Fall Sports Safety Tips

Preparing For the Fall Sports Season Fall sports season is here! While it may be tempting to jump right in, there are steps athletes should take in order to avoid injury and take full advantage of the upcoming sports season. If you’re an athlete or the parent of a young athlete, we’re here to bring you some practical tips about safely gearing up for fall sports.

Here are a few tips to help get you prepared!

• New athletes must pace themselves. Although new athletes may want to try to keep up with more experienced athletes, it’s important for them to remember to start slowly to prevent overtraining and injury.

• Don’t forget to stretch. Stretching both before and after a workout facilitates positive muscle health and can help to improve performance.

• Be conscious of overtraining. There is a fine balance between training hard and overtraining. Soreness is one thing, but pain is another. Parents are most familiar with their child’s activity level and should monitor their athlete closely.

• Don’t try to do too much in a short period of time. If the sports season inches closer and athletes haven’t completed much training up to that point, they shouldn’t attempt to cram it all in. Trying to do a lot of training in a short period of time will often do more harm than good. Instead, ease your way into activity and take incremental steps when increasing exercise routines.

• Avoid exercising during the hottest part of the day. The hottest part of the day tends to be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., so exercise before or after that time to avoid any heat-related issues. If you are doing double workouts, the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. time frame is a great amount of time to rest in between workouts.

• Consider working with an athletic trainer. Athletic trainers work with athletes to develop personalized, sport-specific treatment in order to maximize their performance and reduce the risk of injury.