How to Avoid Injuries? (From New Year Resolutions)
Athletes who participate in sports like soccer, football, and basketball are more likely to injure their ACL. However, active patients who are working hard to meet their New Year Resolution may also be a risk of experiencing an injury.
Did you know that an ACL tear can occur in several ways including?
- Rapidly changing direction
- Stopping suddenly
- Landing the wrong way from a jump
- Direct contact, collision or fall, like a football tackle
- Hyperextending the knee
- Sometimes it can be as simple as stepping off of a curb or step
Most people with an injured ACL require surgery to restore full function of the knee; otherwise, the knee may continue to “give-way” and cause damage to other structures such as the meniscus and cartilage.
With this in mind, if your New Year Resolution included getting into shape/ losing weight, we want to do our part and try our best to keep you safe and injury-free.
Here Are 4 Tips for Avoiding Sports Injuries.
- Get a Routine Physical. It’s always best to see your doctor for a fitness test before starting a new exercise program. A new activity can place immense stress on your body, particularly your joints and cardiovascular system.
- Warm-up! It’s very important to prepare your body and mind for your main workout. You can do this by gradually raising your heart rate, warming your muscles, improving mobility, and improving the functionality of all the body’s movements.
*Pro-Tip. Use the same equipment or activity at a lower intensity for about 10 minutes, gradually increasing your pace and speed to a level that is close to the target pace. Take this as an example. Before a rowing session, a warm-up on the rowing machine is most ideal, because you’re targeting the same muscle groups and same movements at a lower intensity level.
- Stretch! It is very vital to develop flexibility and it’s very important for injury prevention due to poor flexibility is the primary cause of muscle and tendon strains. Try to stretch during your cool-down. Focus on stretching the main muscle groups that were used during the activity. For example, you should focus on leg stretches after a run, or focus on stretching your upper body after an upper-body workout.
- Choose G2 Orthopedics and Sports Medicine for Treatment of Knee Injuries. Dr. Goradia doesn’t believe in a one size fits all approach to shoulder, knee and other injuries. He takes the time to fully evaluate each patient, make the right diagnosis and develop a customized treatment plan. Simply put, Dr. Goradia provides the highest level of care available in the Richmond area.
