- Whenever I have tried to push my performance above a certain level the result was an injured muscle. I think it is important to know your limits and never try to overcome them without preparing your body with strengthening exercises etc.
- —Guest Messenian
Mix It Up
- To prevent injuries, as well as staleness and boredom with my trainging I cross train a lot. I mix up me workouts, locations, intensity and time of exercise. While it's not exactly 'focused training' I'm not usually competing -- I just want to stay in great shape and stay healthy. This really works for me! No sports injuries, aches or pains in 5 years and counting. Plus, I can go out with friends who train one sport constantly and keep up. This is the perfect result for me.
- —Guest Liza
insoles
- I found that in stead of buying new running shoes every six month I can save some money. replacing the insoles with a pair of high quality new insoles it makes my running shoes last three times longer. I am using "shockblockers"they are pricey, but help with joint pain, like in the knees and lower back. save you money (not buying new shoes)and working them in. When I am not running i am standing (I am a furniture maker) so I where them in all my shoes . My shoes last longer and my knees and back, hurt no more. I think that is a good tip for these times.
- —Guest klaas
How Do You Prevent Sport Injuries
- I like to do a gradual warm-up starting with using "The Stick" to roll over my muscles waking them up and increasing circulation. I then move on to sport specific movements such as leg swings. Perform your exercise routine or workout then cool-down with lower intensity walking. To finish things off, I roll out my muscles again with "The Stick".
- —KenZelez
Injury Prevention
- A good foundation is one of the keys to injury prevention. Strengthen all your joints, include balance, core work, and some ploymetric in your daily work out. Get a personal trainer to help you get this important foundation.
- —Guest Gustav
Pre-habilitation
- The best method for preventing injuries depends on the sport. Some of the most frustrating injuries are related to overuse. In these cases, it's best to optimize our ability to offload stresses that accumulate. This includes analysis by healthcare professionals such as podiatrists, physical therapist and athletic trainers. It's best if you find a professional who is also involved in or passionate about your sport. That isn't difficult to do, usually, because these healthcare providers are usually very active themselves. Good luck!
- —Guest jim0032
Balance Your Strength
- If you want to prevent injuries, your body should be prepared to protect itself from the stresses of your sport. The best way to do this is to continue to strengthen your body bilaterally. Balanced strength is key to allow one side of the body to counter-balance the load on the other while participating in a sport. Our bodies lose an average of 7 lbs of muscle mass for every decade we live after 40 years old. Because of this aging process, continued efforts to SAFELY improve your strength...upper extremities, lower extremities, trunk and core...regardless of your gender or age is a great way to prevent sports injuries AND improve performance. Free preventative sports medicine for Baby Boomers is available at Mike Ryan Fitness to help all of us to stay active and healthy.
- —Guest MIke Ryan
perfect practice makes perfect
- Perfect practice makes perfect! When practicing always be cognizant of your techniques, therefore you wont be as susceptible to injury.
- —Guest Renee
exercise injury prevention
- Wear proper fitting shoes. Find out if you need orthotics and make sure the shoe fits your foot, not the other way around. check out this cool machine iStep at your local footwear store. its checks your arch type, foot size and pressure points then tells you how to customize the shoe based on your specific foot problems.
- —Guest Karenp157
Stretching
- When I have a tight calf or quad muscle, after warming up I stop for a mild stretch of the muscle before increasing intensity. This allows the muscle to lengthen and have healthier response to the workout.
- —Guest Laura
warm up slowly
- I always do a slow warm up and never rush my workouts. I could get away with it when I was in my 20's, but now I need a ten minute warm up before I increase my pace.
- —Guest Sam
