Exercise and Injury

Are You Too Hurt To Exercise?

Is exercise and injury getting in the way of your goals? After probably too much procrastination, you commit to yourself to get in shape and suddenly find yourself injured, either for the first time or again! Now your health and fitness goals get put on hold and you're left with dealing with your injury.

Any injury whether it happened right when you began your program or after years of exercising, it is discouraging, painful and downright depressing.

Studies suggest that up to 38% of all exercisers suffer from an injury each year, so this 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 an injury (and losing all that progress you had 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.

   Now that you know the relationship between exercise and injury, let's take a look at what you can do to prevent those injuries.

   Your 5-Step Injury Prevention Plan

   Exercise and injury don't have to slow you from meeting your fitness goals. The following 5 steps will dramatically reduce your chance of injury and if you do find yourself injured, but have been following these 5 steps, your recovery will be quick and efficient.

   Step 1: Stretch

   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. Tight muscles are big contributors to strains-remember?

   Take the time to stretch everyday before and after your workout to stave off injury.

   Step 2: 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.

   Step 3: Proper Gear

   For most fitness enthusiasts proper gear has everything to do with their shoes. Don't be fooled-not just any shoe will do to break the exercise and injury cycle. Find shoes that offer support and traction for your exercise of choice, and make sure that they aren't too tight or too loose. If you are prone to ankle injuries then try a pair of high-tops for extra support.

   Step 4: 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 healthy amounts of sleep, eating well balanced meals and staying hydrated will all contribute to your performance during exercise. The healthier your lifestyle is the less likely you are to suffer an injury.

   Step 5: Condition

   This may seem like the most obvious step in exercise and 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 stopped sporadically 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! And who doesn't what that, right?

   Now that you know how exercise and injury won't stop you from reaching your personal goals, commit to yourself and go do it!!

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