A client asked us at ServiceYourBody.ie Physical Therapy Lucan, how they can stay Injury free when training, this gave us an idea for this blog, Sports Injury Prevention Tips for Beginners. We looked at a few general topics that apply to any training you might be thinking of starting, sports injury prevention tips can be applied whether you are starting to go to the gym or run.

Picking the wrong training plan

There are hundreds of training plans available on the offer, but none of them are tailored to your needs. Make sure to do your research, talk to an expert/coach/personal trainer and make sure you pick a realistic and achievable plan. It’s important that you build your training slowly, be patient and set realistic goals and targets.

Over-training

It is common for people to be over excited when they start a new training plan or exercise programme, thinking the harder they train the quicker they will reach their target. This is the opposite, it is important to build your training at a steady pace, building in rest and recovery time.

For example when running there is a 10% rule which states that you shouldn’t increase your weekly long run by more than 10% a week, and definitely do not increase speed and distance in the same session.

Sports Injury Prevention

To help avoid sports injury it is important to have a balanced training plan that includes Mobility / Stretching and Core Strength. It is important to build in mobility and stretching session both during and after your training sessions. At ServiceYourBody.ie Physical Therapy Lucan we run Core strength and Pilates classes which build in flexibility and mobility.

We have attached a video that takes you through a good mobility session which can be done a couple of times a week. It is important to ensure the muscles and tendons are kept supple so as you do not strain a muscle during exercise. It is also important to keep joints and ligaments loose to ensure good joint flexibility and mobility.

Check out our short series of videos that help with Core Strength, Mobility and Flexibility which will enhance your training and sports injury prevent ion.

Listen to Your Body

As well as over training there is always the chance you will injury yourself. When taking on something new the body needs time to adjust and adapt to the new exercise regime or plan. A new exercise plan or regime will result in aches and pains during your training, these can be worked through with rest, but a niggling injury that prevents you or stops your training must not be ignored. A problem with a joint or ligament won’t simply go away. Ice, rest and treatment of the sports injury maybe required, an important part of training is learning to listen to your body.

Quality not Quantity

Another common mistake involves a training schedule that focuses on volume and has you doing the same activity for 6 days a week. It is important to look at your plan and build in a variety of sessions e.g. Day 1: Weights / Day 2: Cardio / Day 3: Rest / Day 4: Core Strength / Day 5: Interval Training / Day 6: Rest / Day 7: Endurance.

Nutrition not Diet

There are hundreds of diet plans and so much nutritional advice on line it becomes very confusing. Depending on your goals and target, the easiest rules to stick to are, eat a balanced diet of Carbs and Protein, Eat within 30 min of exercise, avoid processed foods and sugar, drink 2lts of water a day. It is best to look at nutrition as a lifestyle not a diet, get some expert advice and do your research as nutrition will be different for everyone based on metabolism and what your training goals are.

Ignoring rest and recovery

Rest and recovery are an essential part of any training plan, your body repairs the damage to the muscles when it is resting. There are two ways to look at rest and recovery, short term and long term.

Short term is where you need to allow 24hrs rest before working that part of the body again, e.g. Strength train one day, cardio the next day and go back to strengthen the following day.

Long term is where you build in days off into your weekly schedule and easy training weeks or weeks off into your annual schedule.

If you wish to learn more about injury prevention training contact us.