Poor techniques can lead to you injuring yourself while exercising. Planet fitness national group fitness manager Niamh McGuirk Lubbe shares some tips to help avoid such injuries.
Inadequate warm up
Getting your body ready for exercise sets the tone for your session. Stretch the muscle groups that you’ll be working and ensure you warm them up with light movement. Warming up will also help increase your heart rate and prepare your body for the workout.
Bad posture
Most people exercise after a full day of driving or even sitting badly at work. Their posture is rounded, neck strained and shoulders tight and high. Take note of your posture throughout the day and ensure your computer screen and driving position lend themselves to an open and tall seated position. Poor posture can weaken your entire skeletal structure.
Focusing on your weak points
We all have weaknesses and identifying them before your gym session will assist in avoiding exercises that push too hard on the weak areas to avoid injuring yourself.
Too much, too fast
Start slow and focus on your technique and position. Opt for a lighter weight for your first set of repetitions until you’re confident that you’re doing it right. Picking up too much weight and trying to repeat the exercise at speed will lead to strain and injury, especially if your body isn’t used to the workout.
Doing the same thing
Structuring your workout over the course of five days or week is a more complete way to ensure your body is getting what it needs. If you are repeating the same exercises day in and day out, you might suffer from boredom and not see a difference in your body.
Not listening to your body
Listen to what your body tells you! If an area is strained or sore, it’s great to give it a break that day to recover.
