If you’re a person who discovered your love of lifting heavy things, you may have also been one of the unfortunate ones who discovered the injuries that can come along with it. Lifting weights has incredible health benefits and often becomes addictive as you grow stronger and more eager to challenge yourself. But, without putting prevention and safety measures in place to support your body, you might end up suffering one (or more) of the following 3 most common strength training injuries.
Knee injuries
When you’re strength training, it’s understandable that your main focus is on the muscles doing the bulk of the lifting, but the silent sufferer can be the joints bearing the brunt of the load. In a lot of cases, the knees are working overtime to support your body weight and the extra weight you’re adding. This can sometimes cause patellar tendonitis, an inflammation of the tissue between the kneecap (and patella tendon) and your shinbone, related to repeated stress in that area.
Back/disk injuries
Not to be outdone by the knees, your back is linked to every strength training movement you do, from your muscles, ligaments and tendons to your spine and discs. Disc herniation is one of the most common (and painful) strength training injuries there is. When your lifting posture is poor and the muscles involved in the work aren’t being properly activated, your back ends up taking on the stress. Your spinal disk (the jelly-like cushioning between your vertebrae) when placed under heavy strain can tear, pushing out some of that cushioning.
Shoulder injuries
The unsung hero of upper body strength training, your shoulders are working overtime while you pump those weights. Because strength training often involves a lot of repetitive, heavy movements, the mechanisms in your shoulder joint come under a lot of pressure, commonly causing rotator cuff injuries (the group of muscles and tendons that keep your arm inside your shoulder socket. Rotator cuff tears can occur through repeated stress on the injury, from having poor strength throughout the shoulder & muscles of the upper back and / or poor movement patterns / biomechanics.
How you can help prevent these injuries
- Dynamic stretching before and after your workout to increase blood flow and flexibility
- Work up to the heavier weights to give your body time to adjust to the weight and movements
- Allow recovery between muscle groups. This can be done by supersetting (or alternating exercises) with an different muscle group or by completing a conditioning, or active stretching exercise
- Train joint stabilisers in addition to compound exercises & main muscle groups (i.e. rotators of the shoulder & knee)
- Keep hydrated so your muscles are prepared for the work
- Triple check your posture before doing the lift
- Learn to execute proper form and control with each exercise, before progressing with weight or otherwise
- Know your limits and don’t overexert your body past its breaking point
- Have someone close by who can check your form
- Rest and give your body time to recover
- Have periods of deloading (where you have a reduction in training load & intensity on a semi regular basis (i.e. every 6-8 weeks)
- Complete active recoveries such as stretching, foam rolling, compression garments or boots, salt baths, contrast bathing, and remedial massage
Our Exercise Physiology team are here to help with all your strength and conditioning needs. For more information email exercise@yourbodyhub.com.au