What causes sports injuries?
Why do athletes, gym goers and sporty folk get injured so much?
Sports injuries can occur for various reasons, and they can affect athletes in different ways and to varying degrees.
Playing conditions, quality of equipment, and the weather can also contribute to injuries. Slippery surfaces, poor lighting, and inadequate sports gear increase the risk of accidents and injuries. Likewise, in contact sports, athletes are at a higher risk of injuries due to collisions with opponents, with injuries such as sprains and fractures occurring as a result of direct contact.
Certain medical conditions can also make athletes more prone to specific types of injuries, which is why it's important to be aware of your medical history and take appropriate precautions.
Let’s face it, there are injuries that occur which may often be beyond our control.
On the other hand, there are plenty of things well within our control, which is where strength and conditioning coaching and sports massage maintenance come in.
Here are six reasons which regularly cause injuries when actively taking part in sports or physical activities:
Overtraining
Overtraining or repetitive stress on certain body parts without adequate rest can lead to muscle adhesions, knots or overuse injuries.
Recovery
Recovery is a crucial aspect of sports performance. When you regularly train hard it’s crucial to allow your muscles to recover between training sessions. It makes sense to think that muscles will work better and be able to train harder once recovered, compared with sore, aching muscles. This is where sleep, rest, good nutrition, and massage will help.
Poor Conditioning
Insufficient physical conditioning and lack of strength, flexibility, or endurance can make athletes more susceptible to injuries. Proper training programs that include strength training, flexibility exercises, and cardiovascular conditioning can help reduce the risk.
Inadequate Warm-up
Failing to warm up properly before engaging in intense physical activity can increase the risk of injuries. Warm-up exercises, using a roller and pre-event sports massage, all increase blood flow to muscles, improve flexibility, and prepare the body for more strenuous activity.
Incorrect Technique
Improper techniques while performing sports activities risk contributing to injuries. Proper coaching to ensure using correct form and technique to minimise the risk of injury is always important. But technique can also be compromised when an athlete is sore and not fully recovered or is carrying a light injury. In these circumstances it can be easy for a sportsperson to distort their technique to compensate.
Ignorance
Believing that a typical sports injury incurred during intense physical activities will naturally resolve itself is not only unwise but also hazardous. Although ‘movement is medicine’, the notion of casually "running off" an injury contradicts established medical principles and may exacerbate the existing damage and lead to further injury, especially when you may not understand whether any pain experienced is from bone, ligament, joint or muscle injuries.
Whilst all of these things are within your control, it may well be you need the right support, advice, education and coaching in order to achieve best practice and reduce your risk of injury.
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