You’re finally getting your workout schedule dialed in. You’re shedding body fat and gaining lean muscle. Just as you’re really hitting your grove, just as you’re finally finding a program you can actually stick to – that old nagging injury rears it’s ugly head.
Maybe you’re even getting pain somewhere new – the shoulders, knees and lower back are the biggest common problem areas for clients I work with.
Ultimately, no matter what your fitness goals are – and no matter what your specific situation is – it’s almost impossible to make progress if you’re injured and can’t work out.
The good news is that many of these injuries can be prevented by following a few simple guidelines. So check out the video below for three good ways to injure yourself working out – and a for few tips on preventing these injuries from happening in the first place:
Take Squats for example. A Squat is a highly functional exercise that you actually have to do every day whether you like it or not – when you get up out of a chair or get out of your car, you’re doing a version of a Squat.
There’s a common perception out there that Squats are bad for your knees. But the truth is that it’s not Squats that are bad for your knees – it’s how you’re doing them that’s bad for your knees. So get some proper instruction and make sure you’re using great form in your workouts.
2. Poor Core Strength
If your ‘core’ – the muscles not only in your abdominal region and back, but also those in your pelvic floor and hips – is weak, you won’t be able to properly stabilize the trunk and spine and you’ll greatly increase the likely hood of injury.
Let’s take the example of doing a simple Push Up: If your core strength is lacking, you’ll have a hard time keeping proper form and alignment – your hips may sag towards the floor, for example – which will in turn put extra stress on those common problem areas listed above and lead to eventual pain and injury.
3. Poor Flexibility and Mobility
Inadequate mobility and flexibility is another great way to injure yourself working out.
When you go to do any movement and don’t have the flexibility in the right places to do it, you end up over stressing certain areas of the body.
For example, if you go to pick something up off the floor but lack the flexibility to do it with proper body mechanics, you end up compensating in other areas of the body – which over time can lead to pain and injury.
Using bad form, poor core strength, and poor flexibility and mobility are three great ways to injure yourself working out. And the reality is that no amount of print or video learning can replace in-person instruction – so if you know you’re guilty of any of these things and would like some personal help in proper exercise technique and program design, contact me at (916) 273 9366 to schedule a free eval session today. Meeting with you in person, I can evaluate where you’re at now and exactly what you’ll need to do to reach your ultimate fitness goals.
I don’t talk about this much, but my Master’s Degree is actually in Human Movement with a emphasis in Corrective Exercise – in other words, much of my formal education is in this exact injury prevention and post-rehab area.
I’ve had the concept for a workshop/workout series to address this topic specifically for quite a while. I know a lot of you are working hard towards your other fitness goals, but injury prevention is very important – and this would be an opportunity to address it with full attention and in detail.
This workshop would be delivered in four 45 minute group training sessions, held once a week, over a month’s time. We would take a group training session to address each one of these topics in detail:
- What proper form actually is
- The right and wrong way to strengthen your core – with sample exercises and workouts
- Flexibility and mobility drills and application to common movement imbalances and pain patterns
- Workout tips, integration of concepts into overall programming
- And much more!
Please post in the comments section below, shoot me an email, give me a call or text message and let me know if you’re interested and we’ll make it happen in the very near future!!
Talk soon
Forest