How to Prevent Sports Injuries: Tips from a Physical Therapist

Sports and physical activity are essential for health, well-being, and quality of life. But injuries —from ankle sprains to stress fractures to ACL tears — can derail your training, cost you significant time off, and in some cases, lead to long-term complications.

The good news: most sports injuries are preventable. Here's what physical therapists know

about keeping athletes of all levels healthy and on the field.

Understand Why Sports Injuries Happen

Before you can prevent sports injuries, it helps to understand why they occur. Most injuries fall into two categories:

• Acute injuries: Sudden trauma from a collision, fall, or unexpected movement — such as

a sprained ankle or fractured wrist.

• Overuse injuries: Gradual damage from repetitive stress without adequate recovery —

such as shin splints, tendinopathy, or stress fractures.

While acute injuries can be harder to predict, overuse injuries are largely preventable with smart training practices and good recovery habits.

Warm Up Properly — Every Single Time

A proper warm-up is one of the most effective injury prevention tools available, and one of the

most commonly skipped.

An effective warm-up should:

• Gradually increase heart rate and blood flow to working muscles

• Take joints through sport-specific ranges of motion

• Include dynamic movements (leg swings, hip circles, arm circles) rather than static

stretches

• Last at least 10–15 minutes before intense activity

Static stretching before exercise has not been shown to reduce injury risk and may temporarily

reduce muscle force production. Save it for after your session.

Build Load Gradually

One of the most common causes of overuse injury is doing too much, too soon. Whether you're

increasing mileage, adding weight, or ramping up training intensity, the 10% rule offers a useful

starting point: don't increase total training load by more than 10% per week.This applies to runners increasing weekly mileage, gym-goers adding weight to their lifts, and

team sport athletes ramping up pre-season training after an off-season.

Prioritize Strength Training

Strength is your body's best armor against injury. Research consistently shows that strength

training reduces injury rates across virtually all sports.

Focus on:

• Functional, compound movements (squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, presses)

• Single-leg exercises to address side-to-side imbalances

• Hip and glute strengthening, which protects the knees and lower back

• Rotator cuff and scapular stability work for overhead and throwing athletes

Don't Ignore Recovery

Recovery is not the absence of training — it is an active component of your program.

Inadequate recovery is a primary driver of both overuse injuries and performance decline.

Recovery strategies with solid evidence behind them include:

• Sleep: 7–9 hours per night for adults; more for adolescent athletes

• Nutrition: adequate caloric intake and protein to support tissue repair

• Active recovery: light movement on rest days to promote blood flow

• Mobility work: foam rolling and stretching after training sessions

Listen to Your Body

Pain is a signal, not a challenge to push through. Many athletes make their injuries significantly

worse by ignoring early warning signs — the minor ache that becomes a significant structural

problem.

If you notice persistent pain, swelling, or a change in how you're moving, get it assessed early.

Physical therapists are experts in diagnosing movement-related problems and can often

address issues quickly when they're caught early.

Work with a Physical Therapist

Perhaps the most impactful thing any athlete — recreational or competitive — can do for injury prevention is work with a physical therapist for a movement screen and personalized program.

A PT will identify your individual risk factors — muscle imbalances, mobility restrictions, faulty

movement patterns — and design a targeted program to address them. This is the kind of

individualized guidance that generic workout programs simply can't provide.

And with virtual PT now widely available, getting that expert guidance has never been more

accessible.

Ready to Feel Better — From Anywhere?

NexStep PT offers virtual physical therapy sessions designed to fit your life. Whether you're

managing chronic pain, recovering from surgery, or working to prevent injury, our licensed

physical therapists are ready to help — no commute required. Fill out our contact form today

and a member of our team will reach out to get you started.

👉 Contact us at nexsteppt.com to schedule your virtual PT session.