Preventing 5 Common Workout-Related Injuries

If you are on your way to becoming physically fit and healthy, it means that you also understand what a fitness journey entails. Cutting excessive calories from your diet and sweating it out for hours at the gym are some sacrifices that you need to do to achieve your fitness goal. It sounds like a lot of work but the end result is definitely worth every sore muscle. 

While doing workouts, however, safety should not be taken for granted. You need to listen to your body as well. Research shows that among the injuries that happened in fitness facilities, 36.2% were due to overexertion or strenuous and unnatural movement, 16.3% of cases were due to dropped weights, and 12% were caused by tripping or falling during group exercises and twisting or landing awkwardly while performing an exercise routine. 

Your body has a great biomechanical design that can tell you when you are doing something wrong, or when you are pushing your body too far. Too much of anything is never good and the same thing applies to working out. Getting injured while in the middle of your fitness journey is the last thing that you want to happen. If you’re not careful, it can take you all the way back to square one. 

5 Common Workout-Related Injuries 

Injuries related to fitness and workout can be attributed to several factors. Here are the common injuries that can set you back days or months from your fitness goals, depending on their severity. 

1. Shoulder Injury 

Your shoulders have ball-and-socket joints that allow you to perform a flexible range of motion but they are also rather unstable. Your shoulders have four sets of rotator cuff muscles that facilitate movement. When you use your shoulder muscles and tendons repetitively, they can get injured and become inflamed, known as tendinitis. If you push through your exercise despite the pain in your rotator cuff muscles, the tendons connecting them to your shoulder joints might tear. 

2. Ankle Sprain 

Sudden movement can make you lose balance and end up twisting your ankles and their ligaments. This condition is known as an ankle sprain. The signs and symptoms of ankle sprain include pain that worsens when moving, swelling and bruising, tenderness, and a limited range of motion. It has been shown that in order to recover faster from an ankle sprain, rigid immobilization of the affected foot must be observed. Doctors can apply a post-mold cast to immobilize the area below and above your injured ankle. To facilitate your mobility, you might also need to use the best crutches for exercise injuries to help you move around. 

3. ACL or PCL Injuries

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) are located in your knees. The ACL prevents your tibia from sliding forward while your PCL prevents it from sliding backward in reference to your femoral bone. Your ACL and PCL are important to stabilize your knees and support your weight and movement. Injuries to the ACL and PCL usually happen when playing sports or doing exercises that require an agile change in direction. These injuries are quite painful and, in severe cases, require surgery. 

4. Patellar Tendinitis 

Also known as patellar tendinopathy, patellar tendinitis is a common example of overuse injury that affects runners. Your patella or kneecap is a floating bone in your knee that is surrounded by tendons. Excessive use of your knees through running or jumping can damage your patellar tendons, resulting in inflammation. The signs and symptoms of patellar tendinitis include a gradual-onset pain over the knee cap that worsens when you put weight on your knees, a limited range-of-motion in the affected knee, and an obvious swelling in the area around the kneecap. 

5. Lower Back Pain

Experiencing pain in your lower back during or after exercise can be attributed to weak lower back muscles from prolonged sitting at home or at work. Improper use of body mechanics when lifting weights can also lead to lower back pain. 

How to Prevent Workout-Related Injuries 

Just like being physically fit, you have a major (if not total) control in preventing these 5 common injuries through the following tips:

- Do your warm-up exercises before working out. 
- Increase the level and intensity of your workout gradually. 
- Use the correct technique and body mechanics when lifting weights. 
- Keep your cells healthy by drinking adequate fluids and electrolytes. 
- Listen to your body’s needs. 
- Do not overexert yourself. 
- Eat foods that are rich in protein to aid cell repair. 
- Allow your body to rest and heal itself
- Cool down after your workout. 

If you're dealing with chronic or debilitating pain that prevents you from the necessary physical activity then I'd recommend Voltarol pain relief products. These high quality gels and patches will allow you to do the strengthening and stretching exercises needed to prevent or rehabilitate injuries that can happen during workouts. 

Remember that no matter how fit you think you are, you are not immune to injuries. Even the best athletes and fitness professionals suffer from injuries at least once in the course of their career. Prevention is still the best countermeasure.


I hope you enjoyed this article about how to prevent common workout-related injuries and improve performance.

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