5 Ways To Prevent Gym Injuries
We all now how imporant exercise is to our health, mental well being and productivity but if you’re new to the gym or keep getting the odd niggle then you may be doing yourself more harm than good. In this article Luke Douglas looks at 5 simple ways you can stop hurting yourself when working out.
Gym injuries are a common occurrence among beginners. People start out very eager, they want to do as much as possible in a very short amount of time, and then their enthusiasm and impatience get the better of them and they end up with an injury. While the injuries are usually not major, they ache, they are annoying, and what’s the worst is that they can take a long time to heal. While it’s healing you can’t be as active as you’d like, and this can really slow down your progress and make it harder to get back to working out. So, what can we do to prevent them? Plenty actually. For successful, safe exercising, here are some tips that you can easily follow.
Never skip your warm-ups and stretches
Sometimes we just want to “get to the good bit” or we don’t have a lot of time for our workouts, so we skip the warm-ups thinking it will save us time. This is a terrible idea, and if you haven’t got enough time to exercise we’d rather recommend that you only do a warm-up routine, a shorter version of your workout, and slow stretches.
Jumping jacks, jogging in place, high-knees – you can at least do these for 5-10 minutes before you start. Stretching is also important, and we’d go so far to recommend stretching lightly several times throughout the day or sign up for regular yoga classes. Trust us, it feels good to loosen your muscles, it doesn’t take long, and it will give you greater flexibility and help prevent cramps. Warming up will help your endurance during a workout, and stretching will give you a better range of motion. Both will keep you safer from injury.
Build your core muscles before anything
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Core muscles are kind of the backbone of everything. It doesn’t matter whether your goal is a tighter butt or strong arms, you really need to have a strong core if you want to prevent injury. Your abdominal and back muscles can keep your spine and joints safe, and they’re particularly important if you do any sort of weight-lifting. Those crunches are really worth your time, and besides, who doesn’t want a tight, trim waist and stomach?
Wear compression clothing
Compression clothing is the best thing you can invest in. For one, it looks bloody spectacular when you put it on. Seriously, try on some first-rate compression tights for women and see the kind of wonders it does for your butt. But in addition to making you look more toned, it also helps blood flow, keeps your muscles warm, and reduces muscle oscillation. They can help you increase your athletic performance and keep you motivated to push yourself to try harder while keeping you safe from injury.
Pace yourself and do everything properly
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If you don’t know how to do an exercise, ask. There are instructors at the gym, but there are also experienced gym goers who are usually happy to show you the ropes. Never rush through anything, pay attention to your breathing, and keep this motto in your head: “I’ll either do this exercise properly or I won’t do it at all.” If you fumble through your workout it a) won’t be effective and b) is a pretty surefire way to pull a muscle and end up really sore. Pace yourself in how you approach your workout program, too. Stick to a plan and don’t push yourself to go harder if you are hurting somewhere. Pause, take a deep breath.
Have recovery days
Rest days are important for muscle recovery, and we’d recommend them to both experienced athletes and beginners. Rimba Sweat infrared sauna tell us that a lot of their clients are athletes that use the infrared sauna, not only for relaxing, but for its muscle recovery benefits. Infrared saunas are known to improve blood circulation and therefore aid in faster muscle recovery and repair, which is great for your rest day.
Of course, you can have an active rest day where you still move around and enjoy your day and simply skip a workout to let your mind and body relax. When and how to take recovery days will depend on what kind of exercise you generally do, so read about it here if you want to know more.
Doing your workouts properly is one of the best ways to really feel good about the whole process. You’ll not only be safer from injury, but you’ll know you’ve done something really well and it will inspire you to keep coming back to the gym. So, pay attention to proper form, have the right gear, and enjoy exercising!
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