5 Ways You Can Decrease Your Risk of Injury

Injuries are one of the biggest setbacks to an athletic career, improving in your sport, or staying fit. It can also lead to a lack of motivation, frustration, and impatience. There is no way to prevent an injury 100% of the time. However, you can do some things to decrease your risk of injury.

1. Warm Up

Warming up is extremely important to a successful workout or training session. However, it’s even more important to reducing your risk of injury. By warming up, you’re making sure that your muscles are receiving enough blood and nutrients to work properly. Starting a hard workout before warming up means you’ll be working muscles when they don’t have enough fuel to take on a hard workout. Think of turning on your car in the cold weather and trying to accelerate fast. Your car has a harder time running without properly warming up first. It’s similar to working out before warming up. Strains are one of the most common injuries resulting from not warming up properly.

2. Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep means your body is getting the rest it needs to perform at optimal speed. It means you’ll be more alert and less likely to end up with a traumatic injury from a stumble and fall. The body needs sleep to rejuvenate. Without that rejuvenation time, you’re more likely to injury yourself.

3. Know When To Rest

Over-training is one of the biggest leaders of injuries, especially overuse injuries like strains. Similar to getting enough sleep, your body needs time to rest between hard workouts. Overworking your muscles means putting more strain on them than what they can handle. Knowing your limits and listening to your body can mean the difference between staying pain-free and getting an injury.

4. Know Your Weaknesses

Everybody has a weakness. This weakness is what leads to injuries like strains and tears. Learning where your weaknesses lie means that you can target those muscles and strengthen them. Athletic trainers and physical therapists are especially knowledgeable in determining a weakness. They can then suggest proper training techniques and exercises that will strengthen those areas.

5. Cross-Train and Condition

Ensuring you’re working all the muscles means that you’re strengthening your body as a whole. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments all support each other. Whether you feel like you’re using a particular muscle or not, it’s supporting your body in one way or another as you work. Cross training will ensure you’re working all the muscles of the body, and not just specific ones. Cross training and conditioning leads to overall fitness, making sure you’re strong and well rounded.

OSR Can Help You Stay Injury-Free

Yes, it’s impossible to avoid the risk to injury 100% of the time. However, you can decrease your risk. The physical therapists and athletic trainers at OSR Physical Therapy can help you on your road to minimizing your risk to injury. We will help make sure you’re targeting your weakest areas, properly conditioning, and properly training. Stay injury-free today with the help of OSR Physical Therapy.