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Over 40 sport injuries| How to avoid exercise injury for baby boomers
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More baby boomers over 40 years of age are exercising regularly
More and more people, who are over forty or those born in 1946 to 1964 (the baby boomers), are realizing the benefits of taking up some form of sports or exercising regularly in a gym. They are much more aware that regular exercise and gym workouts not only slow down the aging process but will also give them more years of active lifestyle and a better quality of life.
This is well and good as exercising regularly severely cut down the risks of getting age and obesity related diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, some forms of cancers which can be potentially fatal. Nobody likes to die young if they can help it and over forties baby boomers know it.
It is heartening to know that more over forties baby boomers are taking charge of their health by exercising and working out regularly so as to improve their lives and are becoming fitter, healthier and stronger. Many are so successful with exercising that they do not look or feel their age.However, with more middle aged people exercising and playing some form of sports, instances of injuries sustained from these exercise related activities have risen substantially. Partly due to ignorance and partly to nonchalant attitudes.
In the United States, these gym or sports injuries have become the number 2 reason for people visiting the doctor’s office, with the common cough and cold at the number 1 position, as reported by the National Ambulatory Medical Care in 2003.
A Consumer Product Safety Commission research in 1998 found that sports related injuries to over 40s baby boomers had risen by 33 percent since 1991 and contributed to US$18.7 billion in medical costs.
That is a lot of money and the money can be saved if the baby boomers make simple efforts to avoid
workout injuries.
Outdoor sports such as tennis, jogging and golf are very popular with people over forties. Not to be
outdone, the more body conscious baby boomers are joining gym memberships and working out with
weights in droves for the sake of looking younger and more beautiful. Of course the health benefits
come as a bonus.
Gyms in all developed countries are exuberantly reporting skyrocketing sales in new gym
memberships year after year with a large pool of their members being the over forties baby boomers brigade.
Males and females alike, the baby boomers are trying hard to slow down the aging process because they
now have more disposable income, free time and better health education than their predecessors did.
As over forties baby boomers get older, their susceptibility to sports injuries rise proportionately. As people age,
their body degenerate along with their age, although exercising regularly is supposed to slow down this
very degeneration process.
This is particularly so for the risky weekend warriors who take to the running tracks or lifting weights
to build their body with gusto only during weekends, putting their aging bodies and joints to sudden busts
of unaccustomed stressful activities, ignorantly causing severe stress and damages to their own bodies.
What are the common over 40s baby boomer’s sports injuries?
- Shoulder injuries – Common for those playing squash, tennis, badminton and lifting weights in
the gym using wrong form and techniques. Our shoulders are the most unstable joints in our body and that is why extra care must be taken when exercising the shoulders.
- Elbow injuries – People who play racket games and bodybuilders especially those whose are focusing
on building big arms.
- Back injuries – A very common occurrence in the gym amongst baby boomer bodybuilder wannabes.
Also a common injury for golfers who often have to swing their spine to hit the golf balls.
- Knee injuries – For over 40s baby boomers who participate in sports with sudden movements and changes of
directions such as squash, rugby and soccer.
- Ankle injuries - Usually afflicting the middle aged runners, joggers and robust sport participants.
How to avoid the risks of sports injuries for the over forties baby boomers?
Common sense though the answers are, it is uncommon to see the over forties baby boomers doing
them.
- Thorough warm of the muscles and joints which will be involved in the exercise or sport about to be
undertaken.
- Stretching adequately and correctly. Most people stretch in the wrong manner which then may cause
even more injuries.
- Take the exercises or sports intensity one step at a time, then as your stamina and strength improve
over time, you can then increase the intensity of the sport or the exercise. Rest in between days to let
your body recuperate, recharge and heal after all the rigorous bashing.
- By exercing regularly, not just at weekends. Do not be a weekend warrior. Your body may not
be able to cope with the sudden outburst and battering that you inflict on it each weekend.
- Engage a professional sports fitness personal trainer who can tailor an exercise program suitable to your health
condition and guide you safely through the exercises. Remember that you are not that young anymore.
So baby boomers, don’t become a victim of your exercises. You want to be fit and healthy, not suffering
from pain and despondency from what could have been an enjoyable game or healthy sporting activity.
Yes. For those of us who are over 40s, sport and workout injuries can be avoided and we can enjoy
our exercises, freedom from pain and immobility.
Your Fitness Coach
How
to avoid exercise/sports injuries for over 40s baby boomers article.
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