10 Poses to Reduce Injury Risk
Injury rates are high in competitive sports. Playing football requires high velocity acceleration, deceleration, direction changes, pivoting, all of which can contribute to overuse injuries. The body also adapts to regular movement patterns during play, such as a dominant kicking leg and dominant standing leg. The standing leg is used to balance and keep the body upright, it will have developed stabilising muscles but, if you kick a ball with this leg it would be unused to the range of movement (ROM) required. Equally, the kicking leg has a wider ROM with more flexibility in the muscles but you would likely find balancing on this leg substantially more difficult. This imbalance in the lower extremities puts you at risk of injuries such as hamstring, groin, knee and lower leg muscle or tendon ruptures. A regular Yoga practice can have amazing benefits as well as helping you to reduce injury risk.
Benefits of Yoga Practice
Benefits of Yoga Practice
- Increased strength at a wider range of movement, reducing risk of tears and strains
- Improved functional movement, decreasing risk of injury and re-injury
- Improved balance and proprioception, thus better control of the body in motion
- Balancing left and right sides and reciprocal muscle groups, reducing the risk of injury
- Improved concentration and an increased ability to remain calm when under pressure
