In order for you
to be your best advocate when you exercise, you should be aware of some of the
more common reasons for injury. Ideally, you should learn about exercise safety
from an exercise professional, but you should also use common sense and avoid
exercises that aren’t right for your fitness level. Listen to your body and
when in doubt, BACK OFF!
1. NO PAIN. NO GAIN? Okay, so exercise isn’t supposed to feel good all of the time but PAIN is
your body’s way of telling you something is WRONG. If you ignore this and
continue to push, it is certainly the fastest way to acquire a serious or
chronic injury. If you feel pain, stop what you are doing and REST!
2.
WHO NEEDS REST? It seems logical that sports injuries are often
the result of overuse – simply from doing too much. However, any exercise
routine that lacks rest days is potentially unsafe. To avoid an overuse injury,
you need to balance rest days with exercise to allow your body to recover.
3.
I CAN GET FIT FASTER BY DOING MORE? Gradually increasing both the time and intensity of exercise is the ideal
way to allow the body to adapt, grow stronger and become more fit. However,
pushing your body beyond its ability to adapt will result in illness or injury.
Many beginners find this out the hard way. They go out too hard, too fast and
too furious and end up sore, injured and hating exercise. Even elite athletes
can fall into this trap by thinking that if they are extremely fit in one
sport, they can do anything. Not so. No matter what level of ability they have
in another sport, athletes can get injured if they attempt to perform an
exercise that is beyond their fitness level for that particular exercise.
Remember to be realistic when assessing your ability and skill level.
4.
HEAVIER WEIGHTS ARE BETTER? Any weight training
exercise that is done with weights that are too heavy for you is risky. It's
that simple. If you can't maintain proper form while lifting, the weights are
too heavy for you.
5.
JUST DO IT! FORM ISNT IMPORTANT! When you are new
to exercise or learning a new routine, it's important to learn how to do the
movements properly. Most people should get some professional coaching at the
beginning of a new sport to learn the fundamentals and develop good habits. If
meeting with a professional coach, trainer or instructor is not possible, at
least take a look at some books or videos about sports technique and exercise
form. Keep in mind that we are all unique and some movements may be
better-suited to your abilities or biomechanics. An instructor can help you
modify exercises to fit your unique needs.
6.
WHO NEEDS VARIETY? Doing the same exercise day after day may help you become very skilled at
a sport, but it is another way to end up with an overuse injury. Stressing the
same muscle groups and performing the same movement patterns repeatedly can put
a tremendous amount of strain on muscles, tendons and ligaments, causing
irritation, inflammation and even stress fractures. Even if you successfully
avoid an overuse injury, you may end up with muscle imbalance, weakness,
tightness and alignment problems. To avoid these problems, vary your exercise
training routine. Do a variety of different types of exercise and cross train.
7.
QUICK IS BETTER! If you are in a hurry and don’t have time to finish your entire exercise
routine, select a few to perform PROPERLY! Sloppy or uncontrolled movements
occur for a variety of reasons, including fatigue, lack of appropriate skill,
going too fast, and a lack of attention. When you are exercising, it's
essential to be in control of your body. Sloppy execution or poor control is a
set-up for injury. Even the safest exercise can become unsafe when done in an
uncontrolled manner.
8.
PROPER PROGRESSION. As discussed in a previous blog, it is wise to strengthen
the muscles of the core in order to prepare your body for heavier workloads,
exercises, etc. Jumping straight into the tough stuff may sideline you with
injury.
