Are you a weekend warrior? You are if your work and family demands keep you from exercising on a regular basis, so you make up for it by going “all out” on the weekends. But that Saturday morning pickup basketball game, football game or boot camp can leave you with aches and pains – or worse yet, a serious injury.
Each day, more than 10,000 Americans visit emergency rooms for sports and exercise-related injuries, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say weekend-warrior injuries are most common among formerly active men over age 30 whose weekend activities can be described as “too much, too fast, too far.” Even men who consider themselves in fairly good shape and take part in a highly-charged soccer game can end up with weekend-warrior injuries.
If you don’t exercise on a regular basis and you’re not conditioned for a particular sport or activity, you put yourself at risk for injury.
Regular exercise offers these important benefits:
• Keeps your weight under control, which reduces stress on your joints, especially your hips and knees.
• Maintains your muscle strength to help prevent arthritis and keep your joints flexible and protect them from damage.
• Releases endorphins, which act as your body’s natural pain medication.
According to the National Institutes of Health, weekend-warrior injuries can occur for a variety of reasons, including poor physical conditioning and flexibility, failure to warm up and stretch muscles, competition intensity, participation in collision and contact sports and overuse of joints.
The most common injuries include sprains, strains, fractures, dislocation and inflammation. That means the orthopedic surgeons at TOCA see many patients with sprained ankles, shin splints, rotator cuff injuries, Achilles tendonitis, lower back pain, plantar fasciitis (heel pain) and knee pain.
The knee is at high risk for injury because of its complexity and the enormous amount of force it absorbs and stress it takes. Knee injuries often result from a blow to the knee, twisting or turning or an improper landing
The risk of injury does not mean you shouldn’t be active, though, and avoiding these injuries requires some common-sense prevention.
• Exercise regularly and include a variety of cardiovascular activity, stretching and weightlifting in your routine. Cross-training helps to prevent overuse injuries, which develop from constantly using the same muscles and tendons.
• Warm up and stretch to help prevent sprains.
• Gradually increase your activity level – and intensity level – on a week-to-week basis.
• Use proper technique.
• Use proper gear and safety equipment.
• Listen to your body. The “no pain, no gain” theory is not a good mantra.
Stop when you are fatigued. Muscle fatigue takes away your protective mechanisms and increases your risk of injury. And if you feel sharp or stabbing pain, stop exercising immediately.
#Results. #Recovery. #Relief.
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www.tocamd.com
Players need that type of centers where their problem is understood and different remedies are provided to them at once as an osteopath does with his patient.
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