Each week during football season, dozens of college and professional players—unbelievably strong individuals who spend much of their lives in the gym—are brought to their knees by crippling injuries. That's the nature of the game—contact football is an injury-ridden sport. However, don't let that scare you away from a Sunday afternoon game of touch football. Here are some tips on playing it safe.

Weekend Warriors  

"At the professional football level, Monday is not a fun day. It's a demanding game. But even guys [and girls] who play touch on Sundays are running hard and have a fair number of collisions," says Stephen Rice, MD, co-director of the Jersey Shore Sports Medicine Center.

As with most sports, especially if you haven't been working out to stay in shape, "you run the risk of an injury like a pulled hamstring or a torn Achilles' tendon," says Doug McKeag, MD, chairman of family medicine and director of sports medicine for the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Recreational football players also tend to have muscle-related problems, like over-stretched or pulled muscles, Rice says. "It comes from doing too much, too suddenly," he explains. And even without a bad strain or pull, your muscles can ache after an hour or two on the field. "Delayed onset muscles soreness is common a day or two after playing." Plus, the collisions that occur even in touch football can lead to bruising.

Stay in Playing Shape  

The most important thing you can do to avoid these injuries is prepare your body so it doesn't have to do more than it can handle. "Stay in some kind of shape," Rice says. "Maintain flexibility, do aerobic activities, strength activities , and endurance activities."

Beyond basic fitness, doing sport-specific drills can help prevent a lot of soreness. Try sprints and drills that incorporate lateral movement. "I could go out and run for hours," says Steve Upson, a triathlete who plays in a weekend flag football league. "But it's the stop-and-go and lateral movement that kills me."

Before doing this kind of drill, of course, make sure you're in decent shape and warmed up well. There's no point in getting injured while you're training to prevent injury.

Game Day  

When game day arrives, make sure you warm up well. Get your heart rate up with light aerobic activity, then incorporate a little harder running to get your legs completely warmed up and ready to go. If you've had trouble with delayed onset muscle soreness in the past, Rice suggests taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (eg, ibuprofen) if recommended by your doctor. "I do it before and after I play," Rice says. Post-game, make sure you ice down any sore areas.