Whether we prefer team or individual sports, it is crucial for our performance to take preventative steps against possible injuries. Some injuries can be completely unavoidable. But we should be able to reduce the risks by taking some necessary steps. It is essential to view this problem from different angles and we can’t just address one aspect and ignore the others. We can have the strongest muscles, the most ideal skeletal alignment and the perfect biomechanics, but if we are doing things wrongly, our body could be vulnerable to fatigue. Avoiding injuries is more than just taking necessary steps and adopting specific skills. We should also do other things. It is a good idea for athletes to take outdoor walks everyday and vary their terrain. This will stimulate their proprioceptive sensors around their body. When stimulated, messages are fired off to tell our brain where our feet and hands are located. This is an important input for many areas of sports.
Our brains should thrive on various sensory inputs. If our brain gets the optimum input, it will be able to send more optimum output. If our proprioceptors sensors are frequently stimulated, our body is able to learn the most accurate and effective movement patterns. This won’t only improve our chance of winning, but also preventing injuries. There are things we can do to boost our proprioceptors sensors. We may do things that we love and we could try something new. It is also possible for us to go back to old activities. Our body will enjoy variety and it is one of the best ways to prevent injuries in sports. After workout, we should also care for our muscles. There should be a cool down period. There are several methods we can choose to maintain the performance of our soft tissues after an intense activity to prevent the development of injuries. If we have experienced acute injury in the past, scar tissue could form between and in our muscles. Repetitive motions could also cause the development of scar tissue.
Athletes should examine their physical activities and find things that can be considered as repetitive motions. In soccer games, running up and down for hours on the field also qualifies as repetitive motion. After being overused, our muscles can become easily inflamed and scar tissue will gradually develop. It is the survival mechanism of our body to deal with injuries. However, if we don’t address this problem in a timely manner, our functions and movements can be hindered. There are tools that can be used to break up scar tissue and this should be performed regularly, before scar tissue becomes more than a nuisance. We should focus our application to the most painful and sorest areas. In some cases, scar tissues already become chronic and can’t be treated with self-care. In this case, we should get ART or Active Release Treatment, which is an effective way to deal with soft tissue injuries.
