84 Safe and Active
Although physical activity has many health benefits, injuries and other adverse events do sometimes happen. The most common injuries affect the musculoskeletal system (the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons). Other adverse events can also occur during activity, such as overheating and dehydration. On rare occasions, people have heart attacks during activity. The good news is that scientific evidence strongly shows that physical activity is safe for almost everyone. Moreover, the health benefits of physical activity far outweigh the risks. Still, people may hesitate to become physically active because of concern they’ll get hurt. For these people, there is even more good news: They can take steps that are proven to reduce their risk of injury and adverse events. The Guidelines in this chapter provide advice to help people do physical activity safely. Most advice applies to people of all ages. Specific guidance for particular age groups and people with certain conditions is also provided.
Explaining the Guidelines
Physical Activity Is Safe for Almost Everyone
Most people are not likely to be injured when doing moderate-intensity activities in amounts that meet the Physical Activity Guidelines. However, injuries and other adverse events do sometimes happen. The most common problems are musculoskeletal injuries. Even so, studies show that only one such injury occurs for every 1,000 hours of walking for exercise, and fewer than four injuries occur for every 1,000 hours of running.
Both physical fitness and total amount of physical activity affect risk of musculoskeletal injuries. People who are physically fit have a lower risk of injury than people who are not. People who do more activity generally have a higher risk of injury than people who do less activity. So what should people do if they want to be active and safe? The best strategies are to:
- Be regularly physically active to increase physical fitness; and
- Follow the other guidance in this chapter (especially increasing physical activity gradually over time) to minimize the injury risk from doing medium to high amounts of activity.
Following these strategies may reduce overall injury risk. Active people are more likely to have an activity-related injury than inactive people. But they appear less likely to have non-activity-related injuries, such as work-related injuries or injuries that occur around the home or from motor vehicle crashes.
Key Guidelines for Safe Physical Activity
To do physical activity safely and reduce risk of injuries and other adverse events, people should:
- Understand the risks and yet be confident that physical activity is safe for almost everyone.
- Choose to do types of physical activity that are appropriate for their current fitness level and health goals, because some activities are safer than others.
- Increase physical activity gradually over time whenever more activity is necessary to meet guidelines or health goals. Inactive peopl