Muscle & Fitness reports on injury prevention tips when training outdoors this spring according to HSS exercise physiologist Chelsea Long MS, CSCS.

While it might be tempting to jump right into warm-weather activities, Long advised to start slow and incorporate rest days in between. “When you’re starting any program at all, make sure you have one to two rest days between your activity days,” she said. “Back-to-back days of activity increase your risk of injury, and they are hard to do when you are sore,” added Long.

It’s also important to keep in mind that warming up has a host of injury-preventing benefits. “Warmups should be roughly five to seven minutes with both activation exercises and dynamic exercises included,” said Long. She recommended activation exercises (with or without bands) such as bridges, side planks, clamshells, lateral walks, and low-level plyometrics including jumping jacks, high knees, butt kickers, front leg swings, lateral leg swings, lunge with rotation.

Long encouraged strength training to be part of an injury-prevention program, stretching and foam rolling to improve mobility. “Foam rolling can be done at any point in the day—pre, post, or during exercise, to help with mobility and range of motion,” said Long. “This can increase not only mobility in your muscles for increased range of motion, but also reduces the tension from tight muscles on your joints.”

Read the full article at Muscleandfitness.com.