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Physical activity safety tips for girls

A smiling girl wearing a helmet and holding a water bottle.

Being active can be great for you and great fun — but not if you get hurt. Stay smart, safe, and strong with our info. On this page, you can find some general physical activity safety tips and learn about warming up and cooling down.

Then keep reading to learn about avoiding injuries like knee problems, concussions, and more. And check out key kinds of safety equipment.

Physical activity safety tips arrow. top

Take these basic steps to stay safe:

  • Be active regularly. Being active regularly builds fitness, and fit folks have a lower chance of getting hurt.
  • Build up slowly. Pick activities you can do now, and then slowly challenge yourself. You might add to how often you're active or to how long you're active each time. For example, maybe add five minutes to your workout every week or two.
  • Value variety. Try to do a mix of activities, so you don't put too much strain on the same parts of your body all the time.
  • Be careful on hot or humid days. If possible, move your exercise indoors. That's also a good idea on days with a lot of air pollution. If you're going to be outside, rest in the shade, take breaks, and drink lots of water.
  • Drink plenty of fluids. You need to drink before, during, and after activity. Read more about what to drink when working out.
  • Find safe places. Try to stay away from traffic and dark areas, for example. And avoid places with a lot of holes or other things that could make you fall.
  • Follow the rules of the game. Remember that many of the rules were made just to keep you safe. Learn more about safety in sports.
  • Always use the right safety equipment. Make sure that your any safety gear fits right and is in good shape.

Warming up and cooling down arrow. top

Warming up is a good idea. Becoming active too fast can put too much stress on your body. To get going safely, you can just do your activity at a slower pace for 10 minutes.

After you warm up, try stretching your muscles. You also can stretch at the end of your workout. Stretching combined with warming up and strengthening exercises may help prevent injuries. Check out our stretches.

What about a cool-down after being active? Cooling down may not be essential for everyone. Still, stopping suddenly may be risky for some people, and cooling down is pretty simple. If your heart rate and breathing got faster during your workout, your cool-down should slowly get them back to normal. You can do the same activity you were doing, but do it more slowly. For example, if you've been walking fast for 45 minutes, you can walk slowly instead for around 10 minutes.

 

Content last reviewed March 27, 2015
Page last updated June 24, 2015

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