10 Things You Are Doing That Will Invite Serious Workout Injuries
It baffles me to the core how there could be two extremes of Indian population co-exist at the gyms. One set will take years and years to find the perfect motivation to hit the gym, and there is the other set of people filled with constant motivation and too eager to achieve their fitness goals. However a single piece of advice for both these set of people are that they both need to calm down, else you are not far away from suffering a serious injury that could eventually lead to an early retirement from any kind of exercises and sports. Let us take a closer look at 10 of the worst things that you could do at the gym causing serious injuries or health complications.
10. No warm up
A lot of people take the ‘hit the ground running’ notion a bit too seriously. The nominal stretching that would not even cost 5 minutes has been eluded from their mind. It looks like everyone is in a hurry. The worst thing you can do after skipping warm ups is weightlifting. The Romanian deadlift just after entering the gym is enough to place a booking at your nearest neurologist’s clinic. It isn’t that tough to roll your neck for a minute, and then proceed gradually before pumping irons.
9. Too much dependence on your spotter and machine
It is good to have a spotter right behind or in front of you to guide you throughout the process. However, it is advised to lower your dependence levels on your spotter and machine. That pre- World War I Smithsonian and bench press machines without any safety equipment are still in the market and used without any complaints.
Pumped up individuals like to hit the bench with all their might with a spotter lurking just in there, and with utmost confidence get the weights rolling. After a certain point of time they mishandle the balance resulting in a partial tilt, which is enough to slip out weights at one end. This is where you need to check the gym’s equipment and the safety measures taken before enrolling yourself there.
8. The zeal to go suicidal on the grip and risk your posture
At times, it is not the machines but your almighty grip that can be your cause of undoing. The basics of benchpress and squats still manage to evade the senses of many. Squatting with your arms flapping wide like a penguin will do you as good as it did to Pingu the Penguin i.e. zero. The basics of any powerlifting exercises lie on the grip and your positioning. You can never expect proper results if you are ready to jump on the bandwagon without knowing the logic behind it.
You might have seen a fellow gym member hitting wide grip bench presses, and you think of doing the same without even any consultation. Wide grip bench presses are suited to someone who is looking to work on his chest at different muscles, it is not advisable for someone who has just joined the gym a month or two ago. Wrong posture can hurt you for lifetime, and before you go all Mayweather on intensity, correct your posture. You would always feel the difference once you exercise in correct posture as it will hit the target muscles without any consequences.
7. Increasing intensity meteorically
This one is rather funny as people tend to gain intensity within weeks and in some cases within days. The lat pulldowns is one of the best ways to describe it. Your initial day of a week starts with a 20kg repeated 12 times for 4 sets, and suddenly two or three days after you reach up the 60kg mark pumping in 15 repetitions for 5 sets. This doesn’t mean that you have become a strongman within the span of few days, but you are way off the technical means. Intensity can be increased only when you are hitting every rep with perfect technique, and it has a telling effect on your target muscles.
6. Forget neurological pain, I am up for it
Absolutely not! This is not the notion you should adhere to. As soon as you feel a slight pain anywhere around your spine, stop then and there. Ask your instructor and seek for advice. It would be better if you could visit a doctor and consult. There is no harm in stopping for a few days as this would help you recover from the slight twinge you have been feeling. However, problems of slip disc have become popular among regular gym members as they tend to push beyond their physical threshold resulting in a few months away from any physical activities.
5. No variations
How hard is it to work on variations after spending too much time on the same set of exercises? Not that much isn’t it? Change is the way of life, and like it or not, the same old bench press-curls-squats-and extension are mythological concept nowadays. Try to improvise and stop targeting only a set of muscles because long exposures could rupture muscle cells if worked out excessively. It is inevitable to change it at some point of your gym routine, and it is advisable that you change it voluntarily before you are forced to.
4. Ego 1 Results 0
Oh! The Great Indian pride that has been the driving force for us making wrong decisions. You need to let off your ego at least when you enter the gym. It is normal for you to limit yourself at certain points. No one is asking you to go The Hulk, and then come out with insignificant results. Just go there and work on your regime and find your optimal intensity range. There is no point in squatting with 120Kgs where you load yourself up with padded knee guards and you don’t even reach your hip level with it.
3. Squat right
Squatting will always remain one of the most tedious and rigorous exercises ever formed. It is essential to do it perfectly because a wrong technique can result in absolute disaster. It is important to check your machine safety first, and choose your optimal range before going full-blooded. Knee caps and a spotter initially are recommended with proper spine covering. Once you get used to it, you can set your own grip and intensity. Do not go all guns blazing on squats as it might result in sickening injuries and a bad posture for lifetime.
2. Lack of knowledge
As baffling as it might sound, this is the most common query you will have to respond to once you get them familiar to gym related injuries. The void left in the knowledge department is the root to every gym related injuries. You are not asked to go all fitness freak and rummage the Internet, you are just asked to gather minimal knowledge on exercises you are about to perform. After all you are putting your body under potential risks. Ask your trainer or look up for fitness articles and videos for further insights if an exercise is bothering you.
1. Not seeking help
To wrap things up, it is always advised to seek professional help from people related to gym and sports before making a move. Gather details on the gyms you have shortlisted and talk to their trainers and clarify your fitness goals to them. Do not shy away from asking anything, and do not let your ego get the better of you. One learns from their mistake, but make sure you don’t make a costly one.
