Maxim magazine ran an article on ways you can prevent the five most common sports injuries.  These injuries are most often due to fatigue, overexertion, and muscle imbalances.  In this article you’ll learn short and easy exercises that will prevent you from getting hurt whether its during a sports activity, weight lifting, or the long term effects of stress.

The most common sports injury is the hamstring.  It was surprising to find out that stretching immediately before an activity really doesn’t help you at all in preventing injuries to body parts such as the hamstring.  The best way to warm up is to simulate game-related movements at light intensity – like when you see runningbacks do some light jukes during their warm up before the game.  In order for stretching to be effective it must be done regularly in order to make the muscle more limber over time.  Stretching just 30-seconds 3 times a weeks will do the trick.  A simple exercise to do is just lay on your back, raise your leg in the air and flex it out.

The rotator cuff is another common injury that usually results from attempting to lift more weight than your shoulder was designed to handle such as loading up the bench press with a lot more weight that you’re used to lifting.  In order to improve the strength of your rotator cuff just add some dumbbell lateral raises with light weights (around 10 pounds) at the end of your chest or shoulder routine and perform 2 sets of 8 reps.

This past football season Donovan McNabb had a season ending ACL injury and on the play McNabb wasn’t even really hit.  Over 80 percent of ACL tears don’t involve external contact.  They most often occur because of fatigue or underconditioning or both.  In order to prevent ACL injuries strengthening the quads and hamstrings will help.  Plyometrics is also very helpful, which is basically lots of jumping.  To perform an exercise to help prevent ACL tears take a 10 pound dumbbell hold it with both hands across your chest and jump up and down ten times.

You can’t anticipate situations where you roll your ankle, but you came make it more limber just by improving your balance.  Just stand one pone leg, unaided, for 60 seconds and it will improve the way your knee and ankle react to an awkward step.

The last common sports related injury is lower back pain.  Most lower back pain problem is caused by an accumulation of smaller tweaks which is caused by overloading the lower back.  Two muscles support your vertebrae – transverse abdominis (your abs) and the multifidus (in your lower back).  Doing crunches will obviously help your abs, but the multifidus is a little harder to work.  To work this area get on all fours like a dog, and raise your arm, extend it outward, and also raise the leg opposite of that arm and extend it outwards.  Do this 20 times and reverse arms and legs.