As I have come to find out, experiencing sports injuries can slow down training progress, which tends to be a little disheartening. However, when taken care of properly, it is possible to come out on top of an injury and get back to your workouts. Even though some injuries are not preventable, there are a few things you can do to remain healthy and prepare yourself for when injuries do come.  Here are a few tips on how you can deal with sports or workout related injuries and get back to your exercise in no time.

Prevention

A lot of injuries occur because people subject their bodies to more than they can handle at the time. When exhaustion starts to set in, the first thing to go is proper form. You can avoid this type of injury by gradually increasing your workout intensity and taking everything one step at a time. When you feel ready, add more to your routine and build up from there. Its all about finding the balance between pushing yourself hard enough to see results but knowing your limits at the same time.

Another way to prevent injuries is to make sure you are warming up and cooling down properly before and after every workout. The proper warm up will depend on what exercise you are participating in but you can start by focusing on your large muscle groups and then working into the exercises specific to your activity. When cooling down, you can basically continue your workout, but at a slower pace and with less intensity. You can also add stretching into your cool down for further injury prevention benefits.

Identify your pain

When it comes to exercise, there is such a thing as good pain and bad pain. For example, after a tough workout, you may experience some muscle soreness in your body. This is usually a good pain and should get better within a few days. It is important to know the difference between an actual injury with post workout soreness. Some ways you can tell if you have an injury is if the pain is only occurring on one side, if the pain is intense, or the pain does not improve within a few days.

Check out part two of this post, coming soon, for more tips on dealing with injuries!

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