How to prevent a sports injury? Many gurus have come and gone, and everyone has their take on how to avoid injuries. When you scroll through social media, you often see advertisements for wonder drugs or quick five-minute routines; however, it is not always that simple or easy. Various factors do play a role in the prevention of injuries and the rate of recovery.
Anatomy
Firstly, unfortunately, some athletes have particular anatomical weaknesses making them more susceptible to injuries; therefore, they are more prone to injuries. In most cases, there are subtle warning signs that will indicate damage. The key is to be screened by a medical professional to exclude any anatomical variants that predispose you to injuries. When these variants are identified, the athlete can receive the necessary equipment or orthotics, to mention a few.
Sports injury prevention: Rest and nutrition
Resting and refueling are sometimes overlooked by most; however, it is simple and very effective. Imagine driving a high-performance vehicle around a race track; you will have to stop the car at some stage to refuel, not just any fuel, high octane fuel, to get the most out of the vehicle. Resting gives your body the vital time to recover and heal itself from sustained microdamage from training or competing. That is the same when we push our bodies during training or competitions; therefore, a tailored eating plan for the athlete’s demands is recommended.
Sports injury prevention: preperation
Furthermore, preparing your body for exercise and competing is a vital part of injury prevention. The purpose of warming up is to ease both the mind and body from rest to active. A simple warm-up routine will include cardio work, gentle loosening exercises, dynamic stretching, and sport-specific exercises. Everything in this routine will increase your heart and respiratory rate; therefore, increasing blood flow to the muscles. The simple warm-up routine with sport-specific exercises will also give the athlete a feel of what to expect when the competition starts; this will increase focus on technique to avoid injury. Cooling down after strenuous exercise and match is also just as important as warming up. This procedure will allow the muscles to go back into a state of rest; therefore, recovery can be facilitated, preventing tightness and the build-up of lactic acids.
Sports injury prevention: Sports Chiropractic
Please seek advice from one of our qualified sports Chiropractors here at Chirohealth with any of your concerns or questions. These consultations will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about how to prevent injuries. At the consultation with one of our sports Chiropractors, they will assess, treat the sports injury: furthermore, they can tailor a warm-up routine and recommend stretches. More on the International Federation of Sports Chiropractic, click here.
Conclusion
To conclude, an injury can happen to any athlete at any level and at any time. When you follow a couple of simple rules from the health care providers, you can minimise the risk of injuries. To read more on sports injury, read our previous blog article here.
