Sports Injury Prevention 
Training Principles
A good conditioning programme should involve all of the following components: Diet, Enjoyment, Strength, Technique, Recovery, Endurance, Speed and Stretching (DESTRESS). The esoteric physical demands of different sports necessitate varying emphasis of each of these components. Similarly, every individual person has particular physical and emotional idiosyncrasies, and has reached a certain level in their chosen sport. The analysis of an athlete's performance requires an understanding of the duration, frequency, and intensity of their training at different times of the year. An awarness of the personal psychology of an athlete is of paramount importance.
I understand Training Concepts!
A scientific explanation of specific sessions, such as resistance training (Weights, Plyometrics, Circuit Training, Medicine Ball, Pilates), Stretching (Active, Passive, Ballistic, PNF), warm up and cool down, and endurance (Aerobic and Anaerobic) is very important. This coupled with an osteopathic knowledge of the musculoskeletal, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, an individual's relative fitness can be assessed and improved.
Osteopaths look at the cause of injuries
There are a number of common sports related injuries which can be avoided: muscle pulls, ligament strains, stress fractures, tendonitis, shin splints and back pain as examples. These are often attributable to muscle strength imbalances, overtraining, poor flexibility and repetitive strain placed through the body. Overtraining can lead to early fatigue, which encourages poor neuromuscular control for technical performance. Muscles are also undernourished leading to a build up of waste products causing muscle soreness. These can cause injury or diminish achievement.
How healthy are your muscles?
Fatigued muscle works less efficiently due to the lack of blood getting through. This means there is slow and incomplete relaxation, hence decreased elasticity and impaired shock absorption and energy dissipation. It is these predisposing factors that can be corrected to minimize the risk of injury.
Injuries will always occur at high-level sport; it is the attitude of the athlete and coach, together with the underlying general condition of the athlete, which determines the rate of recovery. All too often the athlete is unwilling to rehabilitate completely or to follow the advice given. However, often it is simply the neglect of a component of DESTRESS which has caused an injury.