What are the common principles of sports injury prevention

The core principle of preventing common sports injuries is essentially "not to break through the body's current load boundaries, while leaving enough room for the body to gradually adapt." All specific operating methods are extended around this core.

Last week, a young man I led who just joined the running group is the most typical counterexample. He followed the veteran team members and ran 10 kilometers of intervals. He warmed up for 15 minutes as required. He also wore professional cushioning shoes that cost several thousand dollars. He sprained his foot before he ran 3 kilometers. Afterwards, he was wondering how to stop running. He was injured when everyone was fine. In fact, it was not a matter of warm-up or equipment. He never even jogged 2 kilometers a week. The muscles around his ankles could not withstand the impact of changing speeds during interval running. He exceeded his load limit as soon as he started, and injuries were almost inevitable.

Many people have misunderstandings about injury prevention. There are currently two very quarrelsome views in the amateur sports circle. One group believes that as long as the movements are 100% standard, there will never be injuries. The other group believes that if the protective gear is fully worn, it can be made casually. In fact, both sides are a bit extreme. For volleyball players in professional teams, the spike action is a standard action that has been practiced by coaches thousands of times. Many people still suffer from rotator cuff injuries and patellar softening due to long-term heavy-load training. This means that the load exceeds the upper limit of the long-term endurance of the body. On the other hand, I have seen many novice badminton players who wear full sets of wrist, elbow, and knee pads, and rely on their arms to swing the racket. After playing for half a month, they still suffer from tennis elbow. The protective gear can only disperse the instantaneous impact force, but cannot help you correct the long-term additional load caused by wrong movements.

And there is really no standard for this matter once and for all. Just because you can run 5 kilometers easily this month does not mean that you can still run 5 kilometers after two months of rest. I have been through this pit when I practiced CrossFit two years ago. I could deadlift 70 kilograms before. After a month of rest and no training, I rushed to 65 kilograms immediately. I felt like I I used to be able to pull this weight with no problem, but my waist suddenly broke, and it took me almost three months to recover. Later I realized that the body's ability changes dynamically, and I have to check the current state before each exercise. Recently, I have not been able to sleep well, I have caught a cold, and my legs are still sore after training the day before. I have to actively reduce the intensity and do not insist on keeping up with the usual amount of exercise.

Oh, by the way, many people still regard prevention as something that only needs to be paid attention to before and during exercise. In fact, recovery after exercise is also included in it. If you run every day without stretching your lower limbs, your calf muscles will be tense for a long time. Over time, Achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis will come to your door. This is actually overload accumulated over a long period of time and is not a problem caused by a single exercise. All in all, it's actually nothing too mysterious. Just pay more attention to your body's signals, don't rush in, don't compete, it's more effective than any fancy prevention techniques.