WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – As students return to school and sports season begins, a local physical therapist shared some tips to prevent injuries.
Morgan Heffernan with Novant Health spoke to WECT about some simple steps athletes can take to prepare their bodies for exercise.
“… there’s a big difference between before and after stretching, and I don’t think people realize that,” Heffernan says. “When we think of stretching, we typically think of static holds, but actually before any activity you should be making sure you’re doing what’s called dynamic movement, which means making sure that each joint in your body is working to its full potential, doing a little bit of sport-specific drills, and even jogging a little bit to get your heart pumping and pumping blood to every part of your body.”
While the injuries most commonly involve contact sports, Heffernan said he also sees many patients who play non-contact and individual sports.
“… You’d be surprised, but most of the injuries I see aren’t in contact sports like football, lacrosse, hockey, but rather in endurance sports – runners, swimmers, cyclists,” she explained. “These athletes are doing repetitive movements, doing the same movements thousands of times. If their body isn’t keeping up with that, or if there’s something wrong with that cycle, it’s going to show up.”
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