WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – As students head back to school and sport seasons begin, a local physical therapist shared some tips to help prevent injury.
Morgan Heffernan, with Novant Health, spoke with WECT about some simple steps athletes can take to ensure their bodies are ready for physical activity.
โ… thereโs a big difference between pre and post stretching that I donโt think people are aware of,โ Heffernan said. โThey think of the generic static holds as far as stretching. But in actuality, before an activity, you want to make sure that youโre doing what we call dynamic movement, and so that includes, you know, making sure that each joint of your body has been moved through its full range; that youโre doing drills that are a little bit more sports specific, and even maybe going out for a small little jog to get your heart pumping and get blood to all the parts of your body.โ
While injuries are most often associated with contact sports, Heffernan says she sees a lot of patients from non-contact and individual sports.
โ… it actually might surprise you, but the most injuries that I see arenโt the, you know, contact sports, like football, lacrosse, hockey, you know, itโs actually more of my endurance athletes, like runners, swimmers, cyclists,โ she explained. โYou know, those athletes are doing repetitive motions, theyโre doing the same thing over and over again for usually thousands of repetitions. And if the body is not prepared to do that, or if thereโs some sort of break down in that cycle, itโs going to show through.โ
Copyright 2024 WECT. All rights reserved.
