We also need to know why. What factors put people at risk for that injury? And conversely, what factors protect people from it? CDC conducts and supports research to answer these important questions. Once we have that information, we can develop and implement programs to eliminate or reduce risk factors for injuries and to capitalize on or increase factors that protect people from being injured.

In this step, we put knowledge into action. Using information gathered in our research, CDC develops strategies to prevent particular injury problems. We implement these strategies in communities that are experiencing the problem.

We use this information to identify any elements we need to change to eliminate difficulties or increase effectiveness. What we learn in the developing and testing step has little benefit if we keep the information to ourselves. In this final step of the public health approach, CDC shares its knowledge and may provide funding or expert consultation so that communities can replicate these successful strategies.

Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search. Remove tripping hazards inside and around your home. Helmets for heads. This means that four out of five head injuries could be prevented if every cyclist wore a helmet.

Helmets are also recommended for skateboarding, scootering, rollerblading, skiing, and snowboarding. Get in gear. Use the proper equipment for the task at hand. For example, wear safety goggles when using a power saw or tool. Dress to be seen. When walking or biking, wear brightly coloured clothing so drivers can see you during the daytime.

At night, wear reflective tape on your shoes, cap or jacket to reflect the headlights of the cars coming towards you. Safety checklist. Make sure your kitchen knives are kept sharp. A dull knife can slip and cause injury, and can also cause a worse cut. Charge up. Check the batteries in your smoke detectors at least once a year.

Progress Properly Start your workout slowly. Try not to do too much, too fast to avoid excessive muscle soreness and tightness. Over time, slowly increase the amount and intensity of the workout. Ensure the use of safe, properly-fitted equipment. Cool Down This is the most commonly forgotten portion of the workout.

It helps safely bring the body, heart rate, and muscles back to their resting state. Perform minutes of low-intensity cardiovascular activity, followed by stretching. Cooling down immediately after your workout will help decrease delayed onset muscle soreness and aid in recovery which will help prepare your body for its next workout.

These could be signs that a more serious injury is developing. If your body is too sore or tired from a previous workout, you should consider taking a day off or cross-training to avoid injury. Rest and Recover Rest is critical to avoiding injury and seeing gains in your training program.

The quality of protective equipment—padding, helmets, shoes, mouth guards—has helped to improve safety in sports. But you can still be at risk of injury. Always contact your healthcare provider before starting any type of physical activity. This is especially important for vigorous types of exercises or sports.

Create a fitness plan that includes cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and flexibility. This will help decrease your chance of injury. Cool down correctly after exercise or sports. It should take 2 times as long as your warm-ups. Stay hydrated. Drink water to prevent dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.

Stretching exercises can improve the ability of muscles to contract and perform. This can reduce the risk for injury. Each stretch should start slowly until you reach a point of muscle tension.

Stretching should not be painful. Aim to hold each stretch for up to 20 seconds. Like diseases, injuries are preventable—they do not occur at random. To solve public health problems—including injuries—CDC uses a systematic process called the public health approach. This approach has four steps: define the problem, identify risk and protective factors, develop and test prevention strategies, and assure widespread adoption of effective injury prevention principles and strategies.

Before we can address an injury problem, we need to know how big the problem is, where it is, and whom it affects. Decision makers use these critical data in allocating programs and resources to the areas most in need.

It is not enough to know that a certain type of injury is affecting a certain group of people in a certain area. We also need to know why. What factors put people at risk for that injury?

And conversely, what factors protect people from it? CDC conducts and supports research to answer these important questions. Once we have that information, we can develop and implement programs to eliminate or reduce risk factors for injuries and to capitalize on or increase factors that protect people from being injured.

In this step, we put knowledge into action. Using information gathered in our research, CDC develops strategies to prevent particular injury problems. We implement these strategies in communities that are experiencing the problem. We use this information to identify any elements we need to change to eliminate difficulties or increase effectiveness.

What we learn in the developing and testing step has little benefit if we keep the information to ourselves. In this final step of the public health approach, CDC shares its knowledge and may provide funding or expert consultation so that communities can replicate these successful strategies.

Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search.

Get Email Updates. To receive email updates about this topic, enter your email address: Email Address. What's this? Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.

Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.

You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. CDC is not responsible for Section compliance accessibility on other federal or private website.

Stretching exercises can improve the ability of muscles to contract and perform. This can reduce the risk for injury. Each stretch should start slowly until you reach a point of muscle tension.

Stretching should not be painful. Aim to hold each stretch for up to 20 seconds. Use the right equipment or gear. Wear shoes that give support and that may correct certain foot problems that can lead to injury.

Always take your time during strength training. Go through the full range of motion with each repetition. If you do have a sports injury, make sure you get as much rehab rehabilitation as needed before restarting a strenuous activity.

then at least try to stick to these simple guidelines. Load Management is Critical for all types of Injury Prevention. Sudden increases in Acute workload were found to have a significant relation to injury in the current and subsequent weeks of increased load.

High Chronic workloads were found to have a protective affect against injury. Hence the need for monitoring of both Acute and Chronic Load, and the Acute:Chronic Load Ratio.

In the pursuit of advancing his clinical knowledge and skills to better treat his patients, he undertook a Masters of Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, which he completed in These exercise progressions are designed for a Grade 2 Hamstring Tear.

They should be close to pain-free to perform. Hamstring tears can vary in severity from a Grade 1A small, intramuscular, weeks to Grade 3 C Full thickness tendon attachment rupture - surgery Don't forget to include short sprints 10x40m as part of your return to play preparation.

These are slightly more advanced exercises to perform after any ankle or knee injury for those wishing to return to sporting activities. Last Updated on Mar 17, Hamstring Injury Prevention Sports Injuries.

Use your load measurements to work out how much is too much. Acute: Chronic Workload Ratio The Acute: Chronic Workload Ratio is a way for athletes and coaches to determine the load their athletes should do for current and future training as to prevent injury.

They made their players do repeat 40metre sprints at the end of every training session when they were fatigued. NordBord At the end of the season, Leicester City had the least number of injuries in the league and also had the greatest number of counter attacking goals in the league.

Keep a diary of how much training you do. Increase your training loads gradually, particularly if your new to a sport, or coming back from a break. Be specific in your training. au Key Evidence Drew et al. Murray et al. Blanch et al. Has the athlete trained enough to return to play safely?