Should Women Limit Their Sports Activity?

QUESTION: I have a young granddaughter who is very interested in gymnastics.
She is just entering her womanhood, and I am afraid that she will be injured
by all the strenuous activity involved. Shouldn't women limit their sports
activity?
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ANSWER: I think you're suggesting that sports and exercise are somehow bad
for women. Nothing could be further from the truth. Exercise and sports
participation can help anyone, male or female, maintain fitness and bring on
an increased sense of well-being. To talk about limiting women's athletic
participation because of risk of injury is as silly as limiting men's
participation because they need to wear athletic supporters.
There is still the lingering myth that exercise will hurt women or impair
their femininity or reproductive health. Yet, women were once expected to run
a household at a time when water had to be hauled up from a well, laundry had
to be physically scrubbed and wrung out, and rugs had to be beaten clean. If
a woman was lucky enough to have a servant to do this heavy work, that servant
was usually a woman too.
A fit woman is not more likely to be injured when participating in sports
than a fit man. There are a few accommodations that women athletes must make
to participate in sports, however. A large-breasted woman should wear a
comfortable sports bra that will give her support for jumping or running.
Women are more prone to knee and ankle injuries because of their wide pelvis,
but proper stretching before exercise along with good shoes will reduce this
risk. There is no reason why a healthy pregnant woman should not continue to
participate in sport or exercise. She should be careful of her changing
center of balance and of her lowered target heart rate, however.
As for your young granddaughter, she will gain much from her sports
participation, as she is watched closely by her coaches, who will assure that
her activity is appropriate for her age and build. And you will enjoy every
minute!