Physical activity at all its levels presents both advantages and risks associated with the maximum demand. This time we show you the essential tips to prevent sports injuries.
Sports promote a huge amount of benefits with their regular practice, thus gaining immense popularity for improving the quality of life. However, there is another side of the coin that is starred by physical difficulties. Hence, knowing the best tips to prevent sports injuries is crucial.
The causes of sports injuries in most cases are closely linked to poor execution techniques, disproportionate efforts for a long time, sudden variation in intensity and unnatural movements.
In turn, there are considerations regarding the limits that the body supports and the use of appropriate equipment for each activity. Now, it is time to learn the best practices to develop to reduce the risk of injury. Keep reading!
Tips to prevent sports injuries
The tips to prevent sports injuries that we propose are not isolated. That is, they increase the chances of being effective when applied together.
In addition to this, it should be considered that there are greater possibilities of physical inconveniences in women, since they exhibit the following characteristics as a population (not applicable to all athletes):
Greater joint instability.
Higher risk of low calcium and vitamin D levels, especially in menopause.
Reduced space for the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee.
1. Carry out a proper warm-up
The first tip to prevent sports injuries is to strictly carry out a warm-up process. Although this is elementary, the fact of having been in a discipline for a long time generates, at times, overconfidence.
The average duration of the warm-up should be 15 minutes. Likewise, stretching, moderate jogging and a gradual series of resistance are recommended. The effects of a correct adaptation process are expressed below:
Better blood flow and oxygen transport to the muscles.
Adaptation to competitive movements.
Increased range of motion due to increased flexibility.
2. Apply the correct technique
Adding years doing a sports activity does not mean that the ideal execution mechanics are being used. In fact, it could mean the accumulation of unwanted stresses in areas that sooner or later can trigger an injury.
For this reason, study and take care of each of your movements before increasing the demand. It is recommended that the physical trainer carefully observe the executions and make the pertinent indications to perfect the technique.
3. Maintain hydration level
Hydration is essential, since during exercise there is a noticeable loss of fluids. This condition is aggravated when a hot environment is added. The basis of the advice is to replace what was lost to maintain homeostasis and promote later recovery.
In this sense, the absence of the necessary amount of fluid in the body causes weakness, lack of coordination and lack of concentration, which reduces control over movements and can lead to injuries.
4. Identify the limits
Sports have an emotional component. In this way, many times the will dominates the power, making the movements reach points that are out of the possibilities and injuries occur.
Therefore, another of the tips to prevent sports injuries is knowing how to identify the maximum physical contribution of the body and cultivate that sensitivity to the signals it denotes.
5. Opt for sports nutrition
You cannot aspire to deliver great performance and distance yourself from injury without eating the optimum balance. In this case, the nutrition presents generic characteristics in terms of the proportion of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals. However, the real difference is in the customization of the diet.
For this reason, the athlete requires a private professional who orients the meals to the demands. In addition, each one exhibits dissimilar needs that must be addressed. Considering this, recurring injuries can be controlled.
6. Receive massages after practice
Massages are a very effective option against muscle problems. Therefore, applying the traditional and deep tissue variants after exercise releases tensions.
A decontracting massage once a week achieves risk reduction goals. Beyond that, other possibilities are the following:
Hot stone massage.
Lomi Lomi or Hawaiian massage.
Trigger point massage.
7. Rest until recovery
Rest is perhaps the most effective of the tips to prevent sports injuries. In theory, it should end when muscle recovery is complete and the athlete feels complete freedom of movement without discomfort. Of course, in professional practice it is difficult to achieve this, due to the tightness of the calendars.
If a person does sports with flexibility in their schedules, you have to take rest days interspersed and not train in such close proximity. It also becomes feasible to resort to training for different muscle groups each day.
Tips for preventing sports injuries enhance the experience
Tips for preventing sports injuries are ways to minimize the chances of physical injury. However, there are unpredictable events in which you must act quickly using rest, local cold, compression and elevation.
As a closing consideration, when perceiving discomfort in the execution of certain movements that a sport or routine requires, the best alternative is to go to a specialist immediately to find the cause in time. Don’t let it get complicated!