The weather will someday get warmer here in Chicagoland, and
hopefully we find ourselves becoming more active! All activities bring with some risk of
injury. The most common type of injury
is one we can control, an overuse injury.
Sprains, strains and stress fractures are all types of overuse injuries
from working out or playing sports. Most
of these can be avoided! Here are some
tips on how to minimize your risk of injury:
1.
Stretch – A proper warm up including some type
of dynamic stretching will increase the blood flow to your joints and muscles
and create a more comfortable workout or practice. Static stretching (a held stretch for 30-60
seconds) after workouts will help elongate muscles and prevent post-workout
soreness.
2.
Use proper form – With any activity, whether it
be driving a car or playing basketball, if you do not use correct form,
excessive stress is placed on your joints.
Over time this stress can lead to pain, muscle spasm and injury.
3.
Listen to Your Body – Stop if you are in
pain! If you continue to exercise
through pain, you may cause more injury and prolong your healing time.
4.
RICE – “Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation”. If you do encounter pain during your workout,
or sustain a traumatic injury be sure to follow the principles of RICE
immediately. The longer you wait to care for an injury, the more damage that is
done.
5.
Strengthen- Performing strengthening exercises
to areas where you are weak will only help improve your workouts. If you love participating in cardio, try
adding 2 days of strength training to your regimen. You will prevent painful overuse injuries,
and improve your endurance during your cardio workouts!
6.
Rest- It is important to rest from exercise one
day per week. Or, take a break from your sport for at least one month per
year. Researchers have found that the
young athletes that are at the highest risk of injury are those that only
participate in one sport. Your body
needs to engage in different movement patterns, this will only make you a stronger
athlete!
One of the reasons Jen Bazan and I started TheraCORE was to
include a concept into our practice that many physical therapists, trainers and
coaches leave out - injury prevention.
There are many things that you can do to prevent injuries weather you
are an avid runner, or just trying to sit at your computer without pain. TheraCORE offers injury prevention seminars
to teams looking to prevent ACL injuries or rotator cuff tears, to companies
who want to teach their employees better postural awareness. Please give us a call if you are looking for
more information!
- Amy Goebbert, PT, DPT
