To parents, health and safety of their children are a top priority, whether its making them wear helmets on a leisurely bike ride, or not letting them jump on trampolines. And when it comes to their kids wanting to participate in sports, parents take even more precaution.

When it comes to being athlete, it is extremely important to participate in more than one sport, due to the fact that it can make you better at daily activities, it’s a great form of exercise, and it can even help prevent injury.

Not all injuries are caused from a collision, or a fall. Major injuries can also be caused by the idling of ligaments, or the over-usage of muscles. When young athletes use the same muscle groups and do the same activity every day, it can really put stress on their body, and cause injury. Muscle over-usage doesn’t allow the tendons, muscles, ligaments, etc., to heal properly.

Preventing muscle overuse is fairly simple. Say you are working out at the gym, there are two main things you need to do to prevent muscle overuse. First, watch the weight you are lifting. More weight may mean more muscle, but raising the weight by too much too quickly, easily leads to overuse and strain. The second is reps. Reps, or repetition is the leading cause of overuse. Doing the same motion over and over simply wears your body down. It can be bench pressing or scrolling through instagram, but either way you have to change your motion occasionally.

Some could argue that playing multiple sports could possibly stray an athlete away from the sport they are best at, or maybe even that it would make the chance of injury even higher. In reality, the athletes will have more fun, be less likely to suffer injury or burnout, and all in all will become better athletes. An article by AspenInstitute.comAspenInstitute.com states “The specialization of youth sports has been felt heavily in baseball.” Baseball can be a year round sport, with young athletes playing for multiple teams year-round, at the exclusion of any other sports.

One of the main culprits of muscle overuse and injury is “sports specialization.” Sports specialization is the process of nonstop training for a single sport or event for a long period of time in hopes for a scholarship, or maybe just to make the team. According to a study done by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), high school athletes who specialize in a single sport are 70 percent more likely to suffer an injury.

Being a multi-sport athlete can help prevent injury, and maybe even help you to get where you’ve always wanted to be. However, the amount of strain a muscle can take from being used day after day can be serious, and could affect everyday performances, which is where the importance of multi-sport participation comes into play. Parents also play a huge role in their kids health when it comes to sports, even just by encouraging their kids to play multiple sports. It should not matter how good you are at one sport, you can and should always play another one.