What are the principles of sports injury prevention?

The core of prevention of sports injuries is actually "controlling the exercise load within the range that the body's current ability can bear." All the precautions that everyone often talks about are essentially extended around this core. They are not some floating theory, but are the honest experiences accumulated by people in various sports circles such as fitness, running, and ball games who have fallen and recovered from injuries.

A while ago, I led a newbie who just started practicing marathon training. He followed the old team members of the club and ran an 18-kilometer distance. After running, his knees hurt for a full half a month. He even struggled to go up and down stairs. It was a typical example of him increasing the amount of exercise without knowing the boundaries of his ability, which directly caused a big injury hole.

Many people think that "warming up enough will prevent injuries." In fact, this statement is now quite controversial in the industry. In the past, everyone was used to doing static stretching for more than ten minutes before exercise. Now many studies have confirmed that long-term static stretching will temporarily reduce muscle explosive power. Just sprint for 100 meters and do Heavy strength training is more likely to cause strain. Now it is more recommended to do a dynamic warm-up that matches the next exercise. For example, if you want to play badminton, do a few more sets of leg raises, shoulder circles, and lunges before the game to activate the muscles to be used first. It is much more effective than standing there and pressing your legs for five minutes.

Another point that people tend to overlook is that the movement pattern is much more important than how many kilometers you ran or how much weight you lifted. Last week, I saw a young man deadlifting in the gym. He bent like a shrimp and pulled a 100 kilogram barbell. Many people blindly chase PBs and hit heavy weights after just two months of training, and don't care if their movements are deformed. In fact, as long as the movements are standard, even if the speed is slow and the weight is small at the beginning, not only will they not be easily injured, but their abilities will increase more steadily.

There is also controversy about the use of protective gear. Many people think that wearing knee pads and wrist pads can be made casually. In fact, many sports rehabilitation practitioners hold the opposite view: if the core and target muscle groups are strong enough, there is no need to wear protective gear for daily jogging and regular strength training. Long-term reliance on protective gear will make the relevant muscles "lazy", unable to increase their strength, and more susceptible to injury. Protective gear is originally for emergency use during the recovery period after injury or when playing high-intensity competitions, and has never been a standard feature of daily exercise.

Don’t believe in the poisonous chicken soup that “pain means you have practiced well”. I once had a riding friend who had a stinging sensation in his knee when climbing a hill and continued to ride through a 100-kilometer cross-country race. As a result, he had an operation for a meniscus injury. He did not dare to touch the bike for more than half a year. If he had stopped in time if it hurt, it would not have become so serious. Muscle soreness is normal during exercise. If you experience tingling, numbness, or joint jamming, it is an emergency alarm from your body. Don’t hold on.

To put it bluntly, these principles are not rigid rules copied from textbooks. They are all piled up from real injury cases. The purpose of exercise is to live more comfortably. Don't injure yourself just to improve data or save face. That is really putting the cart before the horse.