As a competitive athlete, or even your regular gym goer, you understand how important it is to keep your body not only healthy, but to do everything you can to prevent injury. Workout injuries are significantly more dangerous, the stronger you get and the more weight you can handle. Using preventative methods will help you to prevent setbacks. It is very frustrating when you have worked so hard on something, only to be set back by an injury. It is also difficult when you get out of the exercising routine to dive back into it once you have recovered. Prevention is the most overlooked step, and here are some ways that you can be proactive in keeping your body free from injuries.
IV Therapy
When your body is exerting so much energy and effort, your immune system may become weakened because your body is not strong enough to fight off germs, as it is too busy recovering its muscles. IV therapy is something that can keep your body from sicknesses, as well as keeping your body hydrated. IV therapy is much more powerful than water and vitamins because the nutrients go directly into your bloodstream. Vitamin C also helps your body to recover more quickly. The vitamins penetrate deep into your cells for quicker recovery. If you are being proactive in staying healthy, you will not have to worry about your body getting sick, and missing out on important training time.
Stretching
Stretching is incredibly important and often very overlooked. Stretching before exercising is important to warm up your muscles, but it is also important to stretch after your exercises to warm down. Stretching will decrease your risk of injury because your range of motion and flexibility will improve as well. Stretching will increase the blood flow to your muscles which is very important after your workout to help prevent soreness. If you are sore, your body will be tense and tight and if that carries over to your next workout, you could overcompensate and hurt yourself.
Physical Therapy
Many people think of physical therapy as something you do after you are injured, however physical therapy can also help prevent injury through targeting the weak parts in your body and making sure they get properly stretched and strengthened. Let Idaho Falls physical therapy help you to prevent injuries.
Ice Bath
Taking a cold plunge in an ice bath after a tough workout will not only feel great, but will help your muscles by slowing the blood flow to prevent swelling. Think of this as putting an ice pack on your entire body. If you are training regularly or for a competition, you may want to take an ice bath at least twice a week. This will help your body to recover more quickly by preventing inflammation as you are working up to your competition day.
Proper Diet
Often athletes prioritize protein while trying to cut out carbs. If you are intensely working out, protein is important but so are all of the other food groups. Carbs are incredibly important for your endurance, and feeding your body for energy. Athletes often try to cut out fats as well, but healthy fats are very important to a healthy diet and feeding your muscles. If you are not taking in enough calories or the proper nutrients, your body will fatigue very fast, as well as not prioritizing healing your muscles for recovery. Calories and fats are important in helping your body to fully recover.