Injury Prevention Tips
Read these 18 Injury Prevention Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Muscle Building tips and hundreds of other topics.
Warming Up for the Mile
The best warmup for a mile run is a few minutes of easy jogging followed by some light stretching. You can do a few short sprints of about 20 yards at about 60% of your mile speed if this gets you in a frame of mind for running.
Sagging Breast Tissue
Breast tissue is mostly fat. If a woman exercises a lot, she may lose more weight in her breasts than she wants to. It may help to cut back on cardio exercise and do more weight training, especially chest exercises like push-ups and bench presses. This can develop the underlying muscles and give the breasts a better look, while allowing the tissue to regain its elasticity.
Unbalanced Muscles
Sometimes you will find that the muscle on one side is larger than on the other. This may be genetic, but most likely has to do with doing certain activities on that side. For instance, tennis players often find that their dominant arm is larger than the other. To correct this, work with dumbbells or machines that let you work one arm or leg at a time. Work both sides, but do one or two more sets for the smaller side than for the larger side.
5 ways to prevent injuries
1) Do 5-10 minutes of mod. intensity cardio before exercise or stretching to properly warm-up.
2) Rest a minimum of 48 hours before training the same bodypart to allow sufficient time for rebuilding.
3) Listen to your body when it sends a pain signal, that means STOP, something is not right.
4) Maintain a balanced exercise regimen, training muscles on both sides of the body for balance.
5) Don't train so heavy that proper form is lost.
Low back pain
Most low back pain can be avoided by exercising the abdominals and erector spinae muscles. By working these muscles, the spine will be held in place like nature's corset. Tight hamstrings are likely to cause low back pain by tilting the pelvis out of neutral alignment.
Overtraining
Many beginning exercise enthusiasts overtrain their bodies by doing too much too soon. Signs of overtraining are: restlessness, lack of appetite, irritability, and fatigue. If a person has these symptoms, a week off all types of exercise is recommended, followed by light, low intensity exercise that gradually increases in intensity.
Good or Bad Pain?
After a hard workout with weights expect your muscles to be sore for a couple of days. If that soreness does not go away after a week, you may have a more serious problem and need to see a medical doctor for professional advice. Never continue an exercise when there is pain in the joint or it does not feel right; listen to your body.
Unbalanced Muscles
Sometimes you will find that the muscle on one side is larger than on the other. This may be genetic, but most likely has to do with doing certain activities on that side. For instance, tennis players often find that their dominant arm is larger than the other. To correct this, work with dumbbells or machines that let you work one arm or leg at a time. Work both sides, but do one or two more sets for the smaller side than for the larger side.
Treating a Sore Back
If you pull a back muscle and it's still not better after several months of stretching exercise, it's time to go back to physical therapy and see if they can offer something else. You might also consider seeing a chiropractor who works with athletes. Acupuncture often relieves the pain, which can help healing. If you smoke, quit, as smoking interferes with circulation. It's may also be helpful to limit saturated fat intake, if you eat a lot of meat.
Uneven Obliques
Most people look a little different on one side of the body than the other. It's usually not apparent. You can really notice when you look at someone's profile from both sides. Symmetry is something the judges look for in bodybuilding contests, which shows it doesn't just happen. If your obliques are more defined on one side, it may be just your genetics. It may also have to do with something you do habitually, such as always carrying your briefcase on the same side, so you can look for that.
Fibromyalgia
Exercise helps people with fibromyalgia, but they have to proceed very slowly. Intervals on a stationary bike (a recumbant if that is more comfortable) or other piece of equipment work well. This is pedaling for a minute or two, then resting for a minute, as tolerated, and doing more when you can comfortably. If you have fibromyalgia, ask your doctor if a referral to a physical therapist is appropriate to get you started on an exercise program.
Sagging Breast Tissue
Breast tissue is mostly fat. If a woman exercises a lot, she may lose more weight in her breasts than she wants to. It may help to cut back on cardio exercise and do more weight training, especially chest exercises like push-ups and bench presses. This can develop the underlying muscles and give the breasts a better look, while allowing the tissue to regain its elasticity.
Shoulder Pain
Many rotator cuff injuries can be prevented by incorporating internal and external rotation exercises with light weights. These exercises can be done standing with cables, or while lying on a bench with a dumbbell.
Preventing muscle soreness
These are a few tips to minimize delayed-onset muscle soreness(DOMS): Warm-up thoroughly, stretch before and after exercise, cool down completely, avoid sudden changes in the type or intensity of exercise.
Osteoporosis and Weight Bearing Exercise
Osteoporosis causes a thinning of the bones that can result in kyphosis (hunched over look) of, and fractures within the spine. Weight bearing exercise and resistance training have been shown to strengthen bone and help prevent osteoporosis. However, if you have osteoporosis you must use caution when starting an exercise program, therefore consult your doctor prior to starting an exercise program.
Listen to your body
The body will send pain signals to your brain to tell you something is wrong while you're working out. Listen to those signals, stop whatever you are doing, and figure out what you're doing wrong(too much weight, bad form, musculoskeletal disorder). If the pain persists longer than 3-4 days, it's time to get checked out by the doc.
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