How to Prevent Sports Injuries This Season

Fall in Toronto means a full sports calendar. Soccer and rugby are underway, hockey arenas are filling up, and Ontario ski hills will open before long. Sore knees, tight hips, and achy shoulders also tend to appear around this time of year. If you're looking for advice on how to prevent sports injuries this season, you'll be glad to know that a few simple changes can make all the difference. It all comes down to conditioning, strength, warm-ups, and recovery. We'll share some tips on each, as well as give you an overview of where chiropractic care fits in.

Why the Toronto Season Changes the Plan

Training in Toronto rarely stays in one place. A few weeks can take an athlete through outdoor fields, indoor rinks, and gyms. Cooler temperatures can leave muscles stiffer at the start of a session. Extra warm-up time helps. Daylight is shorter too, which cuts into outdoor training and makes it tempting to pack more into fewer sessions. Overuse problems often begin with sudden jumps in training.

Start With Pre-Season Conditioning

Your body needs time to adapt before games begin, and pre-season conditioning provides it. When full practices start after a few weeks off, muscles, tendons and joints are asked to handle more than muscles, tendons and joints are used to. 

• Build gradually. Raise training time and intensity over several weeks.
• Mix hard and easy days. Lighter sessions give the body room to recover.
• Practice sport movements. Include cutting, skating, or jumping if your sport uses them.
• Go slower when needed. Athletes returning from an injury or new to a sport may need a longer build.

 Build Strength and Stability

Strength training is important in order to meet the demands of a specific sport. For instance, it is critical in a sport that requires frequent jumping, sprinting, landing, cutting and lifting.

A well-rounded strength training program should include:

• Hips and lower body
• Core
• Shoulders and upper body
• Single-leg work
• Balance and stability
• Proper progression is key.

Increasing the weight too quickly or adding too much volume can result in injury. And a strong focus on sport-specific movements is also important.

The demands of a hockey player coming back from injury might be very different from a tennis player or long-distance runner.

Warm Up for Cold Weather

A short jog and a quick stretch do not make a full warm-up. Team sports have been the main setting for studying structured programs, which combine running drills, strength, balance, and jumping. 

A simple routine can include:

• Light movement to raise your heart rate
• Dynamic drills that copy your sport
• Balance and control exercises
• Extra time when it is cold outside or in a chilly arena

Use the Right Protective Gear

Canadian winter sports bring risks of their own. Skiing and snowboarding most often lead to fractures and head trauma, according to Parachute, a Canadian injury prevention charity. The same group says concussion is the most common injury in hockey, and helmets are among its recommendations for reducing the risk of head injury. Before the first game or the first run of the year, check that your helmet is properly fitted and certified.

What Should You Do If You Have Pain During the Season?

Do not ignore pain just because you have a game coming up. If something hurts during training, pay attention to what is happening. Keeping on with the movement may make the injury worse.

You might need to cut back on activity for a while or get the issue checked out. This is especially true if you notice swelling, weakness, less movement than normal or pain that does not go away.

Head injuries need care. In Ontario, Rowan's Law requires covered sport organizations to have steps for removing athletes from sport when a concussion is suspected and for safely returning them to sport.

Where Chiropractic Care May Fit

Athletes can find support through the sports and rehabilitation service at Health Haven Clinic in Toronto. A chiropractor can assess how you move. Your joint motion and posture get checked too, and exercises that suit your sport can also be suggested. The treatments you get depend on what you need.

Along with exercise and adequate rest, you might also consider massage therapy. Your healthcare practitioner might consider suggesting deep tissue massage for recovery. It might help lower muscle tension after physical activities.

You can learn more about sports rehabilitation care, at Health Haven Clinic.

When to Get Checked

Some signs call for an assessment before the next practice.

• Pain that lasts more than a few days
• Swelling or reduced range of motion
• Discomfort that changes how you move or land
• Numbness or tingling

A sudden, severe injury or any head injury needs urgent medical care.

Plan Your Season Before It Starts

The knowledge about preventing sports injury is formed through the habitual conduct of particular actions. Pre-season conditioning gives the body time to adapt before games begin. After a week off, jumping straight into full practices forces muscles, tendons and joints to handle more than they are used to. 

Do not let a sore knee, tight hip, or achy shoulder slow you down. Health Haven Clinic can help you sort out what to do next. Book a sports rehab appointment today. 

Frequently asked Questions

How can chiropractic help prevent sports injuries?

Prevention is a part of a chiropractor's job. They evaluate your joints, posture, and movement patterns specific to your sport and suggest the type of exercises you should do. Chiropractic therapy promotes the conditioning, warming up, and resting that are important parts of any sports injury prevention program.

What's the best warm-up for athletes?

Support is strongest for warm-ups that are structured and dynamic, with strength, balance, and sport-specific drills built in. 

Can stretching alone prevent injuries?

Stronger support exists for strength work and structured warm-ups. A major review found no clear benefit from stretching by itself.

What is the right time to begin pre-season conditioning?

A few weeks before the first practice is a good point to begin, since the body needs time to adapt. Jumping in suddenly is generally riskier than building up gradually.