How to Avoid Injuries When Starting a New Exercise Routine

Are you tired of belly fat and ready to start a new exercise program? Or are you already ripped, but bored with the same old routine? Either way, rather you are a five day a week workout veteran, or a novice just getting started, there are a few precautions to take when beginning a new routine to avoid any set back in the form of an injury. Avoid injuries when starting a new workout regime or exercise routine is really important and to understand this better let’s read more.

Injury Setbacks

Injuries can set back your health goals by weeks, months, and in extreme cases, even years. So, its important to know what the common injuries are. Maybe then you can take the steps needed to avoid them. And, if you are a gym veteran, don’t let your ego get the best of you; its always a good idea to go over the basics from time to time.

There are actually also financial implications to injuring yourself whilst exercising too. People don’t actually think about this, but sports injuries are one of the most common causes of personal health insurance premiums rising.

Common injuries to avoid, keep in mind: 

• Wrist sprain/dislocation
• Tendinitis
• Shin splint
• Knee injuries
• Shoulder injury
• Sprained ankle
• Muscle pull and strain

How to Prevent Common Injuries?

Staying injury free is actually not hard if you put in a few minutes before and after your new workout program. But, before moving forward, if you’re a little older (I know, ouch! No one wants to hear that!) it’s vital to have a health check up with your family doctor prior to starting any new exercise routine. If you’re a woman age fifty-five or older, get a checkup with your doctor. The same goes for men forty-five years of age or older. Getting older may not be what you want to focus on, but its better to be safe than sorry. Plus, as long as you’re keeping tabs on your health, turning gray doesn’t mean you can’t keep your body fit as a fiddle.

With that aside, follow these guidelines to avoid injuries:

As per the Gyms in Abu Dhabi, Pre-workout warm ups are a great way to get the blood flowing without putting a lot pressure on the muscles. You never want to shock your body by jumping into a major routine without warming up your muscles, joints, and getting your heart rate to the appropriate level safely. Putting your body to an extreme workout routine slowly by warming up and stretching helps in avoiding injuries during workouts.

Here are a few options:

• Lift some lightweights, something far below your average workout amount
• Walk around the gym or jog in place for fifteen minutes
• Jump rope
• Exercise bike on a low setting

Have a cool down period

After sweating your buns off for an hour, make sure to allot fifteen minutes after your brutal workout to cooling down. The best way to do that is to walk for about fifteen minutes. This gives your body the ability to lower your heart rate safely. Also avoid going for a bath immediately after a heavy workout. Let your body calm down and your blood flow to become normal. When you are doing exercise or aggressive workouts, your blood is gushing through your veins throughout your body. This heat up your body temperature and thus you need to cool down after workout.

Post and Pre-Workout Stretch

Most experts agree that stretching before warming up is a bad idea. You risk tearing a muscle. So don’t stretch until you warm up properly. But, once you are warmed up, stretch your muscles from head to toe. Spend about ten minutes doing this just to be safe. After your workout, and before you cool down, do a dynamic stretch routine. This helps to avoid cramps and keeps your body flexible. You can follow simple stretching exercises like “Downward facing dog stretch”, “cat-cow yoga stretch”, “standing calf stretch”, “lunging hip flexor stretch”, “overhead triceps stretch”, “half split” “cobra pose”, “standing quad stretch” and many more like these.

Hydrate

Make sure you are consuming plenty of water before, during, and after your workout. This keeps your oxygen levels at a healthy level and feeds your muscles. Water is really essential if you are doing regular workouts. You should always try to have minimum 5 to 6 glasses of water every day to help your body go through that tedious workout routine. Water also helps in digesting your post workout diet easily. Having sufficient amount of water ensure all the nutrients in the diet are absorbed by the body properly.

Eat a Meal After Working Out

Its important to eat a well-rounded meal with plenty of protein and carbs after your workout. You just expended a lot of energy and yourbody needs to replenish itself with vital nutrients. This also allows your muscles to heal faster, and to develop in the way you want. A good protein diet plan ensures strong muscles and increased stamina required for heavy workouts. It helps also increase your endurance level thus helping you avoid injuries during exercise routine.

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Dr. Amanda

Amanda is a certified nutritionist and fitness yoga trainer, and writer in the areas of health, fitness and nutrition.

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