5 Tips To Preventing Exercise Injuries

November 18 2013

5 Tips To Preventing Exercise Injuries

It’s no secret that exercise is beneficial to your health; it reduces the chance of cardiovascular disease, improves energy levels, boosts the body’s immune system, regulates weight, and countless other tasks. Whether you focus around strength training workouts or cardio, though, there’s always a chance of injury. Thankfully, you can reduce the chance of exercise-related injury by taking some simple precautionary measures.

Tip #1) Stretching

A quick 5-minute pre-workout stretching will naturally reduce your chance of injury. It’s not uncommon for bodybuilders and casual gym-goers to strain certain muscles because they didn’t stretch. Stretching helps to loosen up the muscles, increasing their elasticity and range; thus, reducing the chance of pulling a muscle.

Tip #2) Use Proper Form

I can’t stress enough the importance of using proper form during your workouts. Even small changes in your grip of a weighted barbell can greatly increase your chance of injury. If you aren’t sure of how to perform a particular exercise, don’t be afraid to ask someone for help. Proper form is necessary to reduce your chance of injury while improving the effectiveness of your workout.

Tip #3) Rest Between Strength Training

Some people assume that hitting the weights each day is the best way to gain muscle mass, but this simply isn’t true. On the contrary, performing bouts of strength training on a daily basis will only slow your muscle growth down while increasing your chance of injury. A good rule of thumb is to wait at least 48 hours in between strength training workouts, as this allows your body ample time to repair the torn muscle fibers.

Tip #4) Know Your Body

A fourth tip to preventing exercise-related injuries is to know your body and its limits. Start with a small weight amount and gradually add more until you reach your limit. Once you’ve identified this limit, you can then focus your workouts around on achievable yet beneficial weight amounts. And when you ‘think’ your body is ready to handle a heavier weight, find a spotter to watch over you.

Tip #5) Mix Up Your Exercise Routine

Mixing up your exercise routine on a regular basis will also reduce the chance of injury. Instead of performing barbell presses and other chest-focused exercises each day at the gym, perhaps you could work out your chest one day, arms the next, followed by legs and core. In addition to reducing your chance of injury, it will also encourage your body to heal faster.