Can you relate to this scenario? After putting it off for too long, you commit to get fit—only to find yourself injured the minute you set those fitness goals.
All of a sudden your fitness goals go back on the shelf and you are left to deal with the pain. Whether your injury occurs right off the bat or after years of regular workouts the result is always the same. It is discouraging, painful and downright depressing.
And since studies suggest that up to 38% of all exercisers suffer from an injury each year, it is a subject worth exploring. Today we begin a two-part series beginning with common injuries we experience in the gym, followed up by ways in which we prevent them from happening.
Top 3 Workout Injuries 
The following three ailments occur commonly among active people. Let’s explore the cause of each and then detail your very own injury prevention plan—because let’s face it, you simply don’t have time to spend nursing and injury (and losing all that progress you had made).
1. Strain / Pulled Muscle: occurs when a tendon (connects muscle to bone) or muscle is stretched or torn. If you suffer from a strain you will feel pain and swelling in the muscle belly, or loss of function if the strain occurred in a tendon. Many strains occur as the result of an improper warm-up and insufficient stretching.
2. Sprain: occurs when a ligament (connects bone to bone) is stretched or torn. While this can happen to any ligament in your body, the most common placements of sprains are in the ankle, wrist and knee. Often this injury will happen suddenly as the ligament is stretched beyond its normal limit, usually during a fall or other acute trauma.
3. Low Back Pain: it is said that 80% of the population will experience back pain at some point in their lives—and the list of causes is as diverse as the sufferers themselves. Here are the main reasons for workout related back pain:
 

• Improper form: Similar to bad posture, using improper form while performing weight bearing exercises will leave your back sore and aching. The good news is that once your form is corrected this pain should subside after a healing period.
• Weak muscles: If you have a desk job then chances are your deep back muscles are inactive and unconditioned. When you start an exercise program, but fail to properly strengthen these muscles, the result is often an aching back.
• Strained muscles: Not to pick on that desk job, but another result of sitting all day is tight back muscles. When these muscles are not properly warmed up and stretched before exercise begins, muscle strains occur.

Now that we’ve got you conjuring up memories of painful experiences, come back Thursday and we’ll tell you all about the best preventative measures to ensure we are doing our best to keep these injuries from happening again, slowing down our fitness goals, and more importantly keeping us in the gym!
 
Until then, check our testimonials out online at www.teamafterburn.com/testimonials or like us on facebook at www.facebook.com/teamafterburn. Better yet, come by the studio, schedule an assessment, and take a class!