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THURSDAY, Aug. 12 (HealthDayNews) -- As the 2004 Summer Olympics officially get underway Friday with an international broadcast of the opening ceremonies, health experts expect the Athens games to inspire couch potatoes to become more active.

But, experts caution, amateurs, particularly sedentary ones, should not jump into a new sports activity without sufficient preparation.

"These athletes make it look way too easy," said Dr. Pietro Tonino, a Chicago-based orthopedic surgeon. "And people need to understand that most of them have been doing their sport since they were young."

Olympic athletes have been strengthening their muscles and bones for years to be able to tolerate the abnormal stresses that occur during the sport, and the body needs that time to be able to adapt to such rigorous activity, Tonino said.

"It's very motivating, and it's exciting that people are more interested in getting out and doing something after watching the Olympics," he added. But, sedentary people have to be realistic about taking on an athletic endeavor.

"It's most important that people take a look at themselves, and make sure they're in good health," he said. "If you don't spend time conditioning yourself for a new sport, you're going to be in my office very soon afterward."

And if it's any consolation, even Olympic hopefuls can get hurt, no matter how good their training.

"Even our athletes aren't immune from injuries," said Dr. Jeffrey Housner, team physician for the University of Michigan and USA Hockey teams, who is a volunteer doctor for the United States Olympic Committee. He spoke from the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs where he was spending two weeks treating injured athletes.

About 25 to 30 athletes come to the clinic daily for treatment for a variety of injuries related to their sport, Housner added. Swimmers tend to suffer from shoulder injuries; volleyball and basketball players have problems with the Achilles tendon, the knees or acute injuries to the ankle; and gymnasts have wrist injuries.

Housner recommended that any recreational athlete start slowly when starting a new activity or resuming a sport.

"Start low and go slow is the famous phrase," he said, suggesting that a person start a sport at a minimum level and advance at no more than 10 percent each week.

Unfortunately, enthusiasm for new beginnings means that many people ignore this maxim. But if they do, they will pay for it down the road, he said.

Typically, Housner said, someone in his late 30's jumps into an activity that he might have done in college, such as running, but trains with the same intensity he did when he was 20.

At first he's fine, Housner said, "but a couple of months into training, you can pick a joint, and he's developed a problem, because his body can no longer stand the degree of training he's doing."

So instead of running in a marathon, the would-be athlete finds himself limping into the doctor's office with a stress fracture that will take several months to heal.

Housner strongly recommended that anyone interested in being active first embark on a program that builds strength and flexibility of their muscles, especially those of the core.

Stretching is key for people resuming activity after being sedentary, according to New York City fitness trainer Renee Daniels, who specializes in medical exercise.

"If your muscles are tight, which is usually the case, and you start to do all this new activity, there's a good chance you're going to pull a muscle," she said. "Stretching and strengthening all the major muscle groups, especially the primary muscles used in the activity, is very important."

In 2003, more than 7 million sports injuries were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms, doctors' offices, clinics and ambulatory surgery centers, according to a recent report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Division.

Basketball injuries were the most common, with more than 1.6 million injuries; followed by cycling accidents (1.3 million); football (one million); soccer (456,000), baseball (417,479), and swimming/diving (364,116).

More information

For more on muscle strains, check out the University of Michigan .

(SOURCES: Pietro Tonino, M.D., co-director, sports medicine, Loyola University Medical Center, Chicago; Jeffrey Housner, M.D., assistant professor, departments of orthopedics and family medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and team physician, University of Michigan hockey team and USA Hockey, volunteer physician, U.S. Olympic Committee; Renee Daniels, MES, medical exercise specialist, Brooklyn, N.Y. )

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