How to Avoid Injuries When Working Out

How to Avoid Injuries When Working Out
by Mike Stason

There is no doubt you will have to spend a decent amount of time in the gym if you want to see results.

Going to the gym and simply going through the motions without a sweat just isn't going to get the job done. You will have to overload your muscles with heavy weight and high intensity if you want to see real results. This is without a doubt the most effective means of stimulating muscular growth.

Muscles grow due to a natural adaptive survival response, and if you don't give them a damn good reason to grow, they won't.

One thing you must be aware of is that excessive training while growing your muscles may damage your connective tissue. It is a simple result of regular weight training. It increases your risks of injury. However, there are some steps you can take to significatly reduce the risk of injury.

An injury will stop you in your tracks when doing serious muscle training.

Below I will outline my 5 golden rules when it comes to minimizing the risk of injury. If you can honestly say that you implement all 5 of these into your training program, then your risk of getting hurt will be much lower than someone who does not.

1) Always perform a thorough warmup

Warmup when performed correctly can substantially reduce your risk of getting hurt. It is just a twenty minute process that will prepare your body for what is about to come. The main effect of a warmup is to increase the blood flow. Do 5 minutes cardiovascular exercise before each workout and then 4-5 warmup sets.

2) Train with the right form

This should go without saying. Every exercise that you perform in the gym should be done with proper form and technique in order to keep the stress off of your joints. If you start squatting or deadlifting with a rounded back, jerking the weights around in a ballistic manner or performing dangerous exercises you are almost guaranteed to hurt yourself at some point.

3) Training within your personal limits

If you let your ego take over it is almost always a recipe for disaster. It doesn't matter what the guy next to you is benching and it is completely irrelevant to your training program. You must always use weights that you can handle and control with proper form, and if you start piling on the plates to impress the people around you, you'll be stretching your limits and putting yourself in a very vulnerable position.

4) Always know when to quit

I sometimes see guys that always try to crank out a couple of extra reps at a point when they should have stopped. Don't do it. If you cannot complete another rep in its proper form then it is time to quit.

5) Do not ignore pain or aches

Never ignore pain or signes of injuries. Don't try to 'work thorugh' and ignore what your own body is telling you. It is your own body you want to train and you better listen to what it tells you. If you stress your body pain won't just disappear but get worse.

It may hurt your progress short-term but it will benefit you long-term if you get a small problem checked my a med before it gets bigger.

There is much more to be said about growing muscles and working out in the gym. Proper warmup, the right amount of exercise, the right food I could go on forever.

If you really want to gain muscles you can learn even more details about keeping your joints and connective tissues healthy for years to come by visiting my website