Avoiding Sports Injuries

We would much rather you didn’t pick up an injury than see you in treatment. We have put together some tips to help avoid injuries.

1. Do a warm-up

A good warm-up can help to prevent most muscle and tendon strains.

Warm up for at least five minutes, with three minutes of low intensity activity to increase blood flow in your muscles, followed by two minutes of stretching. Focus on stretching the muscles you are going to use but finish with your remaining muscles for an all-round warm up.

2. Start slowly and build up

Starting at a gentle pace allows your heart, lungs and blood pressure to adjust to the increased demands you are placing on your body. Allowing your body time to adjust can also help asthma sufferers to avoid an attack while exercising.

3. Don’t overdo things

If you overdo your exercise and push beyond your limits, you will experience stiffness over the next day or two. This happens when your unconditioned muscles struggle to cope with the build up of lactic acid and extra cellular fluid. Stiffness takes at least a week to settle, by which time all benefit of the exercise will have been lost.

4. Cool Down

Cool down is equally as important as warm up, it helps to disperse lactic acid in muscles and reduce the build up of extra cellular fluid. Cool down in the same way as you warm up, with three minutes of low intensity activity followed by two minutes of stretching.