How careful are you in the gym? It may surprise you to realize that, regardless of how attentive you think you are, you’re taking some mighty awful risks every time you hit the weights or step on a treadmill. Of course, getting injured in the gym is more than just a setback to your fitness: it can mean real consequences rippling through the rest of your life, with implications far beyond your max squat. Let's talk about the 5 most common gym injuries faced by the fitness-savvy, and help you figure out the steps to take to avoid finding yourself on the receiving end.
The 5 Most Common Gym Injuries
1. Foot and Ankle:
Stress fractures are easily one of the most common gym injuries to affect beginning gym-goers—a simple result of trying to do too much too quick, without giving your feet and ankles time to catch up with the rest of you. Be mindful of the fact that nearly every exercise is impacting your feet and ankles in some way—so invest in some shoes, maintain good form, and be highly aware of problems developing (stress fractures have plenty of warning signs).
2. Lower Back:
Doing too much too early in your workout can lead to disastrous effects on your lower back, as you tear cold muscles and weaken their ability to maintain a straight, safe spine. It may not happen the first time, or the fifteenth, but all it takes is a moment of misalignment during an intense exercise to cause permanent damage. So take the time to warm up, and be very aware of your spinal alignment and support throughout your regimen.
3. Knee:
Knee injuries happen quite often as a failure of a muscle somewhere else—a leg that buckles, an arm that can’t maintain balance, a foot that rolls. Your attempt to keep yourself from falling, dropping a heavy barbell, etc., can quite easily result in sending your knee the wrong way too fast. Stay aware of your limits, and don’t push your body harder than it’s ready to go.
4. Neck:
Neck injuries usually come about when we get careless, resulting in excessive strain due to poor form, tripping over misplaced weights, or taking on difficult maneuvers without a spotter at the ready. Don’t try to twist your head around to talk to someone when you’re in the middle of a movement and expect it to go well. Maintain focus, and your neck should be safe.
5. Shoulder:
Poor form adds up over time to major shoulder problems—the sheer flexibility of the shoulder means you can be making the ‘wrong’ motion and causing small amounts of damage with every workout, and not know it until it’s too late. Make sure you’re doing warmups, exercising and stretching muscles with shrugs, rolls, etc., and stay very aware of how you’re stressing your shoulders with different movements. Don’t assume that just because you can make a movement, it’s not hurting you.
