The truth is that when you exercise and frequently for that matter, the likelihood that you can get injured is very high. injuries can be very painful, cause discomfort and even make you stop your new fitness routine altogether, so it’s super important to know what the common injuries are and how you can avoid them.
Before I go on to talk about the different kinds of workout injuries and how you can avoid them, I would like to add a general note here that one of the surest ways to prevent injuries when you work out, is to do a full-body stretch and warm-up before each exercise, as well as a cool-down session after the exercise. It’s not advisable to just jump in or out of any workout session without doing the above.
- Sprain And Strain: they both refer to damage done to the soft tissues in the body, including ligaments, tendons, and muscles. A strain is an overstretched, torn, or twisted tendon or muscle. It usually occurs when the joint/ligament in question is twisted wrongly or when you fall on the joint.
Their symptoms include pain, swelling, tenderness and bruising. To treat a strain/sprain, use the RICE method which includes:
Rest: Stop any exercise or physical activities and avoid putting any weight on the affected limb.
Ice: Apply ice to the injury for up to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours. People can use bags of frozen vegetables if they do not have ice packs.
Compression: To help reduce swelling, a person can wrap the affected area with a bandage or trainer’s tape. Loosen the wrap if the area gets numb or if the pain increases.
Elevation: Keep the injured area raised above chest level if possible.
2) Pain: this doesn’t need too much explaining but basically refers to when you feel abnormal pain due to exercise. The pain may have been caused by a variety of reasons from overusing your muscles as in the case of too many reps to landing wrongly or having improper form during exercise.
If the pain is excessive, please ensure that you go to see your doctor. However, if it’s not too bad then the following can help it:
Stretch: ensure that no matter how painful it is, you allow the affected area to be stretched properly.
Use: make sure you use the muscle in question. Now this doesn’t mean you should go exercising with it but try to put the muscle to use by walking around and working it.
Rest: of course, rest is a very vital key when you suffer from any pain at all. Drink your water and take off some time to heal properly.
3) Shoulder injury: when you’re working out, there’s a lot of shoulder work involved. You use your shoulders for the jumps, runs and more importantly carrying weights. The truth is that we don’t always warm up our shoulders very well and we even sometimes overuse them, thereby increasing the likelihood of an injury.
If you ever injure your shoulder, ensure you do the following:
Rest: once again, I’m prescribing rest. Allow your shoulder to rest from any weight carrying or sharp movements so that it has time to heal.
Apply ice and heat: applying ice on the injured shoulder will prevent inflammation while applying heat will reduce pain almost completely.
Also, if the pain continues, then take some pain killers.
So as a recap, remember to stay safe while working out by warming and stretching, as well as cooling down before and after workouts. Also, make sure you’re using then correct form when you workout.