How To Stay Injury-Free

If you’re the physically active type, just about the last thing you want is to miss out on pursuing your hiking-biking-skiing-boarding-rowing (or whatever) passion because of injury. A pulled hamstring. A tweaked knee. A back thingee that hurts every time you move like this. (Ow!)

Luckily a few ounces of prevention can go a long way toward keeping you off the disabled list. Here are some tips:

1. Warm up. Your body needs a chance to loosen up in order to be ready for the physiological and biomechanical demands you’re about to place on it. Cyclists should pedal easily for 10 or 15 minutes before mashing the bigger gears, runners maybe walk the first quarter-mile before easing into their normal pace. Warming up before an activity, however, does not mean stretching. Muscles that aren’t warmed up and haven’t benefited from increased blood flow to them, could easily pull or, yikes!—even tear.
2. Progress gradually. OK, you just finished your first-ever 5K and you’re psyched beyond belief. As well you should be! At the finish area, you pick up a brochure for a local marathon that’s just three weeks away, and though your longest run ever was 4 miles, you think, “I wonder if I could finish that too.” Here’s a bit of advice: Don’t even think about it! You need to build gradually toward your goals. Runners, cyclists, swimmers—endurance athletes in general—should increase their weekly mileage and yardage by 10 percent at the most. Same with intensity. Don’t go from never having visited a track to doing hard-core speed workouts three times a week. Otherwise you open yourself up to the possibility of stress fractures, tendonitis, muscle pulls and a whole host of physical nasties.
3. Good equipment that fits properly. Chances are, your choice activity requires some bit of equipment whether it’s skis, boots, technical shoes, a bicycle, etc. Here is not the place to skimp. Certainly, you don’t need a $12,000 titanium bike with carbon disk wheels if all you’re doing is commuting by bike to lose a few pounds, but it is important to have a bike that’s safe, isn’t forever breaking down, and that fits you properly. If your seat is too high (or low) or too far forward (or back), you’re likely to strain your knees, hips, back and pretty much everything else.
4. Resistance Training. Strength training, whether it’s working with free weights, machines at a local gym, Pilates, resistance bands, etc., helps lessen the negative impacts of repetitive and/or pounding movements such as running, cycling, skiing, or hiking downhill. Stronger muscles help support weaker and damaged joints too. If you have creaky knees, strengthen your quads so they can provide support and stability. Strong upper back muscles are key for activities requiring a lot of arm movements such as rowing. In general, an all-over body workout is best.

Follow these tips and you’ll be following your passion with nary a bump in the road.