How to Prevent Muscle Strains

Don’t get sidelined with a muscle strain – avoid injury and maximize your fitness

Diving headlong into your favourite summer activity, especially after being inactive for a long time and without doing a proper warm-up, can lead to muscle strain – an injury to a muscle or its attaching tendons (a sprain is an injury to ligaments).

Symptoms of muscle strain injury include pain when the specific muscle is used, pain at rest, weakness of the muscle or tendons or an inability to use the muscle at all.

Typical causes of muscle strain include:

• Poor body mechanics
• Overused and/or weak muscles
• Inadequate warm-up prior to intense activity
• Poor flexibility
• Inadequate (or lack of) protective gear

To help prevent muscle strain:

• Work on your flexibility by stretching every day
• Always stretch before commencing an activity
• Do a muscle warm-up routine before doing any strenuous exercise

Originally published in Wellness Matters, Canada Wide Media’s quarterly newsletter on health and wellness.