You’ve found your stride, you’re motivated, and you’ve been exercising consistently. You’re even making progress towards your goals. Then, it happens. You suffer an exercise-related injury and have to stop exercising. Is there a way to injury-proof your body?
Unfortunately, the short answer is no. No matter who you are, you cannot injury-proof your body from exercise-related injuries to the point that an injury will never happen. However, you can reduce your chances of becoming injured.
How Exercise-Related Injuries Can Happen
Overuse is one of the most common causes of exercise-related injuries. It happens when you stress particular muscles, tendons, or joints by doing too much too soon or making the same motion repeatedly. In other words, doing the same exercise for most of your workouts increases your chances of injury.
Another exercise-related injury can happen because you don’t properly warm up and cool down. Warming up helps prepare your muscles for exercise, while cooling down helps them recover. If you don’t do either, you risk an injury from any sudden strain on your muscles and joints.
Exercising can be very taxing on the body, so knowing the proper exercise techniques is essential. Improper technique can stress your body and increase your risk of developing an exercise-related injury. However, no matter how much you try to be careful, there is one thing you can’t change.
Unfortunately, time is marching on, and you’re getting older. Even if you have exercised most of your life, your body will become less resilient and more prone to exercise-related injuries as you age. For example, if you keep exercising like you did in your 20s when you’re in your 40s or older, you may become injured. Furthermore, aging also increases your risk of developing certain medical conditions. As a result, diseases and medicines may impact your ability to exercise. In these cases, you should consult your doctor about developing an exercise program that works for you.
How To Reduce Your Chances of Injury
Unfortunately, you’re not invincible. So, you aren’t immune to exercise-related injuries. However, you can reduce your chances by looking for the signs and taking precautions. With that said, here are some tips to stay as injury-free as possible.
Build A Strong Foundation
A strong foundation can reduce your chances of developing an exercise-related injury. A well-balanced exercise routine that incorporates strength, aerobic, and flexibility training will reduce your risk of injury by providing a variety of exercises and reducing muscle and joint overuse. As a result, you’ll develop a strong core that helps with stability and balance.
Working multiple muscle groups with various exercises strengthens them and reduces the strain you put on other muscles or joints that may compensate for weaker areas of your body. By working multiple muscle groups, you can correct those imbalances that can form by doing your favorite exercises repeatedly. Avoid jumping into intense workouts too quickly. Whatever changes you make to your routine, start slow and gradually increase the duration and intensity. As a result, this will give your body time to adapt.
Optimize Your Workouts And Recovery
No matter how much you exercise, forming good habits around warming up and cooling down can reduce your chances of developing an injury. Warming up prepares your body for activity by increasing blood flow to your muscles. Cooling down after your workout minimizes muscle stiffness and improves your flexibility.
You may love to ride a bike, run, strength train, or do other activities whenever you exercise. However, you increase your risk of overuse injuries due to the same repetitive movement. Therefore, mixing things up can give your body the variety it needs, and including a rest day or two to recover will not erase all your hard work.
Tracking your workouts with a fitness tracker and app can give you a birdseye view of all your effort. Not only will you see your progress, but you may also see early indicators of trouble, which will let you make adjustments sooner rather than later to nudge yourself in the right direction. As a result, tracking yourself can help you manage your goals and reduce your chances of injury.
As you get older, you may find you can’t go as fast or exercise as long compared to your younger self. Therefore, you can reduce your risks of exercise-related injuries by adjusting your workouts to what your body can handle. This isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s normal and can help you continue to exercise for years to come and maintain your quality of life.
Other Exercise-Related Injury Preventative Measures
Taking care of your body during exercise and when you’re not working out is essential to reducing the risk of exercise-related injuries. Adding rest-day workouts or taking a day off when you feel tired, sick, or burnt out can help you recover from the physical stress of exercise. This break can also help you reset and reinvigorate yourself. Never push through any signs of pain or weariness because that’s a recipe for disaster.
It is equally important to get enough sleep. Sleep is essential for repairing and maintaining your organs, immunity, mood, and metabolism. Lack of sleep or poor sleep quality over time can increase the risk of exercise-related injuries and some health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, high blood pressure, and obesity.
In addition to getting enough sleep, it’s essential to keep yourself hydrated and eat a well-balanced diet to provide your body with the necessary nutrients and fluids to repair itself and maintain your overall health. Try to eat a variety of foods to ensure you get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs.
Even with a proper diet, good sleep, and a balanced workout, there is one thing that can derail your efforts that can easily be fixed. Improper footwear can increase your risk of injury. Your foot may not be suitable for commonly available footwear, and there are different types for various activities. Therefore, you should speak with a specialist if your feet frequently hurt after exercising.
The Takeaway
It’s only through luck that one can avoid exercise-related injuries altogether. It’s common to develop an injury due to overuse, creating weak spots by repeating the same routine or neglecting proper warm-ups and cool-downs.
However, building a solid foundation, optimizing your workouts and recovery, and performing other preventative measures can reduce your chances of developing an exercise-related injury. Injury prevention is ongoing and requires keen observation of your workout routine and how you respond. Always listen to your body. If something hurts or you feel run down, then take some time to rest and recover.
FitTrend’s mission is to help you along your self-improvement journey, promote an active lifestyle, and help you achieve your goals. Our journal can help you track your activities and workouts. Also, FitTrend allows you to connect certain smartwatches and trackers to your account to make it easier for you to update your journal automatically. Create your account today and start using FitTrend for free!
Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
