Are injuries slowing you from reaching your goals in the gym? If so, you are not alone. There are a lot of possible reasons why you are experiencing pain. Perhaps it is something you are doing incorrectly in your approach, and you can fix it by simply correcting the issue, or perhaps you may need a second opinion to keep you from further injury.
A compilation of data related to common exercise injuries has shown 5 common issues that cause injury. Please read on to see if perhaps you are making one of these mistakes. Doing so could prevent you from missed workouts, and a visit to the Chiropractor.
5 Ways You Could be Injuring Yourself
You don’t bother to warm up
A cold muscle is rigid, stiff, and vulnerable to tear, which is why we ALWAYS warm up, at Peak Physique, before getting into the “nuts and bolts” of the workout. Dynamic Stretch routines are the best way to warm-up, but if that is beyond your scoop of knowledge, a 5-10 minute bout on the treadmill, stairmaster, or rower will certainly increase blood flow!
You work yourself too hard, too soon
A classic mistake that is especially common in the New Years crowd is doing too much, too soon. Your body needs to be eased back into exercise and starting back up with a killer workout only works against you. The fact is your body weakens after just 3 days of inactivity, so after a few months, you will not be able to do near what you did prior. When you push too hard muscles tear, form sucks, workouts aren’t fun and you could miss the next 3 days because you made your muscles way too sore.
You let your form break
Exercising with bad form is a great way to end up on the shelf with a serious injury. If you feel your form is compromised for any reason, stop what you are doing, and evaluate what you need to do to regain correct form. If you are unsure of what “good form” is, please contact me at 612-298-5326 and we can take it from there.
You push past the pain
Pushing past pain might make you feel good about yourself but you could be making an already injured muscle or appendage worse. Listen to your body, and if it hurts don’t do it. Ignoring pain is never the correct approach to any form of injury.
You don’t take a recovery day
Recovery days are crucial to your bodies overall wellbeing. Muscle needs time to regenerate and get stronger. Hormone levels need to be replenished and sometimes a mental break is necessary. You must realize you cant build more muscle on an already sore muscle, and you are wasting your time if you are doing that. I always tell clients take a day to shift your focus to diet related preparation. Pre-cook meals and plan how you are going to eat, looking ahead, because your results are more defined by how you eat anyway.
If you have found none of these issues to be related to your injuries or pain, then I suggest you seek the help of a professional. While I am more than happy to talk to you about whatever issues you may be having free of charge at Peak Physique, your best bet would be to contact my friends at Donnelly Chiropractic. Donnelly will assess, treat, and rehab any injuries that can be repaired without surgery.
