5 Steps To Reduce The Chance Of Sports Injuries
Exercising is fantastic for us. It helps keep us fit, healthy, toned and energized. However, you are always at risk of suffering from sports injuries if you don’t look after yourself properly. This goes for before, during and after.
How To Avoid Sports Injuries
So, how can you keep yourself safe and reduce the chance of suffering from sports injuries? Here is a short list with 5 steps you should follow to stay injury free during your indoor and outdoor exercise:
1. Warm Up
Never skip warming up, no matter what exercise you are doing. Your body needs you to warm both it and your muscles up. Getting straight into the tough stuff can cause injury, so don’t jump straight in!
2. Wear Supportive Accessories
If you already have a body part or a joint that is weaker than it should be, don’t even allow it to be susceptible to injury. Some bits of us may need a bit of extra padding or support in order to exercise safely.
Take your knee, for example. If your joints are weak and susceptible to injury, a copper knee brace will give it the extra support it needs. The presence of copper also helps protect against bacteria, odors and skin infections.
3. Know Your Limits
One of the biggest causes of injury through exercise is from people pushing themselves too hard. It is okay to push yourself, and challenge yourself, but doing either too much will cause injury.
For example, if your muscles simply aren’t strong enough to do a certain exercise that you ask of them, they can tear. Instead, you must work up to the harder exercises over time. That way you can build up your muscles safely.
Same goes for how much you exert yourself with running. Going for an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill is great, but not if it is going to make you faint!
Be sure you keep hydrated too. Doing so will allow you to exercise for longer, and replenish the fluids lost in your body due to sweat.
4. Wear Safety And Protection Gear
Some exercises are pretty safe, but you need safety and protection gear to do others.
Take cycling for example. If you are on a stationary bike in a gym or at home, you’ll be safe. But if you take a bike out in public, you are at risk of falling off. This is why you should always wear a cycle helmet whether you are at the park or on main roads.
Head injuries can be incredibly serious, and bike helmets save lives. Be sure yours fits you properly and isn’t too loose, or it could prove useless.
Same goes for things like rock climbing, and other outdoor pursuits of this nature. Cutting corner won’t provide you with the safety you need, and you could end up injuring yourself.
5. Rest If You Need To
Exercising often is good for you, but be sure you take breaks and rest when you need to. Your body needs time to recover between sessions. Hitting the gym the very next day after a hard workout could actually do you more harm than good. Rest can sometimes be just as good for your body as exercise.
So to avoid all those sports injuries, you need to put your health and safety first. Leave a comment below if you want to add more ways to stay safe while exercising and avoid getting sports injuries.