No one wants to miss three weeks of training time because of an injury. Many injuries are slow to develop and are due to a combination of faulty biomechanics and poor exercise form. Some injuries are traumatic and happen because of bad judgement or poor preparation. Luckily, with a little effort, most injuries can be avoided by focusing on prevention. Here are some tips to prevent injury and keep you moving towards your goals.

Warm-up

A proper warm up prepares the body for intense activity. It increases blood flow to the tissues making them more supple and flexible. This improves performance in the workout by making it easier for muscles to contract and relax and reduces the chance of a strained muscle. Spend 5-10 minutes doing some light cardio and putting your body through various ranges of motion to get blood flowing.

Address Muscular Imbalances

Muscle imbalances are unequal amounts of strength in opposing muscles which can lead to pain, movement compensation and injury. For example, if the muscles of the chest are stronger and more active than the muscles of the upper back, this will cause forward-rounded posture and puts unsafe forces on the shoulder joint. The most common imbalances are between the chest and back, quadriceps and hamstrings, and glutes and hip flexors. This is because people tend to train the muscles they can see, and end up with strong muscles on the front and weak muscles in the back. Any joint operating with uneven forces on either side is likely to take a beating. A good program will address these imbalances to build a well-aligned body with a strong foundation. Take a few weeks to lengthen the muscles on the front of your body and work on strengthening your back and glutes.

Address Structural Weaknesses

The load-bearing structure of the body is made of connective tissues, joints, and muscles. Many injuries such as stress fractures or tendon and ligament strains are due to having a weak structure. Most training you see in the gym is focused on building muscles, but what good is a muscle that can lift 50lbs if the tendons and ligaments of the joint can't support 50lbs? Spend time strengthening your structure by supporting weights in various positions that stress the structure.

For example, you want to become stronger for pullups, but you tend to develop nagging shoulder and elbow pain after training. To strengthen your structure for pullups you would need to practice passive and active hanging positions as well as the top flexed position of a pullup. Both the flexed and hanging positions put more stress on the structure than the muscles, and if these positions are weak it can lead to injury.

Learn Proper Form

This is especially important if you aren't working with a personal trainer. You must learn proper technique whether you're practicing bodyweight movements, machines, or free weights. Any form of training can be dangerous if you put yourself or the weight in the wrong position. Its worth seeking out someone with experience to help you learn the right way early on. Also, when working with free weights, it's a good idea to have a spotter on exercises that involve more risk such as squats, military presses, or bench presses.

Smart Progression

The safest way to train involves increasing weights and difficulty at a gradual pace. It isn't worth the risk to try and handle a weight that is out of your league. It's great to challenge yourself, but we typically only strive to add 5lbs to a lift every workout. That's safe progression. Progress is made gradually, and that goes for fat loss as well. It wouldn't be smart to run five miles in a workout after being sedentary for years. Consistent workouts with slow progression are the safest way to make gainz.

Vary Your Exercises – Avoid Overuse

Overuse injuries are among the most common source of complaint in the gym. People who rely on gym machines that have a fixed range of motion tend to develop this type of injury regularly. These types of injuries are characterized by inflammation and chronic pain. You can avoid overuse injuries by ditching the machines and using free weights or bodyweight programs. You will also want to be changing exercises regularly and emphasizing natural movement patterns. Performing the barbell bench press every week for years on end can be a recipe for shoulder and elbow trauma. Incorporate variation into your program. A worthy substitute for bench press with a barbell would be dips or pushups or even dumbbell bench press.

Avoid Overtraining

Trainees typically experience signs of overtraining around 7 weeks into a standard program or sooner if they don't allow at least 1 day for recovery. If you become overtrained, you put yourself at risk of injury because your body is not recovering. You're in a state of catabolism, which means your muscle mass is shrinking and you're becoming noticeably weaker. You'll notice your energy levels drop, you have no motivation to workout and you're feeling generally achy. You won't make any gainz in this state, and you will get hurt if you don't allow recovery. Dedicate at least 1 day per week to active recovery and 1 day to rest. Pay attention to your training cycles and don't train hard for more than 6 weeks without a back-off week.

These preventative measures will help keep you in the gym and off the sidelines. Its as simple as warming up, using good form, progressing slowly, and rotating exercises regularly. These tips will keep you safe to train on a regular basis and make steady progress.