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Injury Prevention
by Chris Akard
It's a fact of life: Injuries happen. If you don't exercise, you could be
more prone to an acute or abrupt injury. If you do exercise, you may find
yourself with a chronic or graduated injury. So, which way do you go? Clearly,
the answer lies in proper exercise. It is, however, very common to find
individuals exercising improperly. This improper training could result in what's
known as a sports injury.
There's a concept in fitness known as the Risk/Benefit Ratio. This means that
exercise could impose a potential risk to one's health. Along with the risk is
the obvious benefit of better health and fitness for the body. The key is to
find an exercise program that offers minimized risk and healthy benefits. As you
strengthen your muscles, your body's injury potential decreases. For example, if
you're building leg muscle, your knees have much more support than before.
Likewise, if you're strengthening your abdominals, then your back has increased
support. Let's look at some keys to safe and effective fitness.
Please consult a physician before starting this or any exercise program.
Viewing the video clip will greatly help your understanding of the fitness
keys for injury prevention.
Fitness Keys for Injury Prevention:
- Warm-up Warm up for five to 10 minutes at a moderate intensity.
You've probably heard it before, but the warm-up is a very important aspect
to injury prevention. When you take time to warm up, you're increasing your body
core temperature. With the temperature increase comes increased blood flow and
more muscle elasticity. What this means for you is muscles that are ready to
work. You will significantly reduce the risk of a strain or pull in the muscles
and tendons. So, whatever you do, warm up first!
- Stretch Stretch with warmed muscles, preferably after cardiovascular
exercise of 20 minutes or longer. Hold stretches for 20 to 30 seconds. Breathe
through your stretches and do not bounce!
Stretching will allow your muscles to move more easily without strain.
Greater flexibility will reduce the risk of muscle injury. Remember, stretching
with muscles that haven't been warmed up will offer little benefit.
- Ice Treatment Ice for 12 minutes. Use ice or a cold compress on areas that
feel sore or inflamed after activity.
If you are over 30, you may find yourself with a few aches and pains from
time to time. While exercise may reduce these types of pains, it may not
eliminate them. Getting in the habit of icing will greatly reduce inflammation
and pain, and will keep you in the game!
- Exercise Abdominals Exercise abdominals on every workout and at least two
days per week to add support to the lower back.
Your back can be a weak link or a strong link. Training your abdominals is
one of the best ways you can add support to your back. (Read
Anatomical Abdominal Techniques for more on abdominal training.)
- Leg Training Train legs at least once per week, preferably two to three
times, in addition to your cardiovascular routine.
There are two types of leg training. One is with your feet on the ground, as
in squats and lunges. These exercises are called closed kinetic exercises. The
other type of leg exercise is with your feet off the ground, such as leg
extensions and leg curls. This type of exercise is called open kinetic. It is
important to do both types of leg activities. The open kinetic exercises should
be done with relatively lighter weight and with higher reps.
Keep these basic keys in your workout and you'll have years of injury-free
exercise success. Whatever exercise I do, I always make certain to keep these
keys in my workout program. I hope you will do the same.
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