Tips from OrthoSouth and MYA
Whether your child wants to be an athlete to stay in shape, make friends, burn off energy pent up at school and have fun, or they want to become an Olympic athlete like Memphian Harrison Williams (decathlete), then they’ll need to avoid overuse injuries that can prevent them from practicing and competing. Fortunately, Memphis Youth Athletics and OrthoSouth are great at keeping kids safe and healthy while they’re active. Let’s check out some tips for preventing overuse injuries in youth athletes.
Why Overuse Injuries Are Different
Most sports injuries happen in a moment. An ankle rolls, a shoulder takes a hit, and everyone knows exactly when it happened. Overuse injuries work the other way. They build over weeks from repeated stress on the same tissue, with no single moment to point at, which is why they tend to get noticed late. Shin splints, tendonitis, and stress fractures all fall into this group.
For the wider picture on what young athletes deal with, our guide to common sports injuries in children and teens covers the full range. This one is about the part you can actually control, which is how much work an athlete takes on and how quickly.
Tip 1: Make Them Take Breaks
It’s more important than ever to remember to slow down and relax for our mental and physical health, and not just working professionals! Young athletes need to take breaks, too! Even Simone Biles takes breaks. Her daily 6-hour training sessions are split up into 2+ sessions, with a daily break in between and one day off a week. While your child might not need such a rigorous routine, the beloved gymnast’s dedication to not over-extend can be an excellent example for your child.
Another Olympian who understands the necessity of rest is Gabby Thomas, a world-renowned sprinter who emphasizes the importance of getting enough sleep and having a healthy sleep routine. She knows sleep is crucial to muscle recovery, mental health, and overall function after training. She sticks to her sleep routine very closely.
After practice, training sessions, or meets, remind your child that they deserve a break and that they need one. For more information about breaks, please talk to your child’s coach or trainer about your child’s unique needs.
Tip 2: Watch the Training Load
Overuse injuries are almost always a volume problem. The body adapts when work goes up gradually, and it breaks down when work goes up fast. Most youth running injuries trace back to a jump in workload that nobody flagged at the time.
A few places that jump tends to hide:
- The start of a season. Going from an unstructured summer straight into practice five days a week is the biggest single spike most young runners face all year. Watch this closely at the start of middle school cross country, when a lot of kids are running structured mileage for the first time.
- Two teams at once. A school team and a club program each look reasonable on their own. Added together, they are often more than either coach realizes.
- Everything else that counts. Physical education class, weekend pickup games, and a second sport in the same season all add to the weekly total. Each coach only sees their own piece of it.
- Growth spurts. Bones lengthen before muscles and tendons catch up, which leaves growing kids tighter and more vulnerable for a stretch. A training load that was fine three months ago may not be fine now.
The general guideline coaches work from is to raise weekly volume in small steps rather than big ones, and to alternate harder days with easier ones instead of stacking hard efforts back to back. If your athlete trains on their own outside of practice, that pattern matters more, not less, because nobody else is tracking the total.
Tip 3: Teach Them To Listen To Their Bodies
Speaking of taking breaks, we also encourage you to teach your young athlete that it’s okay to take unscheduled breaks sometimes, especially if their body is signaling them to do so. Taking time off or resting is not a sign of weakness and does not mean they are not good enough, despite what their peers or some training influencers on social media might say.
Children should also follow a training regimen that makes sense for their fitness and skill level. Trying to keep up with the advanced schedules of more experienced teammates, or any routine they are not ready for, leaves them frustrated and discouraged when they cannot meet the goals they set. It is also one of the fastest ways to end up sitting out with an injury that was avoidable.
If your child is passionate about track and field or cross country, teach them that the best way to prevent an avoidable injury that can keep them on the sidelines for weeks, months, or even years is to accept when the body is too tired, too sore, or unable to take on a specific routine or goal yet.
Tip 4: Keep Them Fueled and Hydrated
Healthy joints and muscles mean less chance of injury, and both depend on what your athlete eats and drinks. Calcium and Vitamin D support bone health, protein keeps muscles strong, and water stays the number one drink choice for avoiding cramps, strain, and overheating. Our nutrition tips for young athletes go into what this looks like across a normal week.
A Few More Ways To Lower the Risk
- Encourage activity outside their main sport. Cross-training and active hobbies keep them from putting all the strain and attention on the same body parts. It also builds strength and endurance that carries back into their main sport.
- Watch the calendar when they play multiple sports. Avoid different sporting events on the same day, like track and baseball, and try to plan a stretch of rest between seasons.
- Teach them to listen to their coach. Coaches can guide them on the right shoes, clothes, and techniques that prevent overuse, overheating, and the other consequences of improper training.
Memphis Youth Athletics Is Here To Support Your Child’s Athletic Journey
Want your child to receive expert training from an experienced coach and be part of a dedicated, supporting team? Sign them up to participate in any one of our youth running programs. They’ll make friends, learn valuable life skills, discover more overuse injury prevention tips, and find out how to become the best track and field athlete they can be.
Check out OrthoSouth for all your child’s sports medicine needs.