Sports
The Real Risk Factors for Sports Injuries
Physical therapist Rafael Tambascia explains why injury history and daily stress outweigh biomechanics.
Discover the primary factors that cause athletes to get injured during training. Physical therapist Rafael Tambascia breaks down the impact of daily stress, routine, and prior injury history.
In a conversation with Bruna Mahn at Stemma Performance — part of a broader discussion on recovery and sports science — physical therapist Rafael Tambascia analyzed what truly triggers sports injuries in athletes. Debunking common myths, he points out that the culprit is rarely a purely anatomical flaw.
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The weight of previous injury history
According to Tambascia, the single biggest risk factor for a new injury is a pre-existing one. Having suffered a past injury leaves the affected structure more vulnerable if rehabilitation and load management are not properly respected, making injury history the primary red flag in any training routine.
Stress, routine, and training plan obsession
Another critical factor is an athlete's overall stress level, particularly in amateur sports. Juggling a hectic work or family life, poor sleep, and the pressure to complete intense workouts creates the perfect storm for the body to break down.
Elevated stress directly impairs conscious decision-making. On tough days, many athletes turn to grueling sessions, such as interval sprint workouts, to blow off steam and check off the workout on their training log at all costs. By pushing past what the body can tolerate at that moment, breakdown becomes inevitable.
Biomechanics versus load capacity
For Rafael Tambascia, blaming postural deviations alone is a widespread misconception. Traits such as feet turned outward or slightly knocked knees have always been part of that athlete's anatomy and may act as contributing factors, but the initial trigger is almost always a stress load that exceeded what the body was capable of handling.
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