I seem to get hurt all the time doing the stupidest things. I dislocated my shoulder swimming fly, pulled my hamstrings in both legs stretching to far in yoga, broke my wrist when I fell snowboarding...stupid easily preventable things.
My mom says I get hurt because I'm trying to do things out of my scale because I'm not an athlete. Now I'm not in 100% amazing shape, but I consider myself to be an athlete. But how I can I become a better athlete if I keep getting hurt during my training? I don't often go out of the scope of what I feel I can accomplish, so it's discouraging to get hurt doing something that is easy for me.
So the question I pose, is how athletic do you think you are and how often do you get hurt? Do you think you get hurt less because you are an athlete? Do you think you would get hurt less if you were more athletic?
Parents
Former Member
Great thread Kyra.
I think it depends on how you define athlete. The OED defines athlete as "a competetor in the physical exercise of...." and "one who by specialtraining and exercise has acquired great physical strength; one whose profession is to exhibit feats of strength & activity..." It also defines Athletic as "pertaining to an athlete" (go figure!).
Personally, I believe those to be flawed, as they speak of physical strength and not of flexability, endurance, or skill. One can be an athlete, IMO, without posessing a great deal of physical strength, but rather, having physical skill, a strong will, and desire to achieve.
Additionally, anyone can suffer injury. Even professional athletes suffer season ending, or career ending injuries, and they are highly skilled, highly trained, and worked out by professional trainers and coaches.
My husband threw out his back this weekend, but he wasn't doing anything stressful. He is not an athlete, but he does workout at the gym regularly. I threw my back out going down a waterslide, and I am (IMO) an athlete.
Are you more likely to get hurt if you jump into training (for any sport) without the proper technique and conditioning, yes, but not absolutely. It's also possible that a triatlete that trains every day could break an ankle in a neighborhood softball game.
Accidents and injuries happen. Steps can be taken to minimze them (stretching, gradulay increasing training, focusing on technique, etc), but I wouldn't say you're a non-athlete just because you happen to get hurt. Maybe you just go at things too hard, too fast.
Great thread Kyra.
I think it depends on how you define athlete. The OED defines athlete as "a competetor in the physical exercise of...." and "one who by specialtraining and exercise has acquired great physical strength; one whose profession is to exhibit feats of strength & activity..." It also defines Athletic as "pertaining to an athlete" (go figure!).
Personally, I believe those to be flawed, as they speak of physical strength and not of flexability, endurance, or skill. One can be an athlete, IMO, without posessing a great deal of physical strength, but rather, having physical skill, a strong will, and desire to achieve.
Additionally, anyone can suffer injury. Even professional athletes suffer season ending, or career ending injuries, and they are highly skilled, highly trained, and worked out by professional trainers and coaches.
My husband threw out his back this weekend, but he wasn't doing anything stressful. He is not an athlete, but he does workout at the gym regularly. I threw my back out going down a waterslide, and I am (IMO) an athlete.
Are you more likely to get hurt if you jump into training (for any sport) without the proper technique and conditioning, yes, but not absolutely. It's also possible that a triatlete that trains every day could break an ankle in a neighborhood softball game.
Accidents and injuries happen. Steps can be taken to minimze them (stretching, gradulay increasing training, focusing on technique, etc), but I wouldn't say you're a non-athlete just because you happen to get hurt. Maybe you just go at things too hard, too fast.
