Summer is absolutely the best time to get outside, soak up the sunshine, and push your physical limits. However, combining the intense summer heat with a “too much, too soon” mentality can be the perfect storm for sidelining your favorite activities. Let’s face it. It’s incredibly frustrating to have your warm-weather plans derailed! Staying well during the Summer really comes down to listening to your body and giving it the preparation it deserves.
Here is a guide to preventing those common summer injuries so you can stay active and healthy all season long.
Dodging Sprains and Strains
Whether you are charging down a hiking trail or jumping into a spontaneous game of beach volleyball, uneven terrain and sudden sprints are prime suspects for sprained ankles, pulled muscles as well as tendinitis and bone fractures to name a few..
Get your blood flowing
The best defense here is a proper warm-up. Skip the static toe-touches and instead opt for a dynamic warm-up—think high knee lifts, leg swings, and light jogging or walking. This gets the blood flowing to your muscles, making them far more pliable and ready to handle sudden movements.
Support from the ground up
It is also crucial to wear the right footwear for your specific activity. Supportive shoes with good traction go a long way in preventing an unexpected ankle roll on a rocky trail or a slippery court.
Pace Yourself Against Overuse
The “too much, too soon” trap is easiest to fall into right as the weather turns beautiful. It is incredibly tempting to jump straight into five-mile runs or daily swimming sessions after a quiet winter, but this is exactly how shin splints, tendinitis, and swimmer’s shoulder develop.
Slowly but surely
To prevent overuse injuries, you have to embrace gradual progression. A widely accepted standard is the “10% Rule,” which suggests increasing your distance, duration, or intensity by no more than 10% each week. Give your tendons, ligaments, and bones time to adapt to the new stress. Don’t forget to bake mandatory rest days into your schedule and mix up your routine with cross-training to give those repetitive muscle groups a break.
Build In Recovery time
Managing recovery time is essential, which is something we need to do all year long no matter how intense our activities are. In addition to mandatory rest days, recovery can include breathing and meditation, and mobility and stretching. Massage is a commonly accessibly go-to for recovery by physically manipulating the tissue and neurologically calming the body.
Contrast therapy, the act of alternating between hot and cold environments. The goal is to create a “pumping” action in your blood vessels—the heat causes them to open up (vasodilation), and the cold causes them to constrict (vasoconstriction), which helps flush metabolic waste from the muscles. Popular modalities include sauna, and cold plunge or cryotherapy.
Protecting Against Traumatic Impacts
Accidents happen, especially in popular SoCal high-speed or high-impact summer sports like mountain biking, cycling, or surfing. While you can’t control every element of your environment, you can control your gear and your technique.
Protective Equipment and Mechanics
Always wear well-fitting protective equipment. A quality helmet is non-negotiable for cycling and skateboarding, and wearing it correctly significantly lowers your risk of a severe concussion. For field and water sports, take the time to learn proper mechanics. Knowing how to land softly from a jump, pivot without planting your foot awkwardly, or even fall correctly can be the difference between simply dusting yourself off and suffering a severe joint tear or bone fracture.
Beating the Heat and the Sun
Hydrate ahead
The summer heat takes a massive, hidden toll on your endurance. Preventing heat exhaustion and dehydration requires a proactive approach rather than a reactive one. Don’t wait until you are thirsty to start drinking water; hydrate well before you head out, and keep sipping throughout your activity.
The amount of water intake, of course, is dependent on age, length of activity, and how hot it is outside. Some other strategies are scheduling hydration times during the day so you don’t feel like you’re running off to the bathroom all the time. An example of this would be drinking a quantity of water in the morning anywhere from 20 to 40 ounces and repeating this process midday and early evening.
The Half-Body-Weight Rule: A common rule of thumb is to drink 0.5 ounces of water for each pound of your body weight. For instance, if your body weight is 130 lbs, aim for 65 ounces of water intake each day.
Electrolytes: If you are sweating heavily for more than an hour, swap some of that plain water for an electrolyte drink to replenish lost sodium and potassium and stave off muscle cramps.
Lather up and reapply
Similarly, protecting your skin is about more than just avoiding a painful sunburn. Because severe sunburns draw crucial fluids to the surface of your skin, they actually compromise your body’s ability to cool itself down during a workout. Lather up with a broad-spectrum sunscreen before you step outside, and remember to reapply every two hours, especially if you are swimming or sweating heavily. More details in our Ultimate Guide to Skin Protection” blog.