How to Avoid Injury When Lifting Weights at the Gym
With the New Year now upon us, your thoughts may have inevitably turned to the gym. If so, that’s a positive start. However, simply going to the gym isn’t enough. You need to understand how to efficiently and safely workout and avoid injury. Muscle injuries, strains and other accidents can easily occur at the gym if you move incorrectly or misjudge the amount of exercise or weight your body can withstand at a certain time.
Here is a guide on how to avoid injury at the gym so that you can maintain your fitness levels without worrying about painful injury.
Always Warm-Up
You want to get stuck into a high-intensity workout, and that’s great. However, you need to ensure that your body and muscles are warmed up first. A simple warm up increases blood flow and loosens your muscles in preparation for the workout to come. Failing to warm up increases the risk of injury, especially in regards to pulling a muscle.
Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is essential for a healthy workout. You will lose a high amount of body water through sweating during a workout. Therefore, it’s crucial to replenish that hydration in order for your body and muscles to work as effectively and flexibly as they can if you want to prevent injury.
Eat a Healthy Diet
This goes hand in hand with having a good fitness routine anyway, as you don’t want to cancel out your hard work with a bad diet. Nevertheless, you need to ensure that you eat the right foods before a workout, such as carbohydrates, to promote better energy levels, and a high amount of protein, which will help your body to deal with the recovery following an intense regime.
While you should always wait a significant period of time after eating a meal before beginning any exercise, it’s important to eat something beforehand – don’t go into a workout on a completely empty stomach.
Build Your Strength
Your body will be able to avoid injuries more successfully the stronger it is. You should incorporate strength and core training into your routine to ensure that your muscles are more balanced and less likely to suffer.
Doing too Much Can Lead to Overuse Injuries
You may think that exercising intensely every single day for long periods is beneficial for your fitness, but it isn’t. Your body and muscles need a break to recover, so it’s okay to have a day or two off in between. If you do want to exercise every day, you can switch between concentrating on different areas of the body, such as working out your arms one day and your legs the next.
If you don’t take time to rest and push your muscles too far, you risk strains and injuries. Listen to your body.
Should you suffer an injury at the gym or have any significant pain following your workout, Icon Medical Centers can help. We can treat a variety of issues, such as neck and back pain, and assist with massage therapy to help your body restore to its natural self. We can also help you understand how you can prevent injury during exercise for the future!