So you’re watching all the sporting events at the Summer Olympics and by now you’re probably wondering, ‘how are they dealing with injuries’ or ‘what do they do to help avoid injuries’. Well the truth is that there are a few things they work on as part of their regular regimens that help to protect them from injuries as much as possible.

First off, they work on proper form for the movements they perform in the sport. This is for both improved performance and for the avoidance of injury. When your body is accustomed to these movements, the likelihood of injury from the performance of them is decreased. Such exercises include walking lunges for runners or sprinters, cable chest flies for swimmers, among others.

The next of things that athletes work on to avoid injuries are exercises designed to strengthen surrounding musculature of the most commonly used joints. These include the knees, shoulders, ankles, wrists, among others. Strengthening these areas will help prevent sprain and strain injuries, and possible tears in ligaments and tendons of the joints. This is critical because the most commonly used joints are the most susceptible to injury and, in severe cases, could end an athlete’s career. Such exercises include rotator cuff strengthening exercises for the shoulders, abduction and adduction exercises for the hip joints, hamstring curls and various quadriceps strengthening exercises for the knees, etc.

Also of great importance is the strengthening of one’s core stability muscles. This envelopes the abdominal muscles that include: transverse abdominals, internal and external obliques, rectus abdominus; as well as the muscles surrounding the spinal column: the erector spinae, the multifidus muscles, and paraspinal muscles along the entire lumbar and thoracic spine regions. Strengthening of the core stabiltiy muscles is essential to every athlete for both improved performance and for injury prevention of the spine.