Avoid Sport Injury This Year!
As all of you have probably said during January, “new year – new me.” Since you’re off to a fresh start in 2018, why don’t you take this opportunity to learn how to avoid sporting injuries early in the year before they even happen!
Common factors that contribute to sporting injury:
- Training errors
- Age
- Excessive or repetitive loads
- Inappropriate footwear
- Structural abnormalities
- Muscle control
- Core stability
- Joint alignment
- Muscle strength and flexibility imbalances
- Previous injury
- Posture
Research shows that 50-70% of non-contact Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are preventable – this proves just how important it is to have an injury prevention program!
Avoiding over-training injuries
Whether you’re running, swimming, weight lifting etc, it is important to push yourself to improve your performance and reach your fitness goals but this does not need to be at the cost of an injury.
Tips to avoid over-training:
- Don’t increase exercise difficulty level too quickly
- Follow a training or exercise plan that gradually builds up intensity
- Pay attention to your body to read signs of over-training with muscle strain, tension or pain
- Don’t expect to make up 7 months of inactivity in one exercise session
- Aim for long term fitness goals rather than overnight success
Physios are experts in movement and work with people of all ages and all sporting capabilities. How a Physiotherapist can help you prevent an injury:
- Assess and monitor your flexibility, strength, and endurance of muscles to achieve desired fitness level
- Create a individualised warm-up and cool down routine for your specific sport or exercise
- Determine whether symptoms are due to overuse or over-training and not something more serious that needs specific treatment
- Improve your strength through specific exercises
- Pinpoint training errors and provide a safe fitness plan
- Correct mistakes with your form while performing your chosen activity
- Develop an individualised training plan that is specific to minimising injury while also meeting your fitness goal.
The common misunderstanding with Physiotherapy is that you only see them for pain relief. However, Physiotherapists are experts in future injury prevention. Whether you’re an office worker or an athlete, and despite your fitness level, injury prevention is applicable to everyone.
Call our lovely reception staff on 38691099 to book in for a Physiotherapy session with one of our movement experts!