Month: June 2011

Stretching Principles

Stretching after you workout is more beneficial to prevent muscle soreness and injury.  If you stretch before you workout, there is more potential to tear a muscle.  This is due to the lack of blood flow at the muscle. 

To get the most benefit out of stretching, make sure you hold the stretch at a point you feel a pull within the muscle. Stretching should be held between 15-60 seconds.  Perform 2-3 repetitions of each stretch on both sides of your body. If a stretch is painful, you should decrease the range of motion of the stretch.   

Hamstring stretch

Tips to Decrease the Likelihood of an Injury at the Gym

  1. Do a balanced program. Work your whole body; don’t concentrate on just a few muscles.
  2. Use good form and technique. Don’t hyperextend the knee with the leg press, don’t let your knee go past your toes with squats or lunges, and don’t use momentum to lift heavy weight.
  3. Exercise through the entire range of motion to get optimal results.
  4. Do not lift weights too often or increase the intensity too quickly. Increase at a consistent gradual progression to avoid injury.
  5. Cross train so your body does not get used to the workout.
  6. Work on your core muscles. Strengthening your abdominals can help prevent back injuries.
  7. If you have back pain, avoid excess loads on the spine.  Such as, squats with weight, the lumbar extension machine, and twisting exercises.
  8. If you have shoulder pain, avoid overhead weighted exercises and any exercise where the arms lift out to the side.

If you experience pain while you are working out, you should stop and apply ice.  If you continue to have discomfort with exercise, contact Harbor Physical Therapy to decrease your pain with exercise and find out how to avoid pain with exercise.

Top 10 Summer Sports with the Most Injuries

As reported by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), listed below is the top 10 list of summer sports that statisically have resulted in the most reported injuries.  

If you have suffered from any injuries playing a sport or would like to learn how to prevent an injury during sport, please make an appointment at Harbor Physical Therapy.

Sports

Injuries

Cost

Basketball

1,633,905

$19.7 billion

Bicycles

1,498,252

$28.6 billion

Baseball

492,832

$6.6 billion

Soccer

477,647

$6.7 billion

Softball

406,381

$5.1 billion

Trampolines

246,875

$4.1 billion

Inline Skating

233,806

$4.2 billion

Horseback riding

196,260

$4.9 billion

Weightlifting

189,942

$2.7 billion

Volleyball

187,391

$2.1 billion