The best individual health insurance for sports

You only have to look around you, as you walk through any city or town, to notice more and more people doing some form of physical exercise. Gyms and sports facilities are springing up all over the place, and I would say it is almost impossible to visit your local park and not see someone running or skating with headphones on! It’s great to see a more active population doing sports and not only being healthier, but also exercising together and forming groups and communities.

I hate to bring it up, but there is a downside of this positive cultural change. It is a sad but true fact that doing sports can also be a risky business, leading to injuries such as sprained muscles and broken bones. So, what if this happened to you? Would you be able to work, to function physically and financially? or have access to medical advice and treatment? Thankfully, the rise in sports participation has also led to a rise in interest regarding health insurance and policies that cover individuals for any sports related injuries.

Firstly, if you are a person who does sport regularly, it is always advisable to have a medical examination to check your general health and fitness and identify any weak spots you may have. It is also important to be aware of your physical condition, age and how long it is since you last did any sport. These factors will help to set your fitness programme and know more about the degree of exercise you can do, and any restrictions you may have. These factors will also inform what you need from your coverage when taking out individual health insurance for sports to ensure you stay protected when doing the thing you love most.

Precautions you should take when doing sport

Always stay well hydrated. 

Many studies have shown that you must drink liquid when doing physical activity. Feeling thirsty is a symptom of a lack of water and you run the risk of becoming dehydrated. In hot conditions it is a good idea to drink one or two glasses of water a few minutes before undertaking the activity.

Choose appropriate times to do physical activities, avoiding days which are excessively hot and humid. 

Your motivation to do exercise increases when the weather is gentler, particularly in spring and summer. People who are doing exercise in order to lose weight will be even more motivated, because of that dangerous reasoning that the more you perspire or sweat the more weight you lose. However, it has been shown that doing physical exercise when it is very hot and humid increases the risk of danger. Also, losing weight is not always the same as getting slimmer, it may just be that you are losing fluids that are quickly replaced when you have a drink. If your goal is to lose weight or get healthy, check out our blog post on healthy Spanish food choices and other ways to improve your health. 

Wearing too many clothes is not recommended.

Some people who want to lose weight believe in this false myth, but it is not true. It has been shown that the more clothes you wear, the hotter you get, which leads to gaining fewer benefits from the exercise. Getting too hot is not good and may lead to serious problems. Choose the correct clothing that ensures you feel comfortable when exercising and soaks up any sweat.

Always warm up before training and have a cool down or wind down section to your workout

This is important to stretch your arms and legs before and after each training session. Don't forget that in order to prevent injury, it is particularly important to prepare your body for exercise. You should start with a warm-up, to limber up your muscles and also make sure that when you do the main activity that you gradually increase the intensity as you feel more comfortable. Don’t go hell for leather right from the offset as this puts strain on your body, muscles and organs that could all lead to injury or a medical episode.

Whatever the sport, from walking to windsurfing, pilates to parkour, you need to always remember that your body is the only one that you will have, so you need to look after it and do any sports regularly but responsibly. Of course, sometimes physical strain and injury cannot be avoided, which is why it is important to act responsibly and cover yourself with individual health insurance for sports. This will give you piece of mind that, if injury puts you out of the game for a while, you will have access to rapid and respected medical care that will get you off the subs bench and back in the game as soon as possible. You can download our free guide about Health Insurance for Active People below: