Sports injuries are extremely common in the United States. An estimated 3.5 million children suffer from sports injuries every year. The number of adults can that suffer from them its even higher.
Anybody that lives an active lifestyle don’t need to understand the risks and take all possible measures to mitigate the risk of sports injuries. Keep reading to learn more about the risks and precautions that you need to take, as well as steps to get back in the game after suffering an injury.
Understand the risks of sports injuries and know how to recover from them
If you’re an athlete, investing in your health is only logical. This rings true for professional athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and casual players. After all, you can’t do anything if your body is not working as you want.
Some sports and trees are more common than others. People are more likely to get injured playing tennis than many other types of sports.
Unfortunately, athletes will encounter injuries that they need to overcome. Sports demand so much from a physicality standpoint, and it’s almost inevitable that the body will break down at some point. While it’s true that you can always quickly recover from minor setbacks, sustaining a major injury will require you to undergo rigorous rehabilitation.
There are many things that people can do to recover from sports injuries more quickly. We previously mentioned that technology can be very useful these days.
For this reason, many athletes invest lots of their resources in active recovery and injury rehabilitation. They hire the services of their physical therapist or consult people who offer physical therapy in Livonia. Either way, the goal is to keep playing at a high level for a long time, mainly if they’re engaged in sports for a living.
Along with getting help from physical therapists, there are other things you need to remember if you’re coming off an injury. Never rush your recovery timeline; follow these tips to return to peak form.
1. Play Only When You Get the Green Light
You have to admit that there are things that you still don’t know about your body. For this reason, you should not get ahead of your rehabilitation timeline. There will always be the chance that you aggravate your injury, which would only force you to miss more time.
So the best thing to do is to listen to your doctor or physical therapist and play only when you receive the green light from them. There’s a reason why they are considered experts in their field, and it’s because they know more about the human body than we do.
2. Ease Your Way to Achieving 100% Status
Even if your injury has completely healed, it doesn’t mean your body is immediately ready for war. For major injuries, there’s a chance that you’re in rehab for several months or maybe a year. You haven’t been playing for a long time, meaning your body isn’t as flexible or robust as it used to be.
So before you exert your 100% effort, take the time to get your feet wet again. Go through light routines first, then increase the intensity as the days pass. This ensures that your body is steadily getting used to the grind, which would lessen the chances of injury reaggravation or muscle strains.
On the other hand, don’t take very long intervals between workouts or games. For example, you can rest for a day or two after a hard workout or an exhausting game. Other athletes also engage in active recovery, doing light workouts such as aquatic exercises and cycling.
3. Take Your Diet Seriously
At some point, we must listen to what our bodies tell us. In terms of diet and nutrition, there’s no one-size-fits-all program. Each body is unique, and that’s why you need to take your diet seriously.
This is particularly true when coming off an injury. For the most part, athletes returning from a long injury layoff must go through an intensive diet program. Athletes do this to not put too much weight on the affected part of their body, especially in the lower extremities.
If you have enough resources, getting help from a professional nutritionist can guarantee you’re on a proper diet. It might be more costly, but there’s no doubt that the investment will be worth it.
4. Never Skip Your Warm-up Routine
Watching a professional sports game, players do warm-up drills for several minutes. These athletes are in the best shape of their lives, and they’re still doing all these routines that look “basic” on the surface. This tells you how essential a warm-up routine is to ensure you’re in peak condition before a game.
Warm-up drills are not hard to do, so there’s no excuse for skipping them. However, if you don’t go through a proper warm-up routine, you just increase your chances of sustaining injuries such as cramps, muscle sprains, muscle strains, and other joint-related injuries. Moreover, there’s the chance that you aggravate your previous injury, which could only result in a more severe setback.
