10 Easy Ways to Reduce Athletic Injuries
In the United States, children and teenagers alone experience over 3.5 million sports-related injuries each year. Injuries at a young age can cause lasting health problems to form, which then worsens with time.
Regardless of your age, an active lifestyle comes with the risk of athletic injuries. Yet by taking the proper steps beforehand, you can lower your risk of experiencing a problem or injury. So what can you do to stay safe?
Keep reading to learn about ten different steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of athlete injuries.
1. Warm-up Beforehand
When you’re in a hurry, it can be easy to neglect to warm up before a workout. Yet doing so increases the chance of injuring yourself.
Easing into exercises instead of jumping into them pumps blood to your muscles and increases your body temperature. That allows them to expand and contract without issue. Tendons and ligaments that are tight and cold can experience ruptures, sprains, and other injuries.
2. Upgrade Sports Gear
It’s essential to check your equipment for signs of damage or age. If you spot any problems, make sure to upgrade and purchase a safe and new piece of equipment.
For example, if you’ve worn down the treads on your running shoes, they’re not going to protect your feet. That means that your shoes won’t provide you with the required support, increasing the chance that you’ll experience shin splints or fractures.
Check out this website to learn more about how the right insole can provide you with shin relief.
3. If You Can, Wear a Helmet
The most serious type of athlete injuries is brain injuries. Concussions are a mild form of a brain injury, but they can still cause serious health effects if you don’t treat them. Millions of people get concussions each year.
If you play any contact sport or do any activity that puts your head at risk, you must wear a helmet. You should also make an effort to duck or dodge when necessary. There’s nothing shameful about sparing yourself from brain damage that may be permanent.
4. Stay Hydrated
Drinking water throughout the day is essential for all people. If you’re an athlete, it’s more important.
If you live in a hot climate, it’s easy to become dehydrated. Yet allowing your body’s water content to go down 1% can have huge ramifications on your body. You can experience cramps, headaches, dizziness, and heatstroke. As recommended by most basketball sites, make sure to stay hydrated before, during, and after a workout.
5. Practice Proper Form and Technique
When you work out, make sure to keep a proper form. Doing so helps limit your chance of injury.
Aside from working out, you should also pay attention to how you move throughout the day. For example, lifting an object with your legs instead of your back shifts the labor away from your lower back and onto stronger muscles. If you’re not sure how to do something, don’t be afraid to ask a coach or expert.
6. Don’t Over Train
The moments when you first start working out or doing a new sport are exciting, leading many people to dive in full force. Yet if you’re not careful, you can overexert yourself and cause injury.
Any proper training regimen should have time for rest days. Practices should also be varying difficulties; on some days, they should be high-intensity, while other times more relaxed.
7. Train in a Safe Environment
The environment that you train or workout in can also have an impact on the likelihood that you’ll suffer an injury.
Depending on the sport, a safe environment can mean several things. If you’re playing on a field, make sure that there are no holes or hidden changes in elevation. If you’re elevated off of the ground, make sure that there’s a mat beneath you. Any floor you’re on shouldn’t be slippery.
8. Eat a Balanced and Healthy Diet
When you eat healthy foods, it keeps your body working as it should. Healthy foods promote strong muscles and bones and also let your body recover if something goes wrong.
As a general rule, try to consume foods that are colorful and natural as opposed to processed. It includes different fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy carbohydrates. Drinking enough water throughout the day is also a part of any healthy diet.
9. Cool Down Afterwards
After a high-intensity workout, your body needs to spend time to cool down and get rid of lactic acid buildup. Factor time for a walk or slow jog after a workout, and you’ll cut down on the severity of soreness the next day.
You can also incorporate stretching into your cooldowns. It will increase your body’s mobility, limiting your risk of injury.
10. See a Physician When Necessary
If you suspect that you’ve suffered an injury, it’s important to make a trip to see a doctor. Doing so can help prevent the injury from getting worse.
If you’re worried about suffering an injury, consider visiting a sports medicine professional. They can help create a customized workout plan for you that’ll help prevent injury. They can also explain how to do certain exercises correctly.
Avoid Athletic Injuries With These Tips
If you’re someone who enjoys exercising and staying active, it can seem difficult to avoid certain athletic injuries. Yet by following this guide and these ten tips, you’ll be able to limit their damage and prevent them from happening in the first place.
Do you have any other tips on how to avoid sports injuries? Make sure to tell us in a comment down below!
If you enjoyed reading this article, make sure to check out some of our other blog posts for more guides and tips.
