Preventing Injury During Exercise
About Exercise
Warm Up
Warming up your body before participating in an activity will help prevent injury.
For a warm up, jog or walk quickly for about 5 minutes. Once your muscles are warmed up a little do stretches to help get you ready for your activity. Depending on the sport or activity you are about to do, make sure you focus on stretching and warming up the muscles that you will be using. For example, if you are warming up to play baseball, take a few slow swings with a heavier bat then you would normally use. This will prepare your arms for hitting a ball with strong impact.
Cool Down
After playing a few sets of tennis, a game of basketball, or after running a few miles, make sure to walk a little when you are done. This will give your body a chance to cool down after an intense activity. After working out, your muscles are very warm from being used so much. Include stretching into your cool down. You will notice that you may be able to stretch a little farther than you did in your warm-up. This is good! This means that you have worked hard. You will notice that by stretching as part of your cool down you will become more flexible over time. Cooling down and doing some relaxing stretches are a nice reward after a workout.
Flexibility
In the book Staying Flexible, flexibility is defined as the mobility or range of motion of joint. The range of motion is how far your joint can rotate. This is determined by the natural structure of your joint. There is no standard to what the ideal level of flexibility is. It is most important just to do the best you can. Follow the stretches located above for better flexibility. Also, warm up before exercising and don’t forget to cool down when you are finished.
How flexible are you?*
Can you touch your toes?
Touching your toes without bending your knees has been known to test your flexibility. However, touching your toes tells little more than how flexible you are in the hamstrings and lower back. And, in order to keep you feeling good and safe from injury, flexibility in all parts of your body is important.
Can you sit with your legs outstretched and touch your head to your knees?
Most dancers can, but if you can, you may be trying too hard to become flexible. Forcing a stretch can lengthen ligaments as well as muscles. However, it is known that lengthening ligaments can sometimes lead to tears in the cartilage and other soft tissues. Thus, never try to force a stretch.
Do you often remind yourself to sit up straight and not slump?
If so, you should probably work on increasing the flexibility in your chest and shoulder muscles so that your posture while sitting and standing is more natural and less stressful.
Do you limp around the morning after a strenuous game?
If your favorite sport makes you stiff the morning after, you should be working on increasing your flexibility.
Do you have leg cramps at night?
Though cramps may bother you, they are harmless. But it may indicate that you need to stretch.
Do you suffer from backaches frequently?
Backaches are among the nation’s major health complaints. Many backaches can be prevented simply by increasing flexibility. Good posture and strong, flexible muscles in the lower back and pelvis may help keep pressure off the lower disks in your back. Flexibility can help prevent problems in your lower back.
These questions will give you a good start to knowing what you need to do to increase your flexibility.
*From the book Staying Flexible, edited by Charles Mee
Stay Fit
Your life long goal should be to live a healthy lifestyle. Three main goals to living a healthy lifestyle are to exercise, eat nutritiously and get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Setting apart time to meditate and relax is also important. However, everything should be in balance. This is the challenge given to everyone. Learn more exercise tips to stay fit. Find out the benefits of exercise, how much is enough, and what types of exercise are best. Also, check out some fun and nutritious recipes at the WIC Café. Improve your sleeping habits to the best of your ability. Most of all, remember that your health comes first. You will not be able to help others with the best of your ability until you are feeling healthy yourself.
Links about Preventing Injury During Exercise
Exercise: Healing and Preventing Injury
Family Doctor— http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/physical/injuries/010.html
University Health Services— http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/home/healthtopics/exerciseselfcare.shtml
Pedestrian Safety
Utahwalks.gov—http://utahwalks.org/images/pedestrian_safety.pdf
Preventing Injury During Exercise
American Academy of Family Physicians— http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/physical/basics/015.html#ArticleParsysMiddleColumn0007
Sports Safety
American Academy of Family Physicians— http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/physical.html
Disclaimer:
Exercise is not without its risks and this or any other exercise program may result in injury. To reduce the risk of injury in your case, consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program. The advice presented is in no way intended as a substitute for medical consultation. The Utah County Health Department/WIC Program disclaim any liability from and in connection with this program. As with any exercise program, if at any point during your workout you begin to feel faint, dizzy, or have physical discomfort, you should stop immediately and consult a physician.
