July 7, 2016 | Lauren Woods - Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine

Exercise Safely this Summer

Summer is heating up. The UConn Musculoskeletal Institute’s experts in the Division of Sports Medicine offers their best health tips so you can safely stay active this summer during your exercise and recreational sport events.

exercise safely this summer

This summer UConn Health's team of sports medicine experts advise extra precautions for when you are exercising. Remember to hydrate, warm-up, cool-down, and exercise safely to prevent any types of injuries.

 

As the hottest summer months of July and August are upon us, our UConn Musculoskeletal Institute’s experts in the Division of Sports Medicine offered their best advice on how you can safely stay active this summer while preventing injuries during your exercise and recreational sporting activities.

UConn Health sports medicine experts recommend you:

  • Stay hydrated: Drinking enough water daily is critical, especially as heat and humidity climbs during the summer. If you plan to exercise outside in the summer heat – even for a short time – cover your skin and drink enough water to stay cool. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking 10-18 oz. of water one-two hours prior to exercise. Limit coffee and other caffeinated drinks, which dehydrate the body.
  • Warm up and cool down: Perform about 15-20 minutes of simple warm-up exercise, like jogging, walking, or stretching, before and after the main event or exercising. And drink water!
  • Vary your exercises: Overuse injuries such as stress fractures and tendonitis are likely if you repeatedly engage in the same type of athletic activity. In young athletes, growth plates can suffer from too much pressure due to repetitive use. Switch up your exercise to keep your body happy.
  • Know your boundaries: Acute injuries can occur by doing too much, too soon. Be honest about the extent of your capabilities. Especially as you get older, your body may not be prepared to take on a race without pre-conditioning and slowly building up to a new level.
  • Listen to your body: Appropriate early diagnosis of injuries is important. If you injure yourself or a notice change in your body’s function without a specific injury, and symptoms linger after two weeks of icing and over-the-counter anti-inflammatories, seek expert sports medicine care. If left untreated, symptoms, pain, and the injury itself could worsen.
  • Recognize signs of concussion: Concussions are one of the most common injuries in sports, but can happen to anyone. Signs of a concussion include head trauma, loss of consciousness, staggering and instability walking, blurry vision, and sensitivity to noise and light. If suspected, the person should be evaluated as soon as possible, preferably on the sidelines by a health care professional. If no health care professional is available at the event, get to the closest emergency department or urgent care center. When treated appropriately, a concussion should improve within 7-10 days.
  • Sleep: While you may be tempted to burn the candle at both ends – especially when it’s lighter later – to get in enough exercise, it’s important to aim for 7-8 hours of sleep a night to allow your body to recover.

To learn more about sports medicine at UConn Health, visit: http://uconnsportsmed.uchc.edu/ or call: 860-679-7692.