Injury Prevention in Sports

How can someone continue to play sports, year in and year out, without injury? All of us that play some type of sport know someone that seems impervious to physical harm. How is that possible? After looking over several sources, a few obvious points can be observed:

1.Muscle imbalances
2.Lack of preparation
3.Lack of proper recovery time

Muscle Imbalances: one of the most overlooked aspects of injury prevention by the novice athlete is muscle imbalances. When the quadriceps muscle (front of the thigh) and the hamstrings (biceps femoris, semi tendinosis/membranosis; back of the thigh) have dramatic differences in strength, sports injuries can occur more easily. During pivot movements, the most common cause of knee injuries, hamstrings frequently aren't strong enough to stabilize powerful extension of the quadriceps. When the shin muscles (anterior tibialis) aren't strong enough to stabilize the ankles during extension of the calves (gastrochnemius) ankle injuries can occur.

Lack of preparation: this is probably the biggest cause of injuries in sports, simply because it is so inclusive. The typical weekend-warrior type athlete that gets injured usually didn't prepare his/her muscles/joins by training them regularly with weights and sports specific exercises. Also, this type of athlete becomes injured more frequently than the experienced athlete because he/she doesn't prepare for each day's game by warming up properly and stretching as needed.

This is one of the main reasons to commit to a regular overall fitness routine. Regular cardiovascular exercise and weight training a couple of times a week with an overall full body routine takes very little time (relative to the rest of the week) and save those involved a great deal of future grief. Many, many sports injuries can be avoided if this were followed even a little bit more regularly.

Lack of proper recovery time: the body is amazingly adaptive, but it must be given the time to heal. The athlete that suddenly does a great deal more than his/her body is used to will improve if he allows his body to adapt to the new stresses by progressively doing more. If too much is done too quickly with not enough time for recovery, then injuries will occur.

So how can an athlete prevent future injuries due to sports?

Prepare: As mentioned above, to prevent sports injuries every athlete should go through a progressive strengthening routine to reduce muscle imbalances. And, for every actual event, warm up and stretch sufficiently every time you play!

Recover: Know when enough is enough. After the games are over for the day, make sure that you have had enough recovery and rest time for your body to heal and improve above and beyond where it was before you play again.

If a sports injury does occur, first apply the classic RICE principle: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. When an injury occurs, the body reacts dramatically by increasing inflammation of the area. RICE is designed to reduce the inflammation and can speed healing dramatically! Yes, that's right: if you apply this principle you can get back to playing again sooner! And, of course, if the injury warrants it, seek help from a doctor. If nothing else, x-rays can do wonders at finding out fractures, something that, unless you have an x-ray machine at home, you can't do on your own.

These are general yet effective tips to help keep any athlete away from injuries and, if injured, get them back in the game. By applying these strategies, staying aware of your workout surroundings and being constantly fitness conscious, athletes can continue to avoid sports injuries and have a long and prosperous career.