Traumatologist-orthopedist, Ph.D. Milenin Oleg Nikolaevich talks about what injuries can await us when practicing fashionable sports, as well as how to avoid them.
Bosu, jump fit, stretching, body ballet, wakesurfing are gaining more and more new fans in our country and are becoming a worthy replacement for Pilates and a treadmill. But when signing up for a particular discipline, it is worth remembering about injuries that are easy for a beginner to get during training.
Bosu is the name of a sports equipment that can be used as a platform for step, as well as for stretching, cardio and strength training. On one side of this projectile there is a plastic platform, on the other – a rubber hemisphere filled with air.
It is more difficult to step on bare feet than on a regular platform, since the athlete constantly has to maintain balance. Loss of balance can lead to a fall and damage to the ligaments, ankle or meniscus, and even a fracture. It will be easier to maintain balance if classes will be held in special sports shoes with non-slip soles, a fixed heel and a sufficiently high shaft. The correct technique of placing the feet is also of great importance: they should be located parallel to each other in the center of the hemisphere, while keeping the knees half-bent.
When performing lunges, the load is on the ligamentous apparatus of the knee and, first of all, on the patella, on its cartilage. Training the inner head of the quadriceps femoris muscle will help prevent its damage. Also, the kneecap suffers when the knee is located farther than the toe, forming an acute angle. This mistake must be avoided.
Another common barefoot exercise is doing plank jumps. With the correct technique for performing this exercise, it is difficult to get injured. Stretching is possible, however, which can be prevented by doing Pilates exercises beforehand.
Jump-fit is a combination of jumping rope or jumping on special pedestals with elements of choreography and yoga.
Jumping can cause damage to the patella cartilage, which, as mentioned earlier, can be strengthened by additional training of the quadriceps muscle of the thigh. It is also useful to do relaxing exercises for the calf muscles, biceps femoris, tendon muscle after a jump fit, this will help relieve tension in the overloaded part of the leg.
I would not recommend doing jumps on the heels at all, since when landing on the heel, there is completely no shock absorption, the spine suffers greatly, as a result of which a hernia may develop.
When performing jumps with rolls from toe to heel, special attention should be paid to the surface on which you are practicing. It should not be very soft, but not too hard.
For overweight people, jump fit is contraindicated due to the increased load on the knees.
Stretching is a type of aerobics aimed mainly at stretching the muscles of the body, developing flexibility and elasticity. Most of the stretching exercises are directed at the leg muscles.
It is impossible to do this type of fitness without warming up, as it can seriously damage the tendons. Also, sharp jerks during stretching pose a danger to the tendons.
Fraught with stretching and ligament rupture. Acute pain during exercise, decreased mobility, edema, and bruising may indicate rupture. Remember to stretch the muscles, not the ligaments that can be easily damaged.
When doing side splits, remember to pull on your toes to avoid lateral stress on your knees.
For those who suffer from joint hypermobility, it is better to refrain from stretching.
Body ballet, although based on the technique of classical ballet, is much safer than its older brother.
At the same time, neglecting the preliminary warming up of the muscles, girls run the risk of injuries typical for professional dancers: injuries to the ankle and knees. This is due to the fact that, unlike ballerinas, bodybuilders may not feel very well their body and overload their joints.
The technique of body ballet exercises is not an easy one, but it must be followed with special precision. Graceful fouetté (spectacular twisting around its axis), plie (squatting) and relevé (lifting on half-toes) can easily cause sprains and tears of ligaments, dislocation of the patella (the cup with a click goes back and forth), meniscus rupture and other injuries.
Therefore, if pain occurs, especially if it does not go away for a long time, it is important to consult a specialist for treatment. Ointments, taking medications containing collagen, plasma lifting and arthroscopic surgeries will help to quickly and reliably heal such injuries.
In addition, body ballet includes stretching elements, so it can cause the same injuries as with stretching. Remember, stretching very well is not always helpful. With excessive flexibility, a load arises in those places of the joints where it is not provided for by nature. This leads to infringement of some parts of the joint, which can cause inflammation, increased stress on them and subsequently destruction.
Wakesurfing is riding on a special board along the wave created by a tow boat. Unlike wakeboarding, the athlete holds on to the rope only at the start, and then slides into the water as a result of inertia.
Wakesurfing is much safer than wakeboarding as it does not require your feet to be pinned to the board, which reduces the risk of ankle injuries.
Wakesurfing damage is possible if dropped. Concussion is especially common, and a helmet will help protect against it. Also, try not to enter the water flat when you fall, try to dive perpendicular to the water surface.
To reduce the number of falls, practice balancing on the balance board before getting on the board.