Is Staying Healthy Part of Being a Great Professional Athlete?

Pedro Martinez’s most recent injury has made me ponder a question rarely spoken about in sports circles—Is staying healthy part of being a great player?

I believe the answer to this question is yes, but with some gray areas.

To be a great at any sport, obviously the first thing you must do is make sure you are actually on the playing field as often as possible. If you are injured or suspended, you cannot be on the playing field, thus eliminating your opportunity to perform.

Most great athletes that fill the pages of record books have had long careers with limited injuries.

It is fairly obvious that to be a great athlete, break any records or reach the Hall of Fame, you must at the very least make sure you are actually on the playing field.

That brings me to the bigger question of this article—do great players condition themselves in a way that allows them to avoid injuries or are they just lucky?

This question has many gray areas and I believe the answer is both luck and conditioning.

Some injuries cannot be avoided, that is for certain. An NFL lineman doing his job by blocking a defensive lineman when out of nowhere another player fall into his knee resulting in a serious knee injury cannot be avoided, no matter how well conditioned you are.

A basketball player going up for a shot and happening to land on the defenders foot and break his ankle is another injury that cannot be avoided.

Being a professional athlete is a physically grueling profession that brings with it a great chance of injury. Some injuries just come with the territory of being a professional athlete and putting your body in physically trying situations day in and day out.

But I believe that some common injuries can be avoided with physical conditioning.

Take Pedro Martinez for example. The past two seasons Pedro has injured his rotator cuff and has just strained his hamstring. Martinez is 37 years old now, which makes him more prone to injuries, but his injury troubles have been going on since his early 30s.

How was Brett Favre able to play 275 consecutive games in the National Football League while others get injured just about every season? Was he tougher, in better physical condition or just luckier than others?

How was Cal Ripken Jr. able to play 2,632 consecutive games while players such as Ken Griffey Jr. seem to get injured nearly every season?

Why does Pedro Martinez continually go down with injuries yet other pitchers stay virtually injury free into their late 30's and even early 40's? Is it luck, conditioning or a combination of the two?

I don’t think anyone can truly answer those questions.

Freak injuries happen all the time in sports and cannot be avoided no matter how well conditioned you are. The risk of other physical injuries such as hamstring strains or sore arms can sometimes be reduced by excellent physical training but cannot be fully eliminated.

Is it just bad luck that Pedro Martinez’s leg landed in an awkward position causing a hamstring strain or could this injury have been avoided with better physical conditioning?

No one quite knows that answer to that question.

But, one thing is for certain; to be a great professional athlete you must stay relatively injury free over the course of your career. Whether that is achieved through luck, physical conditioning or a combination of the two is a question to ponder.