Taking good care of our bodies is something that many of us do without giving it a second thought. We may eat properly, go to the gym, play squash, swim or take part in any other kind of exercise that is good for us. Eating correctly doe not really throw that many problems up at us, there may be the odd thing here and there that may not agree with us but on the whole eating well and healthily is a good starting point on the road to be fit and in good condition. The body however is a complicated piece of machinery and although it needs both fuel from food and exercise to stay healthy there is a very fine balance between too much of either aspect of this.
We need to exercise to strengthen and develop our muscle group as well as to keep our vital organs strong and healthy, such as our heart and lungs, but too much exercise can be harmful to the body if not understood correctly and approached in the correct manner. Each sport that we participate in uses some kind of muscle strength to complete tasks, whether it be golf, soccer, swimming or cycling, all require a certain amount of muscle strength but each sport uses different muscles and uses them in a different way to the way they may be used in another discipline. For instance an athlete who runs in the 100 meters at the Olympics uses his muscles in a totally different way to the way a 1500 meter runner would use and develop his. Both are using leg muscles and arm muscles to propel themselves but in a totally different way.
This is the same with each sport, and to ensure that we stay injury free when playing sport or keeping fit it is important to understand what muscle groups we are using, how much we need to train them and how to ensure that we do not injure those muscles.
An effective warm up routine is always a wise idea no matter what sport you will be taking part in, stretching the relevant muscle groups that are going to be used is vital to ensure that you do not tear any muscles. But do not think by doing a quick stretch that everything will be ok, you need to stretch thoroughly and not only the major muscle groups that are being used but the stabilising muscles also. For instance a golfer should stretch his shoulders, triceps, biceps and forearms before taking his first swing of the day and then take a few slower swings to give the muscles that extra stretch.
The same goes for all sports, common sense must prevail before starting. But taking care of your muscles is not the only thing that need that you should be aware of to prevent injury in sport. Your eyes are possibly more important than any muscle group in the body, you can recover from a torn hamstring but a golf ball or hockey puck to the eye is a totally different thing. In any activity where it is possible to wear protective eyewear you should do so. Even where there is not an inherent danger of getting hit in the eye from a flying object the rays from the sun can still do hidden damage to your eyes that over a prolonged period of time can result in severely impaired eyesight. Sports eyewear has come a long way over the past ten years, sports glasses are now more fashionable, lighter and more comfortable to wear than ever before so you should have no excuse for not putting on the correct eyewear as soon as you have finished your sports warm up.