If you have an inner couch potato telling you to just kick back and watch TV this weekend, fighting against it and getting some exercise can actually increase your life expectancy (and ultimately increase how much TV you can ever watch). Exercise is almost always the best choice if you are looking for something to do for fun over the weekend. However, becoming a “weekend warrior” and only exercising sporadically can lead to injury.
Wait, I thought you said exercising was the best choice?
In most cases, it definitely is the best choice for your health! But to avoid injury, weekend warriors should become during-the-week warriors, too. Most weekend warrior injuries happen when we jump straight back into our old sport like we used to play 10 years ago. You may be mentally ready, but your body may be a bit out of practice.
Weekend warriors can also sustain injury by diving head-first into a new sport. The lack of experience can unwittingly result in an injury for you or even your teammate. We’ve summarized the top injuries for weekend warriors below and most importantly, suggested some tips for you to be able to stay fit and have fun safely!
If you do accidentally take a tumble during ultimate frisbee or develop tennis elbow swinging that racket, just head over to the ORTHOKnox orthopaedic clinics in Knoxville, Tennessee, or Athens, Tennessee. You can even visit the Knoxville orthopedic clinic without an appointment with orthopedic urgent care. The board-certified orthopedic surgeon and physical therapists are available to help you, so you can get back to your weekend recreation as soon as possible!
TOP WEEKEND WARRIOR INJURIES
Fighting against your inner couch potato is awesome but sprinting down the field like you did in college could result in a shin splint or hip strain. Also, not building up enough strength can result in overuse injuries, like tennis elbow. The top injuries for weekend warriors are as follows:
- Ankle Sprains
- Hamstring and Hip Strains
- Shin Splints
- ACL Tears
- Shoulder Overuse
- Tennis Elbow
WEEKEND WARRIOR INJURY PREVENTION TIPS
- Exercise during the week
Yep, exercise is the answer! While we may have more time on the weekends, it is important to sneak in some workouts during the week to give our bodies a chance to build up muscle and adjust to movements.
- Set goals
Even if our minds tell us we are so ready to run in circles for hours, you can’t actually pick up right where you left off the last time you were exercising. With proper goals and conditioning, we can gradually increase our exercise time and intensity so we can avoid strains or overuse injuries.
- Warm-up and stretch
It may be tempting to skip this if you are just tossing the ball around with some friends but warming up and doing some dynamic stretches can signal your body you are about to exercise so it will be less of a shock on your joints.
- Cross train
You may just want to golf on the weekends but working in other forms of exercise, such as swimming, can help strengthen other muscles in your body and avoid overuse injuries.
- Stay hydrated
We’ve all heard this one before and it is important. Drink water to avoid dehydration and fatigue, which is an easy way to make mistakes and sustain an injury.
- Wear the right equipment
This is another thing that is easily overlooked when you don’t plan to do a sport full-time. But even if you are just playing for a few weekends, wearing helmets and pads, as well as properly fitting shoes with traction or cleats, can help protect you and avoid injury.
- Don’t push through the pain
Get some rest and seek treatment if you feel pain while exercising. Pushing through now can exacerbate your injuries and result in less playing time in the future.
GETTING TREATMENT FOR A WEEKEND WARRIOR INJURY
With its board-certified surgeon and Urgent Orthopaedic Care that is available without an appointment, ORTHOKnox has got you covered. For more information about how ORTHOKnox can treat your weekend warrior injury, call (865) 251-3030, or fill out our easy-to-use online appointment request form. We look forward to hearing from you!
