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How to prevent a sports injury from exercising

Regular physical activity is good not only for your body but also your mind; being physically active regularly through any way of working out helps reduce the risk of blood pressure,colon cancer, heart diseases and diabetes. Exercise is great for mental wellbeing as it helps alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress. 

If you are not a fan of exercise that includes heavy lifting or endless runs on the treadmill and need a form of physical activity that is more engaging, try playing sports. There are multiple options available to be physically active. Regular exercises done in the correct manner as well as playing sports helps maintain strength, endurance and flexibility as you age. Hence exercise is an important activity to partake in but more importantly it needs to be done in the correct manner, with proper structural form otherwise it can cause more harm than good.
Irregular exercise and poor form can lead to injuries

The first thing that every expert advises to do before starting a workout or sport is to stretch our muscles. Stretching before a workout helps your body warm up for the main workout set and remain flexible and mobile. This decreases the risk of you sustaining an injury. You should look at stretching the main muscle group you're going to be exercising for the day. For example, you should stretch your quads, hamstrings, calves and glutes if you're going to be doing lower body exercises or running. If you’re pressed for time, make sure to do a few quick warm-up exercises to get blood flowing to the targeted muscle group as this along with stretching can help loosen muscles prior to your main workout.

Stretching can help soothe pain

Most people tend to overlook the fact that stretching after an intensive workout is of equal importance. Stretching sore muscles post exercise helps improve flexibility and blood circulation. Most importantly, it reduces lactic acid formation which is known to cause muscle fatigue. 

Why should you stretch? 

  1. Reduce the risk of black related problems

  2. Avoid muscle strains

  3. Increase your range of motions

  4. Improve circulation

  5. Reduce muscle tension, and increase relaxation

Stretching your body prevents injuries

Ways to prevent a sports related injury- 

  1. Develop a fitness plan that includes cardiovascular exercises, flexibility and strength training, this will decrease your chance of sustaining an injury.

  2. Stretching exercises improves your capabilities to do well while exercising or playing sports by improving the ability of muscles to contract and perform better. Stretching should not be painful, each stretch should start slowly and go on until you reach a point of muscle tension. 

  3. Use the right equipment, gear and shoes that provide the support you need. 

Proper workout equipment helps stay fit

Things you can do incase of a sports injury- 

1. Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is a medical treatment which  is a combination of holistic fitness, sustainable healing, injury prevention and rehabilitation. Physiotherapy is focused on the movement and science that revolves around it so it can look after any issue that causes injuries or disabilities. Once the issue is looked after, physiotherapy helps maximise and restore strength.

2. Rest 
After sustaining an injury while exercising or playing a sport it is of extreme importance to rest, not only after getting hurt for an extended period of time after that as well. You should avoid any kind of movement to prevent the injury from getting worse.  

3. Cooling
Cooling the injured tissue can help reduce internal bleeding, pain and swelling. You can cool the injured area with the help of a hot pack. Don’t apply the cold pack on the injury directly if it is grazed; wrap it in a towel and apply for 15 - 20 minutes to give the injured area some rest and then reapply after a couple of hours.

Physiotherapy as a corrective tool in case of an injury

 In case you have hurt yourself it is of utmost to stop doing what has caused the injury and to look for a doctor immediately. AJ Hospital has the best facilities and doctors that can help you with the injuries you have sustained through sports or exercising.