How to Prevent Muscle Tears
By: Courtney Lombardo
Common Sports Injuries
- ACL tear
- Groin pull
- Hamstring strain
- Shin splints
- Patellofemoral syndrome
Sprains vs. Strains
Sprains are injuries to the ligaments, connecting the bone to a joint. Suddenly stretching a ligament past their limits deforms or tears them. Strains are injuries to the muscle fibers or tendons, which connect bone to muscle. Strains (or pulled muscles) are caused by over-stretching or over-using a muscles, causing tears in the muscle fibers or tendons.
Muscle Tears
Grade 1: slight pulling of the muscle
Grade 2: partially torn
Grade 3: torn all they way through
Strain vs Sprain
Strains are injuries to the tendons. Sprains are injuries to the ligaments.
What to Stretch
This is an image showing us what parts of the leg muscle we should stretch before working out:
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Abductors
- Adductors
How to Prevent Injuries
Every workout should start out with a gentle warm up to prevent any of the common injuries. Getting warmed up increases blood flow to the muscles, gets you more flexible, and could decrease injuries. Overuse injuries are common and preventable. It can be prevented by lightly working the relevant muscle groups in the weeks before the activity. Part of prevention is knowing when to stop working out/ playing your sport for a couple weeks. Professional athletes don't play their sport year round, and neither should you. Also getting the right amount of nutrition, sleeping, and adequate rest. There are certain exercises/ stretches you can do to prevent these injuries or cure them, but overall you would just need rest.
Works Cited
- How to Prevent ACL Injuries in High School Athletes. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2015, from http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/how-to-prevent-acl-injuries-in-high-school-athletes
- Feature, M. (n.d.). How to prevent and treat the seven most common sports injuries. Retrieved December 11, 2015, from http://www.webmd.com/men/features/seven-most-common-sports-injuries