While playing sports and being active can be a great way to keep your body physically fit, if you’re not careful, you may find that you’ve pushed your body too far and opened yourself up to injuries that you might have been able to avoid had you only been more careful.
To show you how you can do this, regardless of what activity you’re participating in, here are three tips for protecting your body while playing sports.
Always Wear Your Protective Gear
For almost all sports, there’s at least some form of protective gear that you’ll wear. For some, you’ll have a full get-up including a helmet to protect your brain from a traumatic injury. With other sports, it might just be the shoes you wear that can count as your protective gear. But according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, any piece of gear that is normally worn by those in your sport should always be worn while you’re playing or practicing.
In some instances, you might be using gear that’s either old or has been used by someone else. While this gear can still be safe if it’s been well taken care of, it’s best to ensure that the gear you’re using is in the best possible condition to help protect you from any harm that might otherwise befall you.
Consider Cross-Training
One reason people sustain injuries from playing sports is because the actions for various sports require you to do the same motions over and over again. While this is good if you’re trying to perfect your form or technique, repetitive movements can cause a lot of damage to your body over time, resulting in more injuries.
To combat this, Johns Hopkins Medicine advises that you try to cross-train with multiple sports if you can. By switching up your routine, you’ll work different muscle groups or areas of your body so that you’re giving each part of your body a break and time to recover.
Warm Up And Cool Down
To give yourself the best chance of avoiding injury while playing sports, it’s vital that you take the time to effectively warm up and cool down both before and after you exercise.
Elizabeth Quinn, a contributor to Very Well Fit, shares that some great ways to warm up and cool down include stretching, walking, or using light weights or bands to work your muscles. Without doing one or all of these things, your muscles and tendons are much more likely to strain or tear while you’re playing your sport, which could bench you for a while.
If you love playing sports, consider using the tips mentioned above to protect your body so that you can enjoy playing for years to come.
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