What are the principles and basic methods of sports injury prevention?

In summary, the core principles are actually not that complicated. They are not to carry a load that exceeds your current capabilities, make up for your own weaknesses in advance, and dynamically adjust according to body feedback throughout the process. All reliable prevention methods are based on these three points, and there are no mysterious remedies at all.

Last week I went to play in an amateur basketball game and encountered a typical counterexample. A brother had been locked up for three months and barely moved. Yang Kang was only two months old, but he fought for the entire four quarters with a young man in his early twenties. The next day, his knees accumulated fluid and he lay flat, and he couldn't even go to class. Of course, there are many training schools that advocate breaking through the comfort zone in order to improve performance. This is true, but "breakthrough" in a professional context means adding up to 10% of the load you can currently bear. For example, if you ran 10 kilometers last week, increase it to 11 this week at most, instead of running for a half marathon as soon as you have not been stationary for a long time. Even wearing the most expensive knee pads and the most professional running shoes will be useless.

Many people always think that injuries are due to bad luck. In fact, 90% of sports injuries are caused by accidents that have been buried before. To put it bluntly, the weak points have not been repaired. I had experienced this pitfall before when I was preparing for a half marathon. I started to feel pain on the outside of my knee after a week of running. I originally thought it was because my running posture was wrong and I had to change my movements. After going to the rehabilitation department for a checkup, I found out that it was the weakness of the gluteus medius caused by long-term sitting. When running, my knees have to share the extra force that my hips should bear, so pain is inevitable. Later, I didn’t stop running, so I added 15 minutes of clam pose and side steps to practice my buttocks every day. Within two weeks, most of the pain disappeared. Some people also say, "I just wear protective gear and don't bother to practice strength." Protective gear can indeed help you catch the end in extreme situations, but if your own muscle strength cannot keep up and you rely on protective gear to compensate for a long time, your muscles will become lazier and lazier, which will increase the probability of injury. It is really putting the cart before the horse.

In addition to preparing in advance, it is also very important to make flexible adjustments during exercise. Don't stick to the training plan. I used to know a friend from a running group. In order to prepare for the first horse race and catch up on the training schedule, he stayed up late the night before and changed the plan. When I woke up the next day, I felt heavy all over. I still insisted on completing the 18-kilometer long distance. During the run, my leg slipped in a small puddle and broke my sprain. After resting for more than half a year, all the training foundation I had accumulated was gone. It was not worth the gain. Of course, I also know that many professional teams will require athletes to overcome physical discomfort to complete the plan, but they have a whole team of team doctors behind them who can evaluate their status at any time. Ordinary enthusiasts do not have this condition, so there is really no need to risk their bodies with that amount of training. If their status is not good, walking slowly is better than carrying it hard.

Speaking of which, there is another small point that many people tend to overlook. Don’t press your legs and arms to do static stretching as soon as you warm up. First, do dynamic activation for three to five minutes, such as raising your legs, kicking your legs, and walking sideways to raise your body temperature and activate your muscles before moving. After exercise, do static stretching to relax. Just such a simple little habit can avoid more than 80% of muscle strains and ligament sprains. It is really more effective than anything else.