Top 10 Simple Ways To Avoid Gym Injuries

Creator: Navya Hariharan
Keywords: avoid gym injuries, avoid fitness injuries, workout injuries, tendonitis, knee injury

Author - Navya Hariharan, B.E., M.Sc. (Psychology)

Medically Reviewed by The Medindia Medical Review Team on Jun 16, 2022

Why Do People Go To Gym?

Most of us wish to improve something or the other about our appearance. Some workout at the gym to lose weight for the perfect shapely body, while others go to the gym to get fit. The gym is the first thing that comes to our mind, when we think fitness.

Every beginner fears injury during a workout session, and worries about getting hurt. Injuries do happen in every walk of life. However, one cannot let fear be a hindrance to becoming fitter. Let us walk you through ten simple ways to avoid gym injuries.

What are Gym Injuries?

Gym injuries can happen to anyone, be it a beginner or an experienced person.

Gym Accidents Can Occur Due To Various Reasons

Lack of guidance from a professional gym trainer
Failing to wear gym gloves and a knee brace
Inability to follow the correct gym diet
Forgetting to warm up before using the gym equipment
Inappropriate use of gym equipment
Carelessness
Improper body positioning and foot placement

What are the Types of Gym Injuries?

Back Pain
Bicep Strain
Bone Spur
Bruised Egos
Groin Pull
Herniated Disc
Hip Flexor Injuries
Knee Injuries
Muscle Strain Or Pull
Shin Splint
Shoulder Pain Or Injury
Sprained Ankle
Tendinitis
Tennis Elbow
Wrist Dislocation
Wrist Sprain
Labral Tear
Pectoral Injury
Sternum Fracture
Hernia

As the age-old epithet goes, "Prevention is Better than Cure."

Follow these tips and avoid common gym injuries.

Proper Training

Every beginner must approach a professional gym trainer to understand the basics of gym exercises. Whenever there is a need to work on any new equipment, take support from an instructor. Hone your skills by getting trained properly. Proper training not only protects you from getting injured, but also helps you to master the art of working out in the gym in an efficient manner.

Warm Up

Body muscles are like rubber. Take some conscious efforts to make them flexible. Leaping into gym workout without the proper warm up may not yield the required results. It could also lead to cramps. A good warm up helps to improve blood circulation. The central nervous system gets activated with a few minutes of warm up and prepares your muscles for a great work out. Any low impact activity like jogging imbues the body with flexibility. Warm up improves heart rate and makes the joints flexible.

Stretching

Stretching targets the specific muscle groups. Perform stretching both before and after a gym workout. Stretching carried out after warm up enables the limbs to move. Make sure you complete warm up before stretching to prevent getting injured. Back strains are the best-known gym injury caused due to ignorance related to stretching. Weight lifting imparts energy on the back muscles. Failing to stretch before lifting weight prevents the back muscles from absorbing the energy and results in Lumbar back pain.

Training Frequency

How often should one hit the gym? This has remained a controversial subject over the years. Some gyming enthusiasts perform strength training exercises once in fifteen days. They believe that over-workout causes explosion of the nervous system. Another group of individuals believe that progression would happen only by practicing more than six times during the week.

The right way lies between the two extremes. Wondering, how? Yes, it's not about how often, but about how effective. Understand the two essential components to fitness training. First, stimulate the muscles and nervous system. Then start focusing on the goal such as losing fat, gaining muscle, or strength training.

Over-training results in fatigue and causes injury. Lack of workout makes the body stiff, resulting in continuous pain management.

Proper Diet

Hydrated body and balanced diet lead to a pain-free life. We require enough energy to perform the workout efficiently. Lack of nutrition causes fracture during a gym workout. Develop stronger bones by eating a proper diet that supplements enough Vitamin D and Calcium.

Focus

According to Dr. Kirsten Race, Ph.D., and founder of Mindful Life, which trains people in mindfulness programmes, staying focused helps to train a part of the brain called prefrontal cortex. Prefrontal cortex thus gets prepared to create a calm and alert state of mind that prevents the individual to from getting distracted. Most sports psychologists back this point by confirming that the mind contributes almost 90% towards accomplishing an action. Stay focused on what you're doing, and take in your surroundings. Do not get tempted by smart phones, or get distracted by your gym partner. Consciously carry out the gym exercises to avoid injuries.

Know Your Body

Know the limitations of your body and avoid fitness injuries to a greater extent. Understand the strength of your muscles to hone them. At the same time, never neglect your weak spots. For instance, it is wise to opt for a treadmill rather than a stepper if you suffer from a knee problem. Similarly, if you have weak wrists then do not go for weight lifting.

Take Adequate Rest

Practice makes perfect. While this saying holds good, it is best to remember that exercising repeatedly without any rest sets you up for an injury. Continuous muscle movements cause everlasting muscle soreness, tendinitis, and shin splints. Exhausted muscles invite injuries. Make it a point to get sufficient rest between exercises and make progress.

Know Your Equipment

Get familiar with the gym equipment. Get advice from professional trainers to know the dos and donts of the equipment usage. This prevents you from getting hurt when it comes to the machines. In a typical situation like weight lifting, start with small weights. Never start big and get injured in a big way.

Wear Proper Clothing

Most of us pay huge money to join a gym. But we never think about purchasing the right outfit. Forget about injuries; first, boost your confidence by choosing the correct workout attire. It is important to wear a close fitting dress to avoid getting trapped in the machines. Likewise, go for the right footwear. Inappropriate shoes that lack support can result in a knee injury, sprained ankles, and plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendon injury.

Now you know all the natural ways to workout in the gym without getting injured. Pull up your socks and get ready to have a safe workout. Remember that irrespective of whether an injury is catastrophic or not, we must stay away from them.

References:

Exercise, training and injuries. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7809556)
Avoid workout injuries - (http://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/avoid-workout-injuries)
The role of aqueous extract of pineapple fruit parts on the healing of acute crush tendon injury. - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21913532)
Avoid These Mistakes at the Gym - (https://accidentattorneys.org/avoid-these-mistakes-at-the-gym/)
Injury Rate and Patterns Among CrossFit Athletes - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4555591/)

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Navya Hariharan. (2022, June 16). Top 10 Simple Ways To Avoid Gym Injuries. Medindia. Retrieved on Dec 21, 2024 from https://www.medindia.net/health/lifestyle/top-10-simple-ways-to-avoid-gym-injuries.htm.
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Navya Hariharan. 2022. Top 10 Simple Ways To Avoid Gym Injuries. Medindia, viewed Dec 21, 2024, https://www.medindia.net/health/lifestyle/top-10-simple-ways-to-avoid-gym-injuries.htm.