Playing sports is mentally and physically good for you, whether you’re a weekend warrior or maintain a consistent focus on a particular sport. However, you also put your body at risk of a variety of  injuries. Below, guest author John Hawthorne has six steps you can take to avoid some of the most common sports injury below. 

There is no better way to enjoy staying fit and healthy than playing sports. Not only does it make you feel great, it also provides a great social platform to make lifelong friendships, but if you suffer from an injury, it can have a major impact on your life. If it is serious, you may have to miss work. If you’re not covered for it or self-employed, this can spell financial disaster. That is why I have put together this simple six-step guide to help you avoid suffering from sports Injuries.

1) The Warm Up

One of the biggest causes of sports injuries is the participant not warming the body up correctly. It is vital that you take the time to loosen up the joints and muscles along with increasing blood flow before you start to fully exert yourself.

2) Protective Sports Gear

One way to avoid injuries is to make sure that you are wearing the best protective gear depending on the sporting discipline your taking part in. Make sure you have every part of the body protected that is allowed to be protected, such as mouthguards, knee guards, shin pads, etc.

3) Healthy Diet

One of the most important aspects you will need to undertake is maintaining a healthy diet. This should be protein-rich to help your muscle grow along with helping to repair injuries. Dehydration is another factor that can cause serious health problems which is why you will need to drink lots of water.

4) Recovery And Rest

It is important to recognize the signs of an injury so that you can help to prevent it from happening. Getting the right amount of rest and minimizing motion along with pressure on the injured joint is the best way of preventing it from escalating. After you have finished playing, using ice packs or even a cryo chamber is the best way to reduce inflammation along with decreasing the flow of the blood where the injury is located. If you are in lots of pain from running around, try sleeping with your legs elevated to help reduce swelling by draining fluids.

5) Interval Training

One of the best ways to help to increase your cardio is by using interval training. This means going slow, then fast, then slow again. It will help you to last longer as more oxygen will be circulated slower around the body. Adding a warm-up session before you take part in any sporting activity is the best way to use interval training. You also use this form of a workout after the event finishes so that you can cool down the body gently without overstretching muscles.

6) Know Your Limits

If you are extremely competitive you will want to push your body to the limit to make sure that you win. That can backfire though if you push your body past its physical limits, that’s when injuries start to happen. Try to build up your endurance over a longer time period so your body can get used the physical demands before pushing it to the max.

There are many different kinds of injuries you can suffer from: strained tendons, ligaments, sprains, abrasions, cuts, dehydration, hamstring and groin strains, fractures, broken bones and more. Following the steps above can help you to avoid suffering from any of these. Playing sports is mentally and physically a healthy way to stay in shape; just make sure you are playing with caution in order to stay healthy and injury free.

 John Hawthorne is a health nut from Canada with a passion for travel and taking part in humanitarian efforts.

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