What is the focus of sports injury prevention?

After chatting with many friends who are doing rehabilitation and professional coaching, as well as my own 6 years of practical experience in sports rehabilitation, everyone generally feels that the core focus of sports injury prevention is not wearing protective gear, stretching after running, and stocking up on various painkilling plasters as everyone thinks, but individualized pre-exercise risk assessment + dynamic movement pattern calibration.

I recently received a user who has been running marathons for 2 and a half years. I have always believed that "thick enough knee pads will not hurt the knees." Every time I go out for a run, I have a complete set of knee pads and compression socks. However, when I ran a full marathon last month, I was in so much pain that I couldn't walk downstairs. I was diagnosed with iliotibial band friction syndrome, which is often referred to as "runner's knee." During the evaluation, it was discovered that the arch of his left foot was born 4 millimeters lower than that of his right foot. He usually walks with his center of gravity a little to the left. When running, he always likes to deliberately take long strides to change the pace, which is equivalent to grinding the outside of his left knee for half a minute more every time he takes a step. This innate force deviation, no matter how thick the knee pads are, cannot stop long-term wear and tear.

Of course, I have also seen many sports enthusiasts who do not agree with this statement, thinking, "I just play ball and run casually, so I don't have to spend hundreds of dollars for evaluation. It's enough to wear protective gear." This statement actually has its applicable scenarios. If you only occasionally play half-court ball on weekends and cannot run three times a year, then wearing ankle braces and knee braces can indeed greatly reduce the probability of accidental sprains, and it is a very cost-effective option.

But if you have a fixed exercise habit, such as running three times a week and going to the gym twice a week, then the role of protective gear is really very limited. There used to be a guy who practiced powerlifting in our gym. He always felt that if he tightened his waist, he could press the weight at will. As a result, when the deadlift was increased to 170 kilograms, his movements were deformed. He didn't even notice that his waist was arched, and he just lay down with his waist protruding for half a month. Think about it, protective gear is simply an external support, just like the seat belt you wear when driving. If you always run red lights or drive at speed, no matter how thick the seat belt is, it can't protect you from injury, right?

In fact, to put it bluntly, many injuries may appear to be sudden, but in fact they are minor problems caused by long-term incorrect movements. Even if it is what many people think of as an "accidental sprained foot," most of them have had signs of weak ankles and improper stepping on the ankle several times before, but they just don't take it seriously. If you really want to exercise for a long time without getting injured, take half an hour to evaluate your whole body posture and force production mode, and correct your natural small deviations and acquired bad movements. It will be more effective than buying expensive protective gear.