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How to train your body for injury prevention

How to train your body for injury prevention
How to train your body for injury prevention

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Whether you are training for an individual sport, you play with a local team, compete professionally, or you are working out to stay in shape, it's important that you do everything that you can to minimise your risk of injury.

Suffering an injury can put you out of action for weeks, or even months, which will have a serious impact on your goals.

With the right approach to your training, you can ensure that you give yourself every advantage possible when it comes to avoiding injury.

Training with injury prevention in mind will help you to build the strength and flexibility you need to reduce the chance of a strain, sprain, fracture or other injuries from occurring.

Looking after your body correctly will ensure you spend more time training moving forward and less time on the sidelines.

Let's take a look at a few things you can include in your training regime to reduce your risk of injury.

Cross-training

While it's important to focus on specific skills and developing certain physical attributes for particular sports, you also need to find balance.

Cross-training with other sports and activities will ensure that your training is balanced.

A beginner Pilates class, for example, is a great way to increase core strength and stability to support your joints and reduce the chance of injury.

Cycling can also be an excellent cross-training sport as you can get a great workout in with minimum impact on your joints.

Stretching

Regardless of what sport you are involved in, it's crucial that you take the time to stretch. Incorporating a regular stretching routine or taking yoga classes will help you to stay subtle and prevent injury.

Stretching before and after activity will also help your muscles to recover and rebuild faster after a training session, allowing you to reach your goals quicker.

Building strength

Lifting weights, resistance band training, using TRX bands or even doing bodyweight exercises are all great ways to increase your lean muscle mass and build strength.

Resistance training will not only strengthen the muscles around your joints, protecting them against injury but it also leads to an increase in bone density which reduces the risk of fractures.

Warm-up properly

Taking the time to warm up properly before each training session is crucial in minimising the risk of injury.

Do some light cardio work to get the blood pumping. Before starting your workout, you need to break a light sweat to warm your body up and prevent injury.

Working out without warming up first is a sure-fire way to pull a muscle, sprain a ligament or have muscle cramps.

Core work

Having a strong core is essential in supporting and protecting your lower back. With a strong core, you will also have more flexibility and be in more control of your body.

A strong core is often confused with having a six-pack but they are not the same. Your core muscles include muscles in the abdominal area but also include muscles in the pelvis and around your back.

These muscles work together to improve balance and stability which helps to prevent injury when you train.

Take steps to minimise your risk of injury moving forward

Many common injuries can be prevented by taking the right approach to your training.

Taking part in other activities outside of your sport, building strength, increasing flexibility, developing your core and taking the time to warm up properly will all help you to reduce your chance of injury when you train.

With your body properly prepared, you can be sure that you will get the best results possible from your training and have every chance of remaining injury-free.