3 Good Ways To Injure Yourself Working Out

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:


Here’s a summary of what I talk about in the video above:


3 common ways to injure yourself working out – why sports injuries occur

1. Bad Form

When building a workout routine, we need to pay just as much attention to how we’re doing specific exercises as we do to which ones we choose, the amount of sets and reps we do of each, etc.

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.

Summary – and tips for sports injury prevention

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.

My background/qualifications in post-rehab and injury prevention – and possible future workshop/workout series

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

October 2010 Challenge Workout Results

Here’s October’s challenge workout one more time:

10 Push Ups
20 Kettlebell Swings
30 Walking Lunges (total – 15 each leg)
40 Cross Body Mountain Climbers
50 Body Weight Squats

Start with Push Ups and complete the entire sequence as fast as possible. Repeat the sequence again, starting at the top with Body Weight Squats. When you’ve completed the sequence twice – once ‘down’ and once ‘up’ – start again with Push Ups and do it again. Get as many rounds as you can in this fashion in 20 minutes.

And the results (total number of rounds completed):

AT 5+2
AG 4+3
SP 4+2
MG 4+2
LE 4+1
SG 4
BG 4
VL 3+3
NG 3+3
EZ 3+3
AK 3+2
MB 3
SM 3
PP 3
AS 2+4
NP 2+3

Great job guys! Keep training hard!

‘Till next month’s challenge –
Forest

October 2010 Challenge Workout

Every month at Forest Vance Training, Inc. Sacramento Personal Training and Fitness Boot Camps, we do a challenge workout. The idea with these workouts is to test your fitness level (although the workouts aren’t identical, you can track your progress and see how your fitness is improving when you do the workouts every month) and to challenge you both physically and mentally. They’ve been a huge hit since early this year – and will without a doubt remain part of our regular workout program.

Even if you’re not involved in one of our personal training or boot camp programs, I encourage you to follow the monthly challenge workouts and do them yourself (if they’re within your capabilities, of course).

Here’s this month’s challenge:

10 Push Ups
20 Kettlebell Swings
30 Walking Lunges (total – 15 each leg)
40 Cross Body Mountain Climbers
50 Body Weight Squats

Start with Push Ups and complete the entire sequence as fast as possible. Repeat the sequence again, starting at the top with Body Weight Squats. When you’ve completed the sequence twice – once ‘down’ and once ‘up’ – start again with Push Ups and do it again. Get as many rounds as you can in this fashion in 20 minutes.

Remember, the key is to push yourself to get as many rounds as you can in the allotted time – I’ll be posting the results later in the week if you’d like to see how your time stacks up.

Keep training hard!

Forest

Re: This Saturday’s Free Workout and Open House …

Hey –

You’re in for this Saturday’s free workout and Open House at the new Forest Vance Training, Inc. personal training studio, right?

Remember, it’s happening this Saturday, the 2nd of October. The workout starts at 10 am and will last about 30 minutes … and we’ll be open for another hour or so after that, so swing by and check us out! Everyone is invited … and you’re more than welcome to bring along family and friends.

You do need to sign up fast if you want a spot for the workout, though … there are exactly 6 spots remaining as I write this blog post. Call me at (916) 273 9366 or contact me here to reserve your spot now.

The new training studio is located at 3200 Riverside Blvd, Suite A … it’s on the North side of the small strip mall at the intersection of Riverside Blvd and 7th ave. Here’s a map:



See you there!
Forest

New Sacramento Personal Training Facility Pics, This Saturday’s Open House, and Last Chance For Pre-Sale Special

Whew! The dust is settling … and group training sessions are rolling this week at the new studio. Here’s a couple pics of the new Forest Vance Training, Inc. personal training and fitness boot camp facility in the Land Park area of Sacramento, CA:

Again, current group personal training session times (with more coming soon) are:
6 am Tuesdays and Thursdays
9 am Tuesdays and Thursdays
6:30 pm Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
9 am on Saturdays
Open House This Saturday

I’m having an informal Open House this Saturday, October 2nd. I’ll be holding a free group training workout at 10 am and have the place open for about an hour afterwards for anyone who wants to come by and check it out. Here’s the schedule for Saturday:
9-9:45 am – Regularly scheduled group training
10-10:30 am – FREE group training session – body weight and kettlebell fat blast
10:30 – 11:30 am – Open House – stop by and check out the new space, grab some complimentary refreshments
Space for the workout is, however, limited – anyone is welcome to attend, but please let me know via phone or email if you’ll be there – I have room for about 15 people in the free workout.
Pre-Sale Special Extended Through Tuesday Night
Last chance to sign up for the pre-sale special! As there was a small issue with the flooring being installed on time and things didn’t start exactly as planned, I’ve extended the pre-sale special through tomorrow night – that’s Tuesday, 9/28. You have until then to pay and reserve your spot. It’s a great deal ($67 bucks for two weeks of unlimited group training), so if you’re on the fence, take advantage of it while you can. Here’s the direct link to sign up:
The Pre-Sale Special is no longer available – contact me if you’d like to set up a free trial session
That’s it for today! Have a great week.
Forest

The Weight Loss Secret ‘They’ Don’t Want You To Know About

What’s the real secret of weight loss success?

At the end of the day, it’s not the latest and greatest workout program.
It’s not the most cutting edge, perfectly tailored and personalized meal plan.
It’s not a finely tuned and individualized supplement regime, either.
All of these things mean nothing if you don’t take action. If you lack motivation, if you lack follow through, if you lack the ability to make it happen … none of these things will do you a drop of good.
I’m here to support you … to provide you with the tools you need to reach your goals … but I’ll be the first one to admit that it’s up to you to do what it takes to reach them.
Don’t get me wrong – if you don’t have the right tools, if you you don’t know how to workout safely, effectively, and productively, if you don’t have a good grasp of proper nutrition, you won’t reach your goals, either. There’s a big difference between working hard and working smart. But I see lack of action as a big obstacle for folks in reaching their fitness goals.
I’m going to spell out an action plan to help you get you from wherever you are now to where you want to be. This is the exact process I take each and every one of my new personal training clients through.
Also, make sure you write all of this down and put it in a place where you can see it each and every day. This is extremely powerful – the fact that most people don’t do this is a big reason why they aren’t successful with reaching fitness goals they set for themselves.
1. Figure out your reasons why
Why do you want to get in shape? Is it for your health? To feel better about yourself? To fit better into your clothes? For your kids? What’s your burning desire? This is the first step in setting your fitness goal (s).
2. Set a goal

Now, it’s time to set some very specific fitness goals.

Set a timeline – if it’s to lose 30 pounds, for example, give yourself a reasonable time frame to do it.

Finally, break down your goal into actionable monthly, weekly, and daily steps until you’ve hit it!
Here’s an example:

Reasons why: Feel better in my clothes, have more energy, live longer with great health and experience all life has to offer!

Goal: Lose 30 pounds of body fat

Timeline: 5 months

Actionable steps:

30 pounds of fat loss breaks down to:
  • 6 pounds a month
  • 1.5 pounds a week
  • .21 pounds a day
To lose 1 pound, you need to create a 3500 calorie deficit, which means to lose 1.5 pounds a week, you’ll need to create a 5250 calorie deficit each week, or a 750 calorie deficit each day.

By working out every day and burning an average of 250 extra calories per day in those workouts, in addition to eating an average of 500 calories less per day, you’ll lose 1.5 pounds per week, 6 pounds per month, and 30 pounds over the next 5 months.

Sound simple? It is. Of course, there are a lot of details I’ve left out – exactly how to workout to get your your specific goals, exactly what to eat, what to do if you stall out or everything doesn’t go as planned – and that’s where my help comes in 🙂

But this is the top-level view of how to hit your goals. Remember: No excuses – just results. Let nothing get in your way. The harder you’ve worked for something, the better it feels when you finally accomplish it. Now go do it!

Forest

Land Park Studio Pre-Sale Closing Soon (Plus New Class Schedule)


Two weeks ago, I announced the opening of my new personal training studio in the Land Park area of Sacramento … check out the following post for more details:

https://www.forestvancetraining.com/2010/09/big-news-new-personal-training-studio.html

To show my appreciation and to get the classes going strong right out of the gate, I decided to run a one-time super special for folks who sign up before we open the doors. More specifically, I came up with a program designed to help you get you on the fast track to your fat loss goals – it’s two weeks of intense workouts and specific dieting that virtually guarantees results when you follow my instructions to a ‘T’. All you have to do is come in to workout 3-5 times each week for the first two weeks and eat the foods I’ve outlined for you … easy enough, right? However, the opportunity to get in on this killer program is ending very soon …

Sign up before this Sunday (you’ve got only four days left) and you’ll get two weeks of unlimited group personal training/ boot camp classes for just $67.

(Once the gym is open, prices will be around $15 per group training/boot camp session, depending on how many times per week you train, how many sessions you commit to, etc.)

Click the link below to sign up now:

http://sacramentopersonaltraining.com/lpspecial


The new 1900 square foot space will allow for training of larger groups, and we’ll have new and innovative equipment, like tractor tires, sandbags, giant ropes, kettlebells, and more. It’s an indoor boot camp and kettlebell training facility that will be unique to the Sacramento, CA area.

A surprising amount of folks have already signed up … and there is a limit on the amount we take for this program, since we’re only doing 8 groups per week to start and each person will be training 3-5 times per week. So if you want to reserve a spot, do so ASAP before all the slots are taken!
Here’s the group class schedule for the Land Park training studio starting next week:

Mondays 6:30 pm
Tuesdays 6:00am and 9:00am
Wednesdays 6:30 pm
Thursdays 6:00am and 9:00am
Fridays 6:30 pm
Saturdays 9:00 am

Click the link below to sign up and reserve your spot for the pre-sale special now:

http://sacramentopersonaltraining.com/lpspecial

Questions? Feel free to contact me here:

See ya there!!

September Challenge Workout Results

Great job this month to everyone! It was one of the toughest challenge workouts to date … here are the results:

SG 5
SB 4
AG 3+3
KG 3+2
EZ 3
BG 3
VC 3
NT 3
MB 3
LE 3
NG 2+4
PT 2
(Total number of rounds and exercises completed are listed)
(Also, due to the holiday week, a few folks got off track and weren’t able to complete the workout)


P.S. We do our ‘challenge workout’ once a month, but every group personal training session at Forest Vance Training, Inc. Sacramento Personal Training is an all-in-one conditioning, weight training, core, and flexibility workout like this month’s challenge!

If you’re interested our ‘test out a trainer’ program where we take you through a totally free sample workout, contact us here:


You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter (and grab two free gifts) that’s filled with workout ideas, diet tips, and more – just drop your name and email address into the box at the upper right of the page.