10 Tips for Avoiding Injury During Sports Play

10 Tips for Avoiding Injury During Sports Play

Playing sports is a lot of fun. It’s one of the most exhilarating activities that you can do. Not only is it fun, though; it’s also healthy.

Playing sports can also be a form of body and mind exercise. It can strengthen your muscles and your bones. It also improves your thinking abilities since sports activities hone your mind in matters of strategy and technique.

In fact, playing sports is such a great activity that it can even improve your personality in the aspects of fairness and good sportsmanship. However, that’s not to say that there are no downsides to playing sports.

Playing sports can be quite dangerous especially if you’re inexperienced. If any accidents occur when you’re playing sports, the effects can range from mild to serious. You can either get a minor bruise, a moderately severe sprain, or an injury that you will have to live with for the rest of your life. You might even sustain an injury that could cost you your life. So, it’s quite important to know how to avoid these sports injuries in the first place.

The Proper Gear

The first thing to do when you play sports is to prepare all the equipment that you will need. Your equipment includes not only the balls, the nets and such necessary implements but also your protective equipment.

For example, in football (which is arguably one of the roughest sports) there are a lot of protective gears that you need to put on. The first and probably the most important one is the helmet which is protection for your head or your cranium.

Helmets differ depending on the sport you’re going to play. Football helmets are much bulkier than other helmets. For one thing, football helmets are complete with a face guard and they almost completely cover the head.

There are other protective equipment like ankle guards, shoulder pads, shin guards, mouth guards, and knee caps. All of these are designed to protect the important parts of the body from any injury.

If you participate in football, chances are high that you’ll be falling a lot. All these pads cushion your body whenever you fall or forcibly collide with another player. They therefore help in preventing bone fractures or sprains. Such equipment may be bulky and heavy and they might prevent you from moving freely but, then again, isn’t it always better to be safe than sorry?

Get a Physical

You need to consult with your doctor before you become active in any sports activity. Get a physical exam. This is a precautionary activity that is usually required of professional athletes. It wouldn’t hurt to follow their example even if you only plan on playing football with your weekend buddies.

Warm Ups

Before doing anything strenuous, you have to warm up your body. Some people forgo doing warm-ups because they think that it’s too troublesome; they’re too impatient and want to get into the game the game immediately.

But this shouldn’t be so. Warm-ups are incredibly important because they condition the body for the work-out that it’s going to receive. Also, contrary to what other people think, warm-ups don’t necessarily mean stretching. In fact, stretching should be saved until after you’ve warmed your body up a little since if you stretch yourself too much, you might end up tearing a few ligaments.

The first thing that you should do when you’re warming up is to take a light jog. Then, when you’re done, start stretching your muscles starting from the head down. You can start by rotating your neck, then your shoulders, then your arms, then your waist, your hips, your legs, and then your foot. Sixteen counts on each body part should do.

All in all, warm-ups should last for 15 to 30 minutes. Stretching helps by improving the blood circulation in the said body parts and also by increasing the body’s temperature. That way, once you get into the field, your body will be more than ready to accommodate all the strenuous tasks that it will have to do.

Strength Training and Bodybuilding Exercises

If you want to be in top form when you play, your body must be in top form, too. Aside from giving you the required energy for sports, though, a well-honed body is also more resilient, more flexible and, therefore, less susceptible to sports injuries. Therefore, you should have strength training and regular bodybuilding exercises.

Practice

To avoid sports injuries, you’d do well to be good in your chosen sports. Thus, you’d better practice, practice and practice some more. Of course, do not do this without proper supervision. If no one qualified is there to supervise, no one would be able to tell you whether what you’re doing is right or wrong.

Following Rules

Rules are there for a reason. Usually, they’re qualified into two: rules made for scores or points and rules made for common courtesy. You see, some sports can be dangerous and there are some rules that are put in there for the sake of minimizing injuries and accidents.

Some rules in football that are focused on safety involve the types of blocking and tackling. If you block the opponent by grabbing him by his face mask, then your move will be considered illegal. Also, there’s a rule that prohibits tackling from behind and tackling using the top of your helmet. These rules are made for the official football league but they should also be used in informal games.

Safe Venue

Of course, when you play sports, you have to choose a safe place to play. When you’re playing rough contact sports like football, it’s best if you choose to play on a grass field. It won’t help if you play on concrete because if some accident does happen, falling on the cold, hard concrete will only make the fall harder.

Body Mechanics

When playing sports, you should employ what’s called “body mechanics”. Body mechanics maximizes your body’s potential for movement even as it minimizes the stress that it sustains.

For example, when jumping, make sure to bend or flex your knees to lessen the chance of joint dislocation when you land. Learn all about the techniques that can make falling easier and less severe on your body.

Constant Awareness

Also, when you play sports, you must constantly be aware of what’s happening around you. It won’t help if you’re not cooperating with your teammates.

For example, if two of you are trying to catch the ball, pay attention or you might crash into each other. If someone’s planning to tackle you, try to dodge. Evading is way better than getting hit since the latter leads to injuries.

Muscle Straining

It’s inevitable that your muscles will start to hurt when you play. Muscle pain is oftentimes normal, but that doesn’t mean that you have to ignore it. Never play through the pain because it will aggravate your condition. Take a break when your muscles start hurting. Rest the body part that hurts. It will also help if you elevate it. For example, if your leg is hurting, prop it up on a pillow or two.

It’s perfectly understandable to want to get right back in the game after you’ve sustained an injury especially if it’s an important game. But you have to remember that safety always comes first. If you disregard your injuries, it might get worse and the damage might become irreversible.

Sports are fun and all but that doesn’t mean that you have to give up your body in order to play them. Remember that there are things that are more important in life, like your own safety and wellbeing. Be wise when playing sports, have fun but don’t let it cloud your judgment.

How to Lose Weight Gained during Menopause

How to Lose Weight Gained during Menopause

Losing Weight during Menopause

For many women, gaining weight once they reach menopause is just another challenge that goes along with the deal. But it should be taken seriously and losing the weight gained during menopause will have positive benefits for most women. Losing the weight gained during menopause will help to counteract the effects of the other many and varied symptoms women can experience, although, if you are underweight, gaining a few pounds could be good thing.

WHY DO WOMEN GAIN WEIGHT DURING MENOPAUSE?

During menopause your body gains weight because of the changes the way it stores fat. Instead of storing fat around the hips and thighs, our bodies begin to store fat around the waist area. Also know as middle age spread!  Oestrogen causes us to store the weight on out hips, and because the oestrogen levels are dropping during menopause, it goes to our tummy instead.

Abdominal obesity can put us at higher risk of diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers and cardiovascular disease. So to lose the weight gained during menopause is a very good idea.

Another cause of weight gain during menopause, is the slow down of the metabolism. so the amount of calories we need is less. This is also a part of general aging. Often women do not take this into account in their daily lifestyle. It is important to exercise a little more and to be more aware of our daily intake.

Other changes that occur.

Cholesterol levels tend to rise as a result of the drop in oestrogen. This is not good for the heart and can lead to heart problems in the future if this is not monitored and treated or the diet changed to compensate.

How to lose weight during Meopause.

By the age of 40, our normal maintenance needs are about 20% less than they were at the age of 20. Unfortunately, we fail to take this reduced need into account and eat the same amount – usually more! Result? We gain weight.

Dietary

Limit yourself to about 1,200-1,500 calories per day. These calories should come from nutritionally dense foods, like fruit, vegetables, grains, beans, cereal, fish, low-fat dairy foods and ultra-lean meat. Increase your consumption of fiber. Reduce consumption of caffeine and alcohol. A good way to do all this, is to follow the

Eat less fat

Before the menopause, oestrogen protects women from some of the effects of a high fat diet, but afterwards – as oestrogen levels decline – our level of HDL fat (the good fat) tends to fall, and our LDL (bad fat) tends to rise, thus increasing our risk of heart attacks.

Limit yourself to a maximum of 30-35 grams of fat, per day. Of this, a maximum of 10 grams may be saturated fat. A good way to do all this, is to follow the

Take regular daily exercise

Regular active exercise increases the production of HDL fat (the good fat) and thereby reduces LDL (the bad fat). It lowers the risk of diabetes, osteoporosis and other medical problems. Also, regular exercise helps raise our metabolic rate (thus easing weight loss) and decreases our feelings of stress (thus reducing our need for comfort-eating).

Take at least 30 minutes of moderate activity, most days of the week.

Be aware!

Feelings of tiredness, depression and discomfort are greatly eased by staying on top of the situation and by knowing what is happening to your body.

More information on how to lose weight gained during menopause

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Charlotte Cleaning Service: Your Safety During a Cleaning

Charlotte Cleaning Service: Your Safety During a Cleaning

When you decide to clean a home or office on your own, you may not be aware of the dangers that may occur. Different cleaning products and supplies can cause you and the people around you harm if not handled correctly.

Because professional cleaning companies have trained their housekeepers and cleaning maids to properly handle various chemicals and equipment. It is in your best interest to hire professional cleaners for your own safety. If you choose to clean your home or office on your own, please read over the following safety tips before handling any chemicals and equipment.

Charlotte House and Commercial Cleaning Services Safety Tips for Your Home or Office Building

• Conduct thorough research before making your own cleaning solutions, especially if you choose to use baking soda, salt, lemons, soap, bleach, and vinegar to clean.
• Do not overexert antibacterial soaps. Instead, use them only to wash your hands before and after touching poultry, raw meat, and eggs or when someone in your home is sick.
• Keep all cleaning supplies locked away from small children and animals/pets.
• Be sure to read labels and to only use them for their intended use.
• Label all homemade cleaning products.
• Keep purchased cleaning solutions in their original containers.
• Never mix ammonia and bleach. The mixture releases toxic gases.
• Baking soda and vinegar can be used for most hard-surface cleaning. We recommend that you only use bleach and ammonia for tough cleaning jobs when needed.
• Purchase commercial cleaning products that are neutral pH, nonhazardous, nonirritating, biogradable, and low in VOCs.

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Clean Water and Supplies During a Hurricane

Clean Water and Supplies During a Hurricane

Hurricanes are devastating events that occur on a yearly basis around the world and in the United States and any homeowner that has gone through this event knows that it is often a much better idea to evacuate than it is to stay behind and ride out the storm. People still insist, however, upon staying behind in their homes instead of leaving along with most of the people in the area, but if you are going to do this, you need to know exactly what you will require during the storm.

The most important thing that you need during a hurricane is a good sized supply of drinking water. The human body cannot survive very long without water, so you should make sure that you and anyone else staying with you at the time has at least one gallon of water to use for every day you plan to be there. The last thing that you want is to run out of water and then resort to drinking water from the faucet.

You should never drink water out of your tap while the storm is raging outside, due to the fact that it may be contaminated with more than just rain and sea water. Sewage and the bacteria that comes with it has been known to get into water supplies during these storms, so drinking water out of your faucet is never advisable. You can boil it if you need to, but it is much safer to make sure that you have a clean supply ahead of time.

Having an electricity generator to run things with is a good idea, since you may end up needing to boil water to finish riding out the storm. If the electricity goes off (and it very well may), you can survive without it as long as you have clean water to drink, but if you run low, you may end up in trouble.

A decent supply of non-perishable food is a good thing to have, since water is not the only thing your body needs to survive. Try to have some foods that are ready to eat and do not have to be cooked or refrigerated, like granola bars, cereal, and canned food.

To keep in contact with the outside world, you should also purchase a radio that has a hand crank on it to produce electricity for the radio to work on. This will make sure that you hear what is on the radio and if anything important is happening.

You should also have a sturdy flashlight and extra batteries.

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