10 Most Common Gym Injuries And Its Prevention

Pick up a heavy weight! Lift heavy or go home! You can! Another set! You  might have heard this from the dudes in the gym because these words are stimulant and somewhere the motivation is hidden in it. When you join a gym for the first time, you watch many YouTube videos where some cool dudes are lifting heavy weight and their friends are shouting and motivating them to go for one more set with heavy weight. You also think that by tomorrow you too will lift heavy-weights in the gym. Because it is said that lifting heavy weight leads to muscle gains and to a large extent this is true also, but you should never forget that it is more important to keep yourself safe. Do you know 90% of the injuries happening in the gym are due to lifting more than the capacity or doing ego lifting. When you try to lift heavy weight, you often compromise with your form. Heavy-weight and wrong posture often punish you with severe injuries. Many a times workout injuries keep you away from the gym for a few weeks  but sometimes longer than that.

Not only newbies but professional and mature bodybuilders also commit the same mistakes and they end up in hospitals. If you are a newbie or a professional bodybuilder, you need to go through this article about 10 common gym injuries which I have noticed in my 6 years long career in fitness and I will also tell you the ways to avoid them.

1) WRIST INJURY

Almost, all the pushing and pulling exercise stresses wrist. Those small little bones between your hands and forearms are always in stress while  lifting weights. Our wrist has 8 carpal bones which are very small. And it also has longer bones in your forearms namely radius and ulna. One of the common wrist injuries that often occurs in the gym is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). This often occurs when you stress your median nerve which originates in the upper part of your arm and ends in palm of the hand. Remember if you got this injury even once, you will always feel pain in your wrist whenever you lift weights. The best way to avoid this injury is to do some flexibility training that involves wrist exercise before a workout. You can also wear a pair of wrist supporting gloves.

2) ANKLE SPRAIN

Ankle sprain is also one of the most common gym injuries. This usually happens while doing exercises for calf muscles or lunges with heavy weights. Even while running on the treadmill sometimes a little careless move can cause you ankle sprain. The best way to avoid this injury is to remain focused and cautious.

3) IT BAND SYNDROME

IT BAND is a thick bunch of fibres that usually originates from the outside of your hips connecting thigh and knee and it goes up to your Shinbone. Too tight IT BAND leads to swelling and pain around your knee. This syndrome usually occurs to the runners and cyclists. This syndrome mainly occurs  due to friction over your knees. There is a fluid in our knee which is known as “Bursa” which keeps our IT BAND and knees lubricated. Not doing enough warm-up, skipping post workout stretching, taking lesser than required rest between sets, wearing uncomfortable training shoes could cause this injury.

You may also like: How To Get Rid Of White Hair Naturally

4) PATELLOFEMORAL SYNDROME

All the exercises which keep your knees on stress every time causes patellofemoral pain syndrome. Some exercises like running on a treadmill, squatting, jumping, deadlifting, lunges may cause patellofemoral pain syndrome; sometime this injury needs surgery to be treated but most of the time it gets cured itself if you take proper rest and drink plenty of water. Non-flexibility in the knees could be cited as one of the reasons of this syndrome.

5) GLENOID LABRUM TEAR (SHOULDER JOINT TEAR)

Glenoid labrum or shoulder joint is a group of fibrocartilage that runs around scapula (wing bone) which is usually fitted in upper arm bone. The labrum strengthens the glenoid cavity and increases the surface of the shoulder. Joint tears of the glenoid labrum is a collective cause of other injuries also. Outstretched arms are the main reason  of shoulder dislocation. Once teared, the labrum tissue does not have the ability to heal on its own. The only way to get the labrum tissue repaired is undergoing a surgery. In case you feel any strong pain in shoulder during shoulder workout, immediately consult your trainer or physician.

You may also like: Functional Fitness: What It Is, And What’s In It For You!

6) KNEE INJURY

Knee injury is also one of the most common injuries during workouts. Our knees are very important as any injury near the knee can immobilize a person.The best way to avoid knee injury is to do a proper warm up before any workout. Warming up before starting exercise ensures a healthy blood flow throughout our legs which helps in keeping away the sprain. Pay special attention when you are doing squats or deadlift.

7) LOWER BACK SPRAIN

This is also one of the most common gym injuries which is  mainly caused due to lifting heavy weight without maintaining the correct posture. People who do squats, deadlifts, bench press, or chin ups with hanging weights are more likely to get lower back sprain. Some times this also causes disk herniation, which is a very painful condition.

8) SHIN SPLINTS:

The bone between your knees and ankle is called Shinbone. In Shin splint, the patient feels pain in their lower leg. Shin splints frequently affect people who are engaged in heavy physical activities. Tennis players, basketball players, Soccer players are more prone to get this splints. But in some cases, the gym goers also get trapped in this condition. Shin splint occurs mainly when you are running on a treadmill, jumping or jumping with weight plates. The excessive exercises cause the muscles of the Shinbone swell and that increases the pressure against the bone which causes inflammation. Lack of flexibility, improper training techniques, weak muscles, running on the slanted surface, or uneven surface, can cause Shin splint. The best way to avoid shin splint is to do a proper warm-up before starting your workout.

9) PECTORAL MUSCLE TEAR:

The area of our chest contains pectoral muscles. Sometimes the pectoral muscle tissues get torn  during chest workout. When your forms are wrong, your chest muscles can get over stretched while doing chest exercises. Sometimes the pectoral injury gets worse. This is also an injury caused by wrong posture. If the pain is unbearable you must contact a doctor. But it has been seen that in most of the cases when pectoral muscle tissues tear. it gets healed itself when you take rest and eat proper nutritious food.

You may also like: 4 Mindful Practices To Get Better Fitness Results

10) ELBOW INJURY

The elbow injury is also one of the most common workout injuries. Again this injury is caused due to the wrong form and lifting too heavy. Elbow pain can haunt you in several ways but the most common among them is Epicondylitis or “tennis elbow”. To avoid elbow injury always keep your wrist in a neutral position while lifting. Avoid fast repetitions; lift the weight according to your capability.

If you have been a regular gym goer, you must be aware of the workout injuries that can make life miserable, and here are the simple cures of these injuries too. If you liked this article, do share with your gym buddies. Let us know how you deal with your workout injuries in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This post was written by our guest contributor. The content herein is owned by the blogger. Gympik is not responsible for any kind of infringement caused.