10 Ways to Avoid Exercise Injury

Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it.  - Plato

Unless you’ve been quarantined in an underground bunker, you know exercise is healthy. This is ancient news, since even Plato, the classical Greek philosopher, promoted exercise in 400 BC.

So, if you’ve managed to make exercise a habit, the good news is you’ll be healthier for it. The bad news is you’ll eventually injure yourself. This is especially true as you get older. All the people I know that have exercised for longer than three years have had at least one minor injury. Several have had multiple injuries.

Although you’ll likely injure yourself by exercising, you can reduce your risk. Below are ten ways you can reduce the frequency and seriousness of exercise-related injury.

1. Learn basic anatomy.

You should learn enough human anatomy to know how your muscles and bones move. This helps you understand how to exercise and stretch any part of your body. It also helps you understand your injuries and talk intelligently to your doctor.

I’ve found an interactive human anatomy chart to help you learn. You can click on various muscles and see their names and how they function. Can you identify the muscles you’re using in your exercise routine?

2. Avoid overtraining.

You can exercise too little or too much. If you exercise too much, you’re more likely to injure yourself. But how much exercise is too much?

For strength training, you should rest your trained body part for twenty-four to seventy-two hours after a workout. The amount of time you need depends on your age and how intensely you train. If you’re older and use heavier weights with lower repetitions, give yourself forty-eight to seventy-two hours of rest. For instance, I’m forty-nine and I lift weights twice per week with six to ten repetition per exercise and multiple exercises per major body part. I used to lift three times per week, but I found I wasn’t recovering between workouts.

If you’re under thirty and do twenty or more repetitions per exercise, you can rest twenty-four hours between workouts. For instance, you can do thirty sit-ups everyday if you want to.

For aerobic exercise, you can use the the Aerobic Points system developed by Dr. Kenneth Cooper in his book Aerobics Program For Total Well-Being: Exercise, Diet, And Emotional Balance. Ken runs Cooper Aerobics Corporation and was a pioneer when he wrote his book in 1985.

Ken created a rosetta stone for translating various exercises into a standard set of Aerobic Points. You can translate the number of Aerobic Points that you earn per week into various levels of fitness:

To gain the health benefits from aerobic exercise, men must earn at least 32 points per week and women must earn 27 points per week. In other words, you should shoot for the Good range. Of course, you can go beyond the Good range, but this increases the risk that you’ll injure yourself. If you go beyond  the Good range, it should be for reasons other than general health — for instance, you want to run a marathon.

Ken’s site contains an Aerobic Points Chart pdf file that you can use to translate your exercise activity into Aerobic Points. The chart lacks some modern exercise equipment, but you can probably estimate when necessary.

One of the great things about this system is it allows you to do a variety of exercises every week. You just keep track of the Aerobic Points you earn for each workout, add them up, and make sure you’re in the Good range.

3. Stretch daily.

You should stretch daily as part of your exercise routine. Ideally, you should warm up, stretch, exercise, and then stretch again. If you don’t have time for that much stretching, just stretch after you exercise because it’s more effective to stretch warm muscles.

I have two stretching books I like and own for different reasons:

• Stretching, 20th Anniversary Revised Edition: This is considered the classic book on stretching. It’s only black and white, but it has stretches that are specific for each sport: golf, running, tennis, and so on. You want to do stretches for a specific sport because different sports use different muscles. If you only want to buy only one book on stretching, this is it.
• The Anatomy of Stretching: This is a newer book that contains beautiful color diagrams that show detailed anatomy of the stretches. It can help you learn anatomy while you stretch, but doesn’t contain sports-specific stretches except in an appendix at the end of the book. The appendix just refers to other pages that you jump around to, which isn’t very convenient. The appendix also lists stretches for specific injuries. It’s a good second book on stretching.

If you don’t want to buy any books, I’ve found a general stretching routine on YouTube that takes about fifteen minutes:

Yoga is also a great form of stretching. If you want to learn yoga, I suggest you go to a class with a well-trained teacher. Some poorly trained teachers have you do things that are bad for your joints.

I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t stretched as much as I should. I would’ve avoided several injuries, if I’d stretched properly. Recently, I’ve started stretching daily.

4. Warm up your muscles.

You should warm up the muscles you’re exercising before you start exercising intensely. For instance, if you run, start by walking for two blocks, slow jogging for two blocks, and then gradually increase your pace. If you lift weights, use the first set to warm up with lighter weight and higher repetitions. Then you can do the second set with heavier weights.

5. Stay focused when necessary.

As I mentioned in 13 Tips For Making Exercise a Habit, you can distract yourself from exercise when you’re bored. But you should pay attention at times when you’re more likely to injure your body. For instance, if you’re running and you decide to sprint, you should be conscious of your sprinting form. Similarly, if you’re lifting weights and you decide to use a heavy weight, you should pay attention to your exercise form.

From previous blog posts, some of you know I hurt my back on a back exercise machine recently. I was using the same weight, 170 pounds, I’ve used for years, but two things were different. First, I completed a warm up set and then noticed the range of the machine was set to a smaller range of motion than I normally use. I adjusted the machine for greater range. Second, I was distracted by a friend who stopped to chat. As a result, I was unfocused and my exercise form was poor. I doubt either one of these alone would have injured my back, but the combination was disastrous.

6. Use variety to reduce wear and tear.

You should use a variety of exercises to reduce wear and tear on your joints. This is especially true if you do high-impact aerobic exercises, you’re overweight, and you’re older. In that case, you should probably mix up your high-impact and low-impact aerobic exercise. For instance, you could run twice per week and bicycle twice per week.

If possible, you should do some high-impact aerobic exercise because it helps strengthen your bones. Research shows that high-impact aerobic exercise increases your bone mass. Just don’t overdue it.

7. Listen to your body.

You should listen to your body when something doesn’t feel right. You have to figure out whether the pain is from the intensity of the exercise or from the beginning of an injury. When in doubt, assume it’s from the beginning of an injury and stop or drastically reduce the intensity. If you don’t, you may turn a minor injury into a major injury.

If you have a persistent injury, try to determine and eliminate the root cause of the injury. To find the root cause, pay careful attention to the pain and do online research or go to a doctor.

8. Use good equipment.

You should use well-designed, reliable equipment when you exercise. If you do high-impact aerobics like running, invest in a good pair of shoes and regularly replace them. If you use exercise machines, make certain you can adjust the machines for your body.

9. Distribute your workouts evenly.

You distribute your workouts evenly over the entire week. Don’t be a Weekend Warrior and exercise only on the weekends.

10. Build up your exercise routine gradually.

You should start with a moderate exercise routine and gradually add more intensity as your body adapts. For instance, don’t try to run three miles on the first day you run. Run a mile or less and mix in some walking if necessary. Take the long term view - you have plenty of time and you’ll be less likely to injure yourself if you build up gradually.

[Physical fitness is] the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure. – Joseph Pilates

Do you have other tips for avoiding exercise injury? Have you ever been injured by exercise?

No related posts.

Tags: Exercise, Fitness, Habits