Injuries During Exercise - Tips To Help You Avoid Them!

An injury during an intense work out session can occur anytime, irrespective of your fitness level or experience; the more common ones being wrist dislocation, knee or shoulder injury, muscle strain and many more. But you can certainly bring down your risks of sustaining these injuries only by adhering to certain precautions. If you are a man above 45 or a woman above 55, you need to consult your health care professional before starting with an exercise program.

Quick tips must always remember: 

1. Every work-out should commence with a warm up and close with a cool-down activity. Warm-up makes you ready for your exercise as it slowly enhances your heart rate and loosens your joints and muscles, such as a quick 5 to 10 minutes burst of jogging. A ‘cooling down’ exercise gets your heart rate back to normal, such as few minutes of walking.
2. Practise stretching as it adds to your flexibility and prevents injury.
3. When you begin a new exercise, do it with ease and then gradually raise your frequency, duration and intensity. Don’t be so hard on yourself initially.
4. Bring about a variation in your movements. Do not just overuse the same set of muscles repeatedly or else you will be prone to injuries such as tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon that connects your bone to the muscles) and shin splits (acute pain in the lower leg).
5. Customize your workouts as per your problem areas and refrain from doing activities that hurt or put unnecessary strain on the body.
6. Remember you can stay fit without actually getting wounded. Take a day break from your work outs if you are injured. Remember, if you exercise even if you have been nursing an injury, it can be counterproductive to your health and general fitness goals. Take some time out to rest for a day.
7. Drink sufficient amount of water during, before and after your work outs. Opt for periodic small meals which fuel your body and replenish your energy.
8. Get yourself a trainer to guide you in your exercises and help you set a realistic and a safe exercise program.
9. Choose a proper outfit necessary for your workouts to avoid accidents from falls or weightlifting, for instance, wearing the proper shoes or gloves.
10. It is best to exercise 6 days a week as your body needs one day’s rest to recover from the strain that you have been putting it to.