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Avoiding Weight Training Injuries
By Franco Columbu
columbu.com
- Warm up properly -
- Train properly -
- Don't ever fatigue your muscles -
- Concentration -
Never just begin to train. Approach it. Prepare the body for what is to follow. Don't allow yourself to be goaded into contests or rushed into training before the body is properly warmed up. If it's cold weather, dress warmly and warm up longer. Don't warm up by lifting weights. Start with calisthenics for around 10 minutes and get the oxygen enriched blood coursing through your body.
By proper training I don't mean just the way you might train each bodypart - although that's very important. What I'm referring to specifically is the sequence in which the exercises are performed. Since blood is a great builder and protector, it's good to keep it in a specific area for as long as possible. For example, if you exercise the chest, a good area to follow would be the shoulders, not the calves.
Many biceps injuries occur when the arm curls starts the arm routine. This is because the unnatural positioning of the hands with the palms facie up on a rigid bar puts an excessive pressure on the elbow joint. Never start an arm routine with a barbell - no matter what you've heard.
The body has an incredible language all its own. When we're young, we "listen" through instinct. It's only as we get older that we start to lose contact. After a while we start to rationalize. We tend to do things out of habit. If we train a certain length of time with a particular weight and number of sets, we have a tendency to get off a "death bed" if necessary to do the workout. The body is saying "no", "do less", or "nothing." When you ignore the message you are apt to get injured and whatever training you do won't give you the results you are working of. Now this doesn't mean to cater to laziness. Be honest with yourself and you'll know the difference.
Most gyms can be broken down into two segments. There are members who socialize and there are the champions. From the moment you enter the gym you should visualize what you are going to do. While actually training, look in the mirror and watch the muscles work. If you don't, you'll be prone to injuring yourself and getting only a muscular mouth.