Sports Injury Prevention Guide

Don’t force it, make a match, and leave margin. There is no need to memorize complicated anatomical formulas or stock up on a full set of professional protective gear that costs thousands of dollars. By grasping these three cores, you can avoid more than 90% of common sports injuries.

Have you ever had this experience? I usually sit all day at work, but rarely go to the gym after get off work. I feel itchy when I watch others deadlift heavy weights. Even though I can't even lift 60kg, I insist on gritting my teeth and adding 10kg. But as soon as I pull the barbell to my crotch, my waist suddenly feels numb. For the next half month, I even have trouble bending down to tie my shoelaces? I bumped into this young man at the gym a while ago. He had an acute lumbar disc herniation and was pulled away directly by 120. To put it bluntly, he violated the taboo of "don't carry it hard".

Many people always think that pain during exercise is "normal", that "fat is burning" and "muscles are growing", and they even regard enduring pain as a sign of "strong willpower". Don't worry, the body's pain signal is always an alarm, not a test. If there is a sharp, fixed stabbing pain during exercise, or you are obviously unable to exert force when exerting force, or your joints are soft, don't hesitate to stop immediately. Even if you have just run three kilometers and are just shy of reaching your check-in goal, even if you are just shy of winning the game by the last point, the cost of holding on can range from a strain to a half-month recovery, to a ligament rupture requiring surgery, no matter how you calculate it, it is not worth it.

Of course, this does not mean that you will not get injured if you are careful. More people fall into the trap of "matching" - the exercise, intensity, and action mode they choose are simply not in line with their current abilities. The most typical one is the so-called "weekend warrior". From Monday to Friday, he has to take the elevator downstairs to get express delivery. On Saturday, he suddenly signed up for a 20-kilometer mountain hike, and he also chose to hike on steep slopes. On Sunday, his knees were so swollen that he couldn't go downstairs. When he went to the hospital, he found out that he had chondromalacia of the patella. He even had pain going up and downstairs for almost half a year.

In fact, there is no unified standard here. You must have seen the two factions arguing fiercely on the Internet: One faction says "With zero foundation, you can train to reach the top line in seven days and run a half marathon in three weeks." The other faction says "Novices must practice basic strength for three months, otherwise they will fail. "Heavy weights will cause injuries." In fact, both sides are right. The former is aimed at people who have a basic foundation for exercise and have a low body fat rate. The latter is for pure novices who have been sitting for a long time and cannot even find core strength. If they use other people's templates, they will be easily injured. I have a friend who has practiced track and field before. Is it okay to run 10 kilometers two weeks after recovery? How about trying it with someone who can't even finish 800 meters? Most likely you will go directly to the hospital.

Speaking of which, I have to mention the most troubling warm-up controversy: Should I do static stretching or dynamic activation before exercise? In the past few years, everyone on the Internet was teaching "stretch before exercising, and press your legs until they are sore." In the past two years, they were all saying that "static stretching will reduce muscle explosive power, and stretching before exercise will easily lead to strains." This has confused people. I specifically asked the provincial team's physical coach and sports medicine doctor. Both opinions are supported by research. There is no absolute correct answer: If you practice sports that require explosive power such as basketball, weightlifting, and sprinting, just do 15 minutes of dynamic activation before exercise, such as high leg raises, side sliding steps, and close It can raise the muscle temperature without having to press your legs; but if you practice yoga, ballet, rhythmic gymnastics, etc., which require extremely high flexibility, doing static stretching for 10 minutes before the game can actually reduce the probability of muscle strain. You can choose according to the exercise you do, and you don’t have to stand in line.

There is also controversy over protective gear. Some people say that wearing protective gear will make muscles dependent. Over time, the strength of the core and stabilizer muscles will deteriorate, and the more you wear it, the more likely you are to get injured. Others say that you must wear a full set of protective gear whenever you exercise to prevent injuries. In fact, it depends on the situation: when a novice is just practicing heavy compound movements such as squats and deadlifts, he must wear a belt and wrist guards. Your own muscle control is not enough, and the protective gear is for you to protect you, which can really avoid a lot of waist injuries and wrist injuries. However, if you are doing low-intensity sports such as daily jogging and aerobics, as long as there are no old injuries, don’t wear knee braces and ankle braces. Otherwise, it will make the stabilizer muscles of the lower limbs lazy, and the strength will not increase over time, which will make sprains and knee pain more likely. For those with old injuries, I once sprained my ankle while playing badminton. After that, I wore an ankle brace every time I played. I haven’t sprained my ankle again for more than half a year, and I haven’t seen any deterioration in ankle strength. There is no such thing as “wearing protective gear means you are weak”.

Finally, the most easily overlooked factor is "leaving a margin". Don't push to your limit every time you exercise. I used to be a competitive player, and I would not leave the court until I could no longer run and my racquet hand was so sore that I couldn't lift it up. But last year I couldn't stand firm when I landed on a jump smash, and I stretched my Achilles tendon. It took me three months before I dared to touch the racquet again. Now I stop playing for an hour and a half at a time, playing two or three high-intensity games at most, and spend the rest of the time practicing serving and pace, leaving a 20% physical margin. Not only have I not been injured for more than half a year, but my level has steadily improved.

Not only for playing ball, but also for running and weightlifting: you can run up to 8 kilometers, and you only need to run 5-6 kilometers for daily training; your maximum weight can be squatted at 100kg, and during normal group training, you squat 70-80kg. You don’t have to force yourself to hit the PB every time. The little margin left is a buffer space for the body. Whether it is to increase muscle or improve endurance, the effect is much better than squeezing yourself dry every time.

To be honest, exercise is meant to make oneself more comfortable, not to check the pace, weight, or check-in time in the circle of friends. Listening to your own body is more effective than any thick prevention guide. If you are really injured accidentally, don't just apply some safflower oil on your own and just carry it on. Go to the sports medicine department of a regular hospital for treatment. The minor injury will turn into an old disease and it will be difficult to exercise in the future. That is really not worth the gain.