Don’t Let an Injury Stop You From Accomplishing Your Goals!

Don’t Let an Injury Stop You From Accomplishing Your Goals!

injured pictureBy Mark Lani Certified Personal Trainer

Can you relate to this scenario? After putting it off for too long, you commit to get fit-only to find yourself injured the minute you start working out. All of the sudden your fitness goals go back on the shelf and you are left to deal with the pain.

Whether your injury occurs right off the bat or after years of regular workouts, the result is always the same. It is discouraging, painful, and downright depressing.

And since studies suggest that up to 38% of all exercisers suffer from an injury each year, it is a subject worth exploring.

Top 3 Workout Injuries

 
The following three ailments occur commonly among active people. Let’s explore the cause of each and then detail your very own injury prevention plan-because let’s face it, you simply don’t have time to spend nursing and injury (and losing all that progress you have made).

1. Strain / Pulled Muscle: occurs when a tendon (connects muscle to bone) or muscle is stretched or torn. If you suffer from a strain you will feel pain and swelling in the muscle belly, or loss of function if the strain occurred in a tendon. Many strains occur as the result of an improper warm-up and insufficient stretching.

2. Sprain: occurs when a ligament (connects bone to bone) is stretched or torn. While this can happen to any ligament in your body, the most common placements of sprains are in the ankle, wrist and knee. Often this injury will happen suddenly as the ligament is stretched beyond its normal limit, usually during a fall or other acute trauma.

3. Low Back Pain: it is said that 80% of the population will experience back pain at some point in their lives-and the list of causes is as diverse as the sufferers themselves. Here are the main reasons for workout related back pain:

  • Improper form: Similar to bad posture, using improper form while performing weight bearing exercises will leave your back sore and aching. The good news is that once your form is corrected this pain should subside after a healing period.
  • Weak muscles: If you have a desk job then chances are your deep back muscles are inactive and unconditioned. When you start an exercise program, but fail to properly strengthen these muscles, the result is often an aching back.
  • Strained muscles: Not to pick on that desk job, but another result of sitting all day is tight back muscles. When these muscles are not properly warmed up and stretched before exercise begins, muscle strains occur.

Your Injury Prevention Plan

Injuries don’t have to slow you down from meeting your fitness goals. The following steps will dramatically reduce your chances of injury.

 Stretching

What is more boring than stretching? You want to exercise, not sit around touching your toes-right? Even though it isn’t exciting, stretching is the best way to increase muscle elasticity and durability. Take the time to stretch everyday before and after your workout to prevent injury.

The Warm Up

Preparing for your workout should not begin and end with putting on your gym clothes. Your muscles need to be coaxed into motion by way of a 10-15 minute warm up in order to prepare them for injury-free use. Cold muscles are less elastic and are therefore more prone to tears.

Lifestyle

Stop for a moment and think about your car-if you don’t maintain it with regular tune-ups, oil changes and quality fuel then you can’t expect it to perform well on the road. The same applies to your body. Getting the right amounts of sleep, eating well-balanced meals and staying hydrated will all contribute to your performance during exercise. The healthier your lifestyle, the less likely you are to suffer from an injury.

Conditioning

This may seem like the most obvious step to injury prevention, but unfortunately it is the most overlooked. People who keep their bodies in top condition by exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are the least likely to injure themselves. When exercise programs are started and sporadically discontinued, your muscles are most likely to become injured.

Of course being conditioned also has another great benefit that everyone enjoys – you get to look and feel great!

The ultimate injury prevention plan is to work with a Certified Personal Trainer. Together, we will explore proper technique and design a plan for your unique fitness goals.

Wouldn’t you love to see awesome results before this summer comes to an end? Call me today to get started. It’s time to take action and get the results that you deserve!

Keeping my eye on you in health & fitness,

Mark Lani CAPT,CSN