Has a fear of serious injury been holding you back from pursuing a physical activity or even a fitness class?
A study shows that you’re pretty much worrying over nothing.
According to the findings of a five-year study led by researchers at the University of Bath in the UK, the risks of serious injury from most sports and exercise are surprisingly low.
The study shows that even sports sometimes considered dangerous, like mountain biking, are generally safe.
The data for the study, published in Injury Prevention, came from hospitals across the UK.
It focused on participants who had experienced major trauma related to sports and exercise.
Between 2012 and 2017, a total of 11,702 injuries resulting from these activities were recorded.
Dr. Sean Williams, a researcher at the University of Bath and the study’s principal investigator, says that engaging in fitness activities is overwhelmingly safe.
The paper explains that the odds of serious injury is tremendously low when compared to the significant fitness and health benefits of physical activity.
Results of the Study
- The study examined 61 sports and physical activities across the UK.
- Activities such as running, golf, Zumba and gym workouts had the lowest rates of injury.
- Running resulted in 0.70 injuries per 100,000 participants/year.
- Golf had 1.25 injuries/100,000.
- Fitness classes had just 0.10 injuries/100,000.
Football had the highest injury rate among the popular sports (6.56 injuries/100,000/year).
The riskiest activities, based on injury rates, were motorsports, horseback riding and gliding.
- Motorsports: 532 injuries/100,000
- Equestrian: 235/100,000
- Hang gliding, paragliding: 191/100,000
The incidence of injury was higher among men, perhaps due to types of activities more common among men such as motorsports.
Men are also more likely to engage in rock climbing, mountain biking, gliding and football.
I’ve been a gym rat and fitness enthusiast for decades, and I’ve sustained many musculoskeletal injuries over the years.
I’ve worked around them while they healed, no matter how long it took.
And I’ve acknowledged very long ago that “there’s always going to be something,” as far as a new injury or tweak.
This comes with the territory of regularly exercising (in my case, it’s been volleyball, martial arts, wall climbing, lifting weights and various aerobics activities).
If you avoid exercise or sport to avoid injuries, there’s a big problem with that, because a sedentary lifestyle makes you more vulnerable to injury simply from conducting the activities of daily living!
If you’re fit and sturdy, you’re not very likely going to throw your back out doing household or yard chores, for example.
If you’re out of shape you’re exceedingly far more likely to sustain a low back injury from lifting up a heavy potted plant or even just reaching over for something.
The shoulder joint is also vulnerable to injury in sedentary people (and of course, in athletes and gym rats).
The health benefits of physical activity from sport or exercise immensely outweigh the risk of injuries from these very pursuits.
Dr. Williams explains in the paper that many sports injuries can be prevented through protective equipment, changes in rules and/or better education about the activity.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness, where she was also a group fitness instructor, she trained clients of all ages and abilities for fat loss and maintaining it, muscle and strength building, fitness, and improved cardiovascular and overall health.
.
