Sports injury prevention methods

The core prevention logic of sports injuries has never been the standardized process of "warm up for 10 minutes and stretch for 10 minutes" uploaded online. 「First understand your body's bottom line, then match the corresponding intensity of exercise, and dynamically adjust according to your body sensation throughout the process.」 , all specific methods are implemented around this logic.

In the past two months, I helped a friend who had not exercised for a long time to adjust his running plan. He had suddenly decided to sign up for the city half marathon. Before the race, he stretched his legs twice. After running 12 kilometers, he squatted on the ground in pain. He was diagnosed with iliotibial band syndrome. He was still wondering at the time, saying how could he still be injured even though he had warmed up? In fact, I just don’t understand that prevention is a whole-chain thing and cannot be accomplished by just one step.

Take the matter of warm-up, for example. The sports circle has actually been arguing about it for almost ten years now, and there is no absolute standard answer. Old-school fitness practitioners prefer to do static stretching first to stretch the muscles and ligaments before exercising, which can indeed reduce the probability of muscle strain. ； However, today’s physical trainers generally believe that for events such as strength training and running that require explosive power, static stretching for too long before a game will lose muscle strength and make it easier to get injured. It is more recommended to use dynamic activation methods such as high leg raises and side lunges to warm up. When I give guidance to members, I usually make a compromise: for projects that require a large range of motion, such as yoga and ballet, I first do 3-5 minutes of static stretching to open the joints. ； When practicing explosive events such as weightlifting and sprinting, dynamic activation throughout the entire process is enough. There is really no need to stick to a certain "standard process."

Compared with the small differences in which warm-up method to choose, what can really screen out 80% of amateur sports injuries is actually a problem of load control. Many people get injured not because of wrong movements, but because if you usually only train your glutes and legs once a week, and suddenly follow a blogger to do the "7-Day Peach Butt Challenge" and squat 200 times a day, your physical ability cannot handle the sudden increase in weight. It's strange that your knees and lumbar spine don't hurt. I usually leave a 10% buffer margin when setting weights for members. For example, last time I could do a set of 60 kilograms of deadlift, the next time I can increase it to a maximum of 65. I definitely don’t recommend pushing hard when pushing the limit. By the way, some people think that wearing expensive protective gear can prevent injuries. In fact, this is not true. Protective gear is only an auxiliary. If your core is unstable and you wear an expensive waist protector to push heavy weights, you will still be injured.

Having said this, someone will definitely ask, will it definitely lead to injury if my movements are not standard? This happens to be a topic that has been debated in sports circles for many years. One group is the fitness teaching group, which insists that "if the movements are not standard, you will be injured" and requires everyone to align their knees and straighten their backs according to the template ； The other group is the sports rehabilitation group, which believes that "there are no absolute standard movements, only movements that suit you" - I am more inclined to the latter. I met a runner before who had a foot arch that was naturally 1 cm lower than an ordinary person. The standard running posture required him to have his foot turned 15 degrees when he landed. After running for half a month, he was in so much pain that he could not walk. Later, he adjusted to his natural landing posture, and ran three marathons without any problems. To put it bluntly, as long as there is no tingling sensation in the joints when the movement is exerted, and the line of force is within the range of motion of your own joints, there is no need to follow the blogger's demonstration movements.

There is another detail that is easily missed: many injuries are not caused by the sport at all, but caused by your daily living habits. For example, if you didn't go to bed until three o'clock the day before, and then insisted on running a PB the next day, it's normal for your movements to become deformed due to lack of concentration. ； People who sit for a long time usually have tight hip flexors. Even if they do a full warm-up, they can easily strain their waist after running for a long time. I now remind regular members that if they are too tired from work that day and haven’t slept well, they can just come to the gym and do a couple of laps to practice their core. There is no need to forcefully complete the training plan.

After all, there is really no standard answer to injury prevention. If you have been active since childhood and have good physical fitness, you may be fine if you jump around casually. If you usually sit for a long time and move little, even if you do all the warm-up and stretching according to the procedure, you may sprain your ankle if you run suddenly. Don't compare pace or weight with others. Stop when your body feels tight or tingles a little. Don't insist on saying "just do one more set". This little caution is more effective than all the expert advice.