If there’s one thing that’s going to hold you back from achieving your sporting ambitions, it’s an injury. In the worst cases, you might find that a particular sort of injury prevents you from exercising for months, or even longer: the dreaded anterior cruciate tear being a notorious source of sporting frustration.
In many cases, injury woes can be avoided altogether by developing the right preventative strategies. It’s almost always preferable to stop an injury from occurring than to deal with it after the fact. But exactly how can we prevent injuries from developing? Let’s take a look.
Warming Up and Cooling Down
Before you play competitive sport of any kind, you’ll want to ensure that you go through a thorough warmup routine, and a thorough cooldown afterwards. This means at least 10 minutes of focussed exercise. If you try to coast your way through this, then you’ll pay for it later. Over time, you should learn to focus and listen to the signal that your body is giving you. That way, you’ll be able to tell when you’re appropriately warmed up.
Wear the right equipment
Some high-intensity contact sports will actually demand that you wear protective gear in order to prevent injuries. These include obviously violent pastimes like ice hockey, but they also include things like cricket and football.
Take an ice bath
Submersing your body in freezing water immediately after intense exercise will speed up your circulation, theoretically allowing for faster recovery. It’s a practice that may yield worthwhile results for some people, but you should be aware of diminishing returns: just because a little bit of ice is effective doesn’t mean that a lot of it will be substantially more effective.
Cross-train
By pursuing multiple different kinds of exercise, you’ll be able to combat the muscular imbalances that might lead to an injury. Time spent on an elliptical machine, or a yoga mat, might make all the difference, especially if you’re putting in lots of time practicing the same repetitive motions.
Technological Advances
Luckily, the tech world has been working on creating ways to prevent injuries ahead of time, so the likelihood of being hurt and having long-term impact will be greatly reduced. For example, 3D running gait analysis will help runners to identify their running style, s
What if I do injure myself?
No matter how careful you are when it comes to injury prevention, it’s a near-inevitability that you’ll at some point develop an injury. Proper recovery means allowing your body the chance to repair itself, and to ease yourself gradually back into your previous exercise regimen. In some cases, you might need to rely on rehabilitation, aided by technological advances, such as BTE Multi Cervical Units and AlterG Anti-Gravity treadmills. If your injury isn’t healing however, a specific medical intervention, such as surgery, may be required to get you back on the road to recovery.
In some rare cases, you might find that the standard of care you’re provided isn’t up to the level you expect. This might mean that you can pursue legal action on the grounds of hospital negligence; get yourself a good, specialised solicitor, and get going.
