Expertise in a particular sport doesn't necessarily mean you will be injury free. Quite the contrary; it seems the more a person knows about and does a sport the more injuries they get. One reason is because they are doing it more often, but beginners seem to have their share of injuries as well, so "know your sport" is the mantra this winter. A lesson or two with a ski instructor may be just the thing to knock the edge off of going down the mountain for your first time: "Definitely relaxing into a sport helps to decrease your chances of injury," says Tanaka Shin, a ski instructor in Hakodate, Hokkaido. "If you're not focusing on how you are going to die, but on how much fun you're having, you'll probably have fun instead of dying." Other than the common sense of putting your body before your pride, there are ways you can avoid injury when doing sports. One great way is by building all-around muscle strength through resistance (weight) training. Most athletes use resistance training to complement their actual sport training, and you get the added advantages that go along with working with weights, like toning up and burning fat. When done properly, resistance training can be done safely by just about anyone, no matter what their athletic ability. Resistance training forces the muscle to put gentle pressure on the bones making them stronger and helping to prevent fractures. This kind of training is especially good for older athletes as it can compensate for the loss of muscle mass and bone strength that ultimately comes with aging.

Get warm
Warming up before any sporting activity is also important. Contrary to popular belief, stretching is not warming up. You should actually warm up before you stretch. Doing a five minute power walk or a short bike ride is sufficient. If you are out in the wild, try some deep knee bends or jumping jacks.

Daily stretching is also a good way to avoid injury as it keeps you limber. Sprains, strains and pulled muscles are caused by hyperextension. If you are sufficiently limber, you may bend into a slightly unnatural movement and prevent a strain or sprain that could have otherwise occurred. In addition, stretching relieves the pain of sore muscles, which are not considered a sports injury. Sore muscles are a result of a build up of lactic acid, and stretching releases lactic acid from the muscles. A good stretch after any sport will reduce stiffness the next day. Stretch before any sporting activity as well.

We are lucky to be living in a bath society because saunas, cold baths and hot baths are an excellent way to soothe achy muscles after a long day on the slopes. Sit in the hot sauna for at least ten minutes to sweat out impurities. Rinse off with cold water, and then immerse yourself in the cold bath. It's quite a shock at first, but after about two minutes your body becomes used to the temperature and you feel as if you are sitting in room temperature water. Try to stay in for five minutes, then hop in the hot bath for five minutes. You can go back and forth from cold to hot as many times as you want.

Needless to say, proper sports equipment and properly fitting shoes are essential. Many injuries occur because the athlete was too lazy to put on wrist guards or the like. You can order proper sports equipment over the Internet (try www.rei.com) or check out Oshmans in Harajuku or one of the many excellent shops in Ochanomizu. The Sports Authority in Odaiba is very much worth the trip, with a huge selection of every kind of sporting equipment imaginable at prices which rival the US.

Rehab rules
Sprains, strains, tendinitis, and pulled muscles are all common sports injuries. If you do get injured, the key factor in quickly getting back into the swing of things, according to Dr. Keiko Konuma who specializes in sports injuries, is proper rehabilitation. Dr. Konuma suggests seeing a sports injury specialist even if you are not in acute pain. It might take only one visit for the doctor to put together a rehab plan for you, but if you don't get proper attention you could re-injure yourself.

If you can't get to a doctor for a sprain or strain immediately, Dr. Konuma suggests RICE. Not the sticky kind; RICE is Rest, Icing, Compression and Elevation. By using RICE, you will reduce the swelling and decrease rehabilitation time. But get to a doctor as soon as you can, she says.

The MBS Clinic in Kamakura, which Dr. Konuma founded, specializes in the rehabilitation of sports injuries. Her approach is an integrative one: "It's truly East meets West," she says. "We use all of the latest rehabilitative techniques from the States and combine that with massage therapy, acupuncture, moxibustion, etc." Knee injury is by far the most common sports injury that requires surgery, and of those, damage to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the worst. Dr. Konuma is credited with pioneering certain rehabilitative techniques with regard to this particular injury. Most noted was her insistence that rehabilitation begin as early as one week after surgery.

Stay safe by doing what you can to avoid injury this winter, and you'll live to board another day.