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Are You Setting Yourself Up for Injury?

Dr. Michael Yessis
Lif ting weights is easy, but preventing injuries when lif ting weights is not always as simple. Because of this, it is not uncommon to f ind many injuries in weight training. To help prevent injuries and make your workouts more productive, here are seven key f actors that you should take into account when weight training. 1. Too many repetitions Do not do one exercise exclusively f or a long period of time. For example, injuries occur f requently to bodybuilders, powerlif ters, and athletes who do many bench presses. By doing the bench press in the same manner f or many repetitions over a period of time, the stress on the support structures increases progressively. In time, an injury such as tendonitis can develop. T hus, to prevent over use injuries, you should vary exercise execution. Dont do the same exercise in the same way continuously f or many months. 1. Using too much weight in an exercise which overstresses the muscles and support structures. In an ef f ective periodization plan, heavy weights are very ef f ective f or muscle growth, but they are only used f or a portion of the year. T hey are not used continually. T he constant use of very heavy weights, especially when the body is not ready f or them, over stresses the support structures greatly and can easily cause sof t tissue injury. T his is especially true if you max out of ten or are continually using 90 percent or more of your maximum weight in the exercises. For most athletes, the use of such heavy weights should be used only f or testing purposes to measure the progress being made. Maximum weights are not ef f ective training weights. Lighter weights in the 7090 percent of maximum weight are much more benef icial f or releasing the natural growth hormones to enhance muscle strength and size and with much less chance of injury. 1. Insufficient warm-up Warm-up implies that you do activities to warm-up the muscles so that they are ready f or the exercises to be perf ormed. T he best way to do this is with active stretching to get the muscles working. Doing static stretches, as is of ten recommended f or bodybuilders and athletes, are not specif ic to any type of workout and have very little ef f ect on preparing the muscles f or the upcoming activity. If you want to do static stretching, do it af ter the workout. Prior to the workout, do active stretches to work the muscles by pulling or pushing the limb or body part through the f ull range of motion. In addition, doing a light set using 50 percent or less of the weight that will be used in the f irst set is ef f ective in preparing the muscles f or the heavier weights to be used. T he key point to remember is that the warm up should be used to warm up and prepare the muscles f or the upcoming work. It should be very specif ic to the workout. 1. Not using good form T his is perhaps the number one reason why many injuries occur. Bodybuilders, athletes, and others do many exercises incorrectly. T his is understandable to a certain extent because exercise technique is rarely regarded as being very important. You must do an exercise in a manner that allows you to target the specif ic muscles in question, and at the same time, do it in a manner that is not injurious to the body, especially the joints and connective tissues surrounding the joint. Common examples of poor technique include a rounded back and knees not over the base of support during a squat, seated exercises with a rounded back, and moving weights held at the extremities at an excessively f ast rate of speed. To learn more about how the exercises should be done saf ely and ef f ectively, see Kinesiology of Exercise.

1. Poor or absent periodization plan Regardless of whether you are a bodybuilder, powerlif ter, weightlif ter, or athlete involved in a particular sport, you should periodize your annual training program to achieve maximum benef its. With a sound periodization plan, there will be a steady progression f rom one type of training to another to achieve your goals. Each type of training develops your body to a point where you are then capable of doing the next type of training to bring you to higher levels. You do not experience any stagnation but show steady progress in your training. 1. Training results are not commensurate with your technical and tactical abilities T his is a common mistake made by many athletes who believe that developing greater levels of strength or other physical qualities will continually make them better athletes. You must understand that there are two main directions of training. One is improvement of technique, and the other is improvement of the physical abilities as they relate to your technique. If you overdevelop the physical abilities, your technique will suf f er and you can become a poorer athlete. T hus, all the physical gains should be done with technique taken into consideration at all times. For more inf ormation on this topic, see Build a Better Athlete. 1. A lack of sufficient or effective recuperation in between workouts In order to have continual ef f ective workouts, your body must be physically ready f or each workout. If the body is not suf f iciently recovered f rom the previous workout, the f ollowing workout will not be a quality one. T hus, recovery is extremely important. When you have f ull recovery, there is f ull or almost f ull adaptation f rom the previous workout. T he ef f ects of the workout are suf f icient to make changes in the body to make you stronger or f aster. In essence, you adapt to the workout to experience the physiological, chemical, or hormonal changes in the body f rom the workouts. However, if there is insuf f icient recovery, these changes do not take place and you eventually f all into a state of overtraining. T he means and methods that you should use f or recovery are detailed extensively in the book, Sports Restoration and Massage. It details the many dif f erent means that can be used f or recovery, including the sauna, steam room, physiotherapy, pharmaceutical, chemical, and other methods. Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.