Injuries are part of exercising and can happen to anyone. These injuries can seriously hinder your fitness goals, some of them causing long term inability to exercise. The old proverb "Prevention is better than cure" applies well here. Instead of wasting weeks at a time out of the gym and losing your gains, you can follow the given easy tips to avoid all major injuries and continue lifting.
Before going into the specifics, as a general tip,
- Always do your warm up sets. Warm up on weights half of what you would lift during your sets.
- Never overwork a single muscle group. Your workout should be versatile enough to target multiple muscle groups so as not to risk tearing them.
- Work with a trainer. Someone guiding you how to properly lift and what to do can go a long way. Whatever money you think you are saving by not paying for a trainer can end up doing down the drain twice as much in a hospital.
Foot and Ankle:
Most of us spend our days in front of the computer screen either busy in our jobs or studying. In the evening, we suddenly put on our running shoes and put so much strain on our feet that they can't handle them. This is mainly because running shoes are generally higher heels than the toes, thus shifting most of the pressure on toes. Any impact in this case can cause damage to your ankles/ feet.
To avoid such injuries, look for shoes with low heels. Try to keep your toes and ankles on the same level. You can look into Tennis or Walking shoes for this.
Knee:
The most common reason of knee injury from the Gym is Squats, followed by Cardio.
There are a few things to be kept in mind to avoid knee injury. To begin with, before you set out to do Squats or leg presses, leave your ego at the door: never lift more weight than you can handle. Never work your legs without warm-up sets. And last but not the least, never ever lock-out your knees during any leg exercise.
Lower Back:
This is what happens when you go too low in a Squat or deadlift with improper form. The common reason for this pain is a strain in the muscle in the lower back.
To prevent this it is essential that you strengthen your core. If you want to do complex exercises like Squats or Deadlifts, you should workout at least 3 days a week to develop a body strong enough to support them. Also, as mentioned earlier, never lift more weight than you can handle.
Shoulder:
The most common injury is the rotator cuff. You need to externally rotate your arms to balance your shoulders. The most common exercise for this is cable rows. Stand with your lifting arm close to the cable machine, with your elbow flexed to 90-degrees. Rotate your hand from outside to inwards, bringing your hand towards your belly.
Neck:
This is one problem I personally had to deal with a lot. Most of the times it was due to improper form during exercise.
To avoid this injury, always maintain posture during exercise. Support your neck in exercises where you put your arms over your head. And lastly, strengthen your neck muscles by doing reverse shrugs frequently.
