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Physical sports have become the modern stage on which man can showcase the best of his characteristics; his determination to win, and the grace of his movement. But participating in this kind of sports can never be a walk in the park. The amount of preparation and focus that any athlete has to give to shine in any physical sport can be colossal. And the most exciting physical sports require exhaustive human action which can often damage muscles and joints.

While damaged muscles can be easily repaired or healed, patching up joints and cartilages can be a more challenging task for practitioners in athletic medicine. Dislocated joints and torn cartilages are common injuries in any physical sports. While joint and cartilage injuries can now be fixed with either surgical or non-surgical measures, the effects or complications that these types of injuries bring can affect the athlete for the rest of his or her career, or even lifetime.

So how can you avoid injuries while playing sports? Actually, there is no surefire way to prevent injuries from happening to athletes while playing sports. Sports injuries are usually accidents; so the best that any athlete can do is to prepare himself or herself for each match or training session. Here are three aspects that can help increase your safety from injuries whether you are in a big match or just practicing a few hoops or kicks.

Proper Warm Up

Proper warm up exercises are important before you go into the actual game. The goal of warming up is to prepare your body and your mind for the exhausting activity you are about to perform. Proper warm up exercises help in raising the temperature of your body to a level in which your muscles and, more importantly, your joints will become more resilient and adaptable to any intensity of movement or impact.

A good warm up regimen should last for at least twenty minutes. The intenseness and the pace of the exercises should start from moderate and gradually build up to a more forceful momentum. But keep in mind that your warm up exercises should not take away a big portion of your energy for the actual game.

Wear Protective Gear

All kinds of physical sports have recommended equipment or gears that can minimize the athlete's chances of being injured. For football, a shin guard is an important protector that helps the player avoid the excruciating pain from being kicked on the front part of the leg; but more than this, shin guards also serve as cushion for the joints in the ankles.

Proper Body Conditioning

Having a well-developed physique can greatly reduce your chances of being injured in a game. For example, if you have strong tendons and cartilages, your hamstrings will not easily tear up in the middle of a match. No matter how you bend or extend your legs, your joints will never lock or break if you have nourished yourself with the right food and improved the resistance and strength of your joints or cartilages through exercise. Conditioning your body for your sport will enable you to perform your best while increasing your ability to hang tough even against the possibility of injuries.

But remember, regardless of your preparation, injuries can still occur. And joint and cartilage injuries can be the most painful ordeal that you can go through. Sometimes, these injuries can be the start of chronic joint pains that can even be affected by cold weather temperatures.