The Hazards Of Extreme Sports

							Title:
The Hazards Of Extreme Sports

Word Count:
594

Summary:
Like all other sports, extreme spor
ts also pose a certain number of ri
sks to its athletes. However, unlik
e other sports, the potential injur
ies that a single lapse in judgment
 or a moment of poor coordination c
an be fatal.


Keywords:
knee pain, lower back pain, anxiety
, muscle spasms, muscle relaxant, n
ausea, migraine


Article Body:
If you're a true extreme sports fan
, then you've seen the incredible s
tunts of the Yasutoko brothers... y
ou're aware of the legend of Tony H
awk... and you've seen more than on
e brave climber swing from ledge to
 ledge along a complex artificial c
liff face. Extreme sports professio
nals make it look easy, but the rea
lity is that it is not. In fact, ex
treme sports require an extraordina
ry degree of precision and coordina
tion that borders on a need for per
fection. In very few sports is one'
s sense of timing critical not only
 to winning, but also to preventing
 serious, life-threatening injuries
. Extreme sports are tagged such fo
r a very good reason.

For casual fans of extreme sports s
uch as skateboarding, aggressive in
-line skating, and ice climbing, th
e slightest mistake or a sudden bur
st of muscle spasms during competit
ion can do more than just cause the
m to lose the game. Forgetting to t
ake a muscle relaxant at the right
time or losing your timing to mae t
hat critical grab could potentially
 lead to serious injuries or a fata
l accident.

All the dangers involved in doing e
xtreme sports make it even more unb
elievable when people like Tony Haw
k, Fabiola da Silva, and Matt Hoffm
an make it look so easy when they p
erform in their respective extreme
sports. The slightest mistiming in
getting one's body back to a proper
 landing position could result in b
roken limbs, or worse. Muscle spasm
s can also be a problem for other s
ports. For sports that involve incr
edible feats of physical coordinati
on and strength, such as ice climbi
ng, any sort of muscle problem at t
he wrong time can result in a drop
from a great height.

The various physical hazards involv
ed in extreme sports require the sa
me degree of dedicated practice and
 muscle training as other sports, i
f not more so. However, the mental
conditioning is also an integral pa
rt of successfully training someone
 in the world of extreme sports.

Even if it doesn't look like it, co
ncentration plays a large part in e
xtreme sports. The mind can't affor
d distractions like nausea and migr
aine headaches when you're several
feet from the ground and you're try
ing to figure out how many times yo
u can spin your body before you hav
e to get back into landing position
. Besides that, your mind must also
 be attuned such that your coordina
tion is perfect, allowing you to im
press people by pulling off nearly
impossible stunts and tricks.

Interestingly, unlike other sports,
 the only real way to practice for
extreme sports is to basically do t
he same things, but without the com
petitive setting. Which means that
a person has to expose himself to t
he same risks that he would while i
n an exhibition or competition. Pra
cticing for an extreme sport means
that you have to take the same meas
ures to avoid muscle spasms, nausea
, migraine headaches, knee pain, lo
wer back pain, and whatnot that you
 would if there was a cash prize on
 the line.

However, in contrast to the increas
ed risk to one's person if one gets
 these sorts of problems in the mid
dle of a “run,” there is a lessened
 risk of the typical extreme sports
 athlete to actually develop an obv
ious physical problem. Extreme spor
ts athletes tend to be serious abou
t their training, but somehow maint
ain a generally laid-back attitude.
 This may seem rather contradictory
, but most athletes in this sport a
ren't as obsessive as athletes in o
ther sports are. There is a distinc
t lack of anxiety towards things li
ke muscle structure and physical do
minance, as the sports tend to put
more emphasis on coordination and style.