Playing a sport, whether it is soccer or basketball, is a great way to stay in shape and develop leadership skills. However, you are at risk of getting an injury if you are not careful. Being very physically active can be hard on your body and cause you to develop ankle sprains and other injuries. Here are five tips for preventing sports injuries:

Vary Your Exercises Routine

One of the best ways to minimize your risk of injury is to vary your exercise routine. If you just do one type of workout, one of your muscles can get overworked and increase your chances of getting hurt. For example, if you are a runner, concentrate on strength training or coordination conditioning some days.

Do not Skimp on Your Warm ups

Even if you are very excited to start playing your sport, you should never skip a warm up. A good warm up will increase your heart rate and muscle temperature, so you will be less likely to get hurt. Aim to warm up for 15 to 20 minutes. For example, you could do jumping jacks or jog in place.

Increase Your Flexibility

The more flexible your joints are, the less likely you are to get hurt during a sport. That is why you should try to do stretching exercises every day. For example, you could bend down and touch your toes and rotate your ankles around in a circle for a minute.

Drink Water Beforehand

It is important to drink at least one cup of water before playing a sport, even if you do not feel thirsty. If you get dehydrated during physical activity, you will be more likely to get injured.

Listen to Your Body

It may seem obvious, but you have to pay careful attention to how your body acts while you play sports. For example, it is not normal to experience sharp pain. Attempting to play through the pain will just increase your chances of getting seriously hurt. Stop playing the sport until you get checked out by a doctor.

Sports injuries are difficult to deal with, so you should prevent them from happening in the first place. If you follow these helpful tips, you will be less likely to get hurt while playing a sport. However, if you do get hurt, you should take it easy and have a doctor like Orthopedic Rehab examine the injury as soon as possible.