At some point in our training, we are all plagued by injury. Whether it be from the sport that we play, doing an exercise poorly or slipping on the ground while walking through our kitchen, injuries happen. Slipping on the floor, may be due to sheer bad luck, but we can at least lower the risk of injury during our exercise and or playing our sport. Here are a few tips on how to do this.

Take Care of Our Muscle and Connective Tissue. This means 2 major things — doing a proper warm up and a proper cool down. The purpose of the warm up is to increase the heart rate and loosen the muscles and ligaments/tendons. It should, ideally, consist of a general warm up (which warms the whole body up and increases the heart rate), a specific warm up (which prepares the specific muscles for the exercise, e.g. doing slow bodyweight squats before doing weighted squats) and some dynamic stretching (these are stretches that are done through movement). The cooldown period should lower the heart rate and return the muscles to a state of normalcy. It should consist of slow, low-intensity movements (such as walking and deep breathing), as well as static stretches (holding a stretch position with no movement) for 10 seconds or more. These help to ensure that the muscles are not overtaxed during the exercise, as well as relaxing them after, and improving circulation to aid in recovery. This holds true for general training as well as competing in sports.

Don’t let Ego Rule Our Exercise Routine. Simply put, know your limits. Being accustomed to squatting over 300 lbs for 6 reps (or more), I decided to aim for that after a month and a half of little to no exercise. I felt something sharp in my back and required 2 weeks of light weight-training to recover. It is important to listen to your body’s cues, take your time during the exercise, move slowly through the exercises (except for explosive movements like plyometrics), breathe properly during the exercise and set realistic goals. Just because you used to do something doesn’t mean you will always be able to do it. Some days you’re just not up for it and some days you’re so energised that you may hit a new PR (personal record). Let your body, and common sense, guide you, because injury can set back your training by weeks or months, and that goal you were aiming for will be set back also.

Focus on Weak Points. If you identify where you are weakest (leg strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, etc.), it becomes easier to focus on those areas. This will lessen the likelihood of you suffering an injury by doing an exercise that requires at least some proficiency in that weak area. An example of this is getting hip and ankle mobility in preparation for a squat. Research has shown that getting your thighs at parallel and spreading the knees actually helps to prevent knee pain and injury during the squat. However, if your hips and ankles don’t allow you to do proper form, you may never get to full depth and this could result in excessive knee pain and loss of general mobility due to that pain.

Allow Yourself Sufficient Rest. If you overuse muscles, there is a greater likelihood of being injured. This is why, when doing a split routine, most experienced weightlifters train each bodypart either once or twice per week. If they do that muscle group twice a week, they separate antagonistic pairs (e.g. train quads with squats on one leg day and hamstrings and glutes with deadlifts on the second leg day) or they do one strength training day (low reps, high weights) and one endurance or mass building day (lower weights, higher reps). Another great method to ensure that muscles get rested properly is to cross-train. This means doing a wide range of exercises so that the same muscle groups are not trained in the same way for 2 days in a row. This could mean, as a powerlifter, doing a cardio day just to give those muscles a rest while still getting some training in.

Nutrition is Key. This means to hydrate properly (water and electrolytes — coconut water is a great hydrator) and to get the right nutrients into your body. Sufficient carbs for energy, fat for cell development and protein for muscle building, as well as getting all the needed micronutrients for proper body-function will all help to keep your body operating in tip-top condition so that you can get the most out of it, whether you are just taking a light run, hitting the gym to relieve some stress, or running an olympic 100m final (or anything in between).

Hopefully these tips will help to keep you injury-free as you continue to work your way towards being your best you. If you need help with any of these, you can also remember that it is a good idea to see a trainer so that he/she can guide you on any (or all) of these points. Good luck with your training.