By Gabrielle Fagan

Has the fine weather and events like Wimbledon inspired you to take up sport?

If so, beware, as a sudden burst of tennis mania or over-enthusiastic jogging can put you on the fast track to injury especially if your only preparation was lying on the couch watching a London Marathon.

While experts say sport is good for us, thought and planning must go into any programme so you can enjoy exercise safely or you could win a rather unwelcome and rather derogatory title a weekend warrior'.

This is a term used by physiotherapists and sports injury specialists to describe the legions of walking wounded mainly sports novices or unfit returnees who limp through their doors in the summer months complaining of aches, strains and pains.

Angela Benjamin, chartered physiotherapist for Health and Fitness Solutions, a London physiotherapy rehabilitation centre, explains: "Weekend warriors are particularly prevalent in the summer months as fine weather and sporting events spur them into recklessly rushing into sport, either for the first time or returning to it after doing nothing for months through the winter, or, even worse, years.

"These are people who probably do nothing physical all week, and spend their time sitting while working or travelling. Suddenly their make unrealistic demands on their confused bodies by expecting them to instantly snap into shape and be flexible and supple. It leads to all sorts of problems from snapped Achilles tendons to tennis elbow."

According to the American journal of Sports Medicine, tennis ranks fourth in the top ten sports most likely to cause injuries, with dance classes fifth and gym activities sixth. The chart is led by rugby, basketball and squash.

Angela, who is the on court physiotherapist for the Wimbledon juniors satellite tournaments is well aware of tennis fever'.

She comments: "This time of year we are flooded with tennis injuries mainly enthusiasts who've launched onto the court without any preparation. The most common injuries we see for tennis players are knees, shoulders and of course, the tennis elbow.

"In general, injuries are very seasonal, so last month we treated many runners inspired to start training after the London Marathon. Next month we anticipate a flood of footballers when the season starts."

If you aren't used to exercise, it can be a good idea to seek professional advice at a sports centre, gym or from a personal trainer and get a programme created for you. A list of accredited trainers can be found at www.exerciseregister.org