Fall Sports Safety

Fall is here! That means fall sports are in full swing, whether it may be youth, high school, college, or pro level.  As fun as participation in fall sports can be, the risk of injury is present for anyone involved. Popular fall sports such as football, soccer, and cross country can bring along a multitude of injuries with its participation.  If you experience an unfortunate injury this fall season, our experienced physical therapy in Garden City, NY at Movement Concepts Physical Therapy can help.  But before an injury might occur, there are ways that you can prevent such an event.

Common fall sports injuries

Some injuries commonly seen in the fall months are concussions, ACL tears, shin splints, and others. While these injuries are a bit more complex, they can be a bit more difficult to prevent.  Yet other common injuries such as a muscle pull, strain, soreness, or tightness are a bit more easy to prevent. With the cold weather coming in as well, this can add to the chance that you may experience an injury.  

Ways to avoid injuries

To avoid these common injuries, it is important that athletes have a proper warm-up routine before they engage in high-intensity competition.  This may involve a 5-10 minute jog, followed by a dynamic stretching routine, where you are constantly moving through your routine.  You know you are warmed up if you have an elevated heart rate, you’re sweating, and you feel loose and ready to go.

In addition to a proper warm-up routine, proper hydration is equally important to prevent common injuries.  You should be constantly drinking water through the day, and if you know you are going to engage in some type of exercise later in the day, you should drink more water than you normally would.  Specifically, you should drink 17-20 ounces of water 2-3 hours before exercise, another 8 ounces during your warmup, 7-10 ounces every 10-20 minutes during your exercise and 8 ounces within 30 minutes after your exercise.  

As far as nutrition, which is another key aspect of preparation, should contain healthy options before exercise.  Your diet should contain healthy carbohydrates such as whole-grain cereal with low-fat or skim milk, whole-grain toast with light spreads, a low-fat yogurt, whole-grain pasta, brown rice, and fruits and vegetables.  You ideally want to eat your meal 2-3 hours before your exercise, with a small snack up to 30 minutes before.

Contact us

These tips should help to avoid some common injuries that you might experience while playing sports in the fall.  In the event that an injury does occur, our skilled team of physical therapy trainers at Movement Concepts Physical Therapy in Garden City, NY will be here to help you through your recovery process.  Until then, stay safe and have fun!