Drink plenty of water and take Power Supps protein supplements to help muscles recover and rebuild. Following these tips will help you stay safe and injury-free while lifting weights. Power on! Click here for full podcast playlist. Get the latest podcast episodes and blogs delivered right to your inbox.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive. Type your email…. Continue reading. Skip to content. July 5, sportsmedicineweekly Blog , exercise , Fitness , Performance , Training Comments Off on Tips on How to Prevent Injury When Weight Lifting. Take time for a proper warm-up It is crucial that you take the time for a proper warm-up before you start lifting weights.

Cross-train Cross-training is a great way to do that — it involves doing different exercises that work different muscles and body parts. Learn proper techniques One of the best ways to prevent injury while weightlifting is to learn the proper techniques.

Drink plenty of water Water is essential for many bodily functions, including preventing injuries. Dress for your sport When you are lifting weights, you want to be comfortable.

Listen to your body One of the most important things you can do when lifting weights is to listen to your body. Bottom line The best way to prevent an injury while weight lifting is to be aware of the proper form and technique. Share this: Click to share on Facebook Opens in new window Click to share on Twitter Opens in new window Click to share on LinkedIn Opens in new window Click to share on WhatsApp Opens in new window Click to print Opens in new window Click to email a link to a friend Opens in new window.

Net Proceeds from the Sports Medicine Podcast are donated for the Advancement of Orthopedic and Cell Biology Research at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago IL. You should always seek the help of a professional such as a physiotherapist or chiropractor for acute weightlifting injuries that persist beyond several days.

But there are a few things you can do to start the healing process: Relative rest, Compression,elevation, and gentle movement. Seeking treatment from a professional can help alleviate pain by treating its root cause, improve your overall function, and optimize your training.

Tiara Brooks is a registered massage therapist practicing at Rebalance Sports Medicine in downtown Toronto. Some key aspects of weightlifting include: Resistance: An external force used to create a stimulus for muscle growth and development.

Common Weightlifting Injuries Strains Muscle strains occur when muscle fibers are over lengthened or torn. Disc Herniation Disc herniations are injuries to the intervertebral disc that result in the displacement of the nucleus pulposus the material inside the disc.

How Can Massage Therapy Help with Weightlifting Injuries? Form Always ensure you are performing the exercise correctly. Warm-up and Cool down Always ensure you are performing an adequate warm-up and cool down before and after weightlifting.

Have a plan Always have a plan! What To Do if a Weightlifting Injury Occurs? Acute or Traumatic Injuries You should always seek the help of a professional such as a physiotherapist or chiropractor for acute weightlifting injuries that persist beyond several days.

Tiara Brooks, RMT Tiara Brooks is a registered massage therapist practicing at Rebalance Sports Medicine in downtown Toronto. previous New Fee Schedule Effective January 22, next Gluteal Amnesia: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Exercises.

Your email address will not be published. The content of this website is for general instruction only. Please consult your doctor for matters pertaining to your specific health.

YouTube Instagram Facebook. These are my recommendations for in-season training: Note: My rep and load ranges are for experienced lifters who have reached adolescence—those who have been consistently, progressively, and safely lifting weights for a year or more and who have also mastered mechanics for core lifts.

Strength train 2 to 3 times per week for 40 to 60 minutes each session. The benefits of maintaining strength through the season far outweighs the minimal time commitment.

Use heavy loads with low reps and increased rest periods between sets to maintain the highest strength levels while reducing soreness and fatigue. For trained athletes who have reached adolescence, 3—5 sets of 2—6 repetitions, with 2—5 minutes of rest between sets is optimal.

Beginning lifters should maintain a low to moderate load with higher rep ranges of 6—12 in order to allow time to create efficient neuromuscular patterns. Leave one or two reps in the tank. Athletes who stop reps before muscles become exhausted are able to maintain or increase strength while retaining energy and stamina to compete.

Avoid doing what bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts sometimes endorse: Burnout sets that push muscles to complete failure, which breaks down muscle fiber and increases cellular waste causing soreness and fatigue.

These types of fractures can develop gradually over time and may not be immediately noticeable. Those at risk for stress fractures typically experience a rapid increase in training volumes. Women, especially those with poor diet, are typically more at risk for stress fractures. Finally, limited range of motion and poor flexibility can also contribute to workout injuries.

When the body is not able to move through its full range of motion, it can increase the risk of strains and sprains. If you have sustained a workout related injury, not to worry. At REP Physio in Edmonton, we have experienced caring staff that can guide you through your recovery process.

While workout injuries are common, many of them are preventable with adequate preparation and precautions. By using proper form and technique during exercises, individuals can reduce their risk of sprains, strains, and other injuries.

Additionally, cross-training and incorporating a variety of exercises can help prevent overuse injuries and tendinitis. Most importantly It is important to listen to your body and avoid pushing yourself too hard, as this can lead to injuries from lifting too much weight or performing too many repetitions.

Symptoms typical of overtraining include activity induced soreness that does not return to baseline within 24 hours post activity. Importantly, this type of soreness should be differentiated from delayed onset muscle soreness DOMS which is very common when starting a new exercise routine.

DOMS typically lasts for days post activity. DOMS is not associated with a traumatic event or accident. Symptoms of DOMS include muscle soreness and stiffness. If you experience this, we recommend light activity, simple stretching and heat.

Again, DOMS typically self resolves. Increased fatigue throughout your day, an elevated heart rate at rest may also suggest you are overtraining and increasing your injury risk. Despite these precautions, there will always be a risk of injury when engaging in physical activity.

Injury can be either traumatic, or non-traumatic. While it is impossible to prevent all types of injuries, taking some simple and a moment to plan your routine, individuals can help mitigate their injury risk. Having a proper warm up and cool down is essential to reducing the risk of workout injuries and optimizing performance.

Warming up gradually increases heart rate, preparing the body for the demands of exercise, while cooling down gradually decreases heart rate and helps prevent blood from pooling in the extremities.

Proper warmups can also improve range of motion and flexibility, reducing the risk of common workout injuries like knee injuries and back strains.

Neglecting to warm up or cool down can lead to increased risk of injury, including tennis elbow, sprains, and strains.

If you are unsure about where to begin when starting a warm up or cool down routine, consult with a sports medicine professional or trainer for guidance to help tailor your routine to your specific needs and goals. Stretching is an important component of injury prevention and should be incorporated into any workout routine.

How often to stretch depends on the individual's needs and activity level, but stretching daily or at least times per week can be beneficial for improving flexibility and reducing the risk of workout injuries.

Stretching helps to increase range of motion, which can reduce the risk of strains and ligament sprains, as well as prevent developing overuse injuries such as shin splints. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, stretching before and after exercise can help improve flexibility and reduce muscle soreness.

However, stretching alone is not a guarantee against injury and should be combined with other injury prevention strategies, such as proper warmup, cool down, and gradual progression of activity. Some examples of stretches that can be incorporated into a workout routine include quadriceps, hamstring, calf, shoulder, and low back stretches.

These stretches can be done before, after, or during activity to help improve flexibility and reduce injury risk. Having a proper workout routine is crucial in preventing injuries during exercise.

Proper workout routines can include regular exercise to strengthen muscles, as well as implementing the right workout plan for individual needs. This is because everyone's body is different, and what works for one person may not work for another. To reduce the risk of injury, it is essential to use proper form when performing exercises, which includes maintaining correct posture, alignment, and technique.

Additionally, it is important to properly manage exercise volume in terms of sets and reps, as well as avoiding heavy weights when starting out. Working with a personal trainer, kinesiologist, or physical therapist can be beneficial in developing a workout routine that is safe and effective.

Overuse injuries are common culprits of workout injuries. To prevent these types of injuries, it is essential to give the body proper rest and recovery time between workouts. This includes taking rest days, using active recovery methods such as stretching or yoga, and gradually increasing the intensity and duration of workouts.

Overall, having a cohesive workout routine that includes proper form, rest and recovery time, and a personalized workout plan can greatly reduce the risk of injury during exercise. Working with an exercise professional can also help in developing a plan that is tailored to individual needs and goals.

Having the proper equipment is essential for preventing injuries during workouts. This can include proper footwear, such as running shoes for running or cross-training shoes for weightlifting.

Wearing the right shoes can help with shock absorption, provide better support, and reduce the risk of injuries to the feet, knees, and ankles. For weightlifting, using proper equipment such as gloves, and wrist straps can help prevent injuries to the wrists and hands.

Additionally, having a spotter when lifting heavy weights can ensure proper form and technique, and help prevent injuries caused by improper form or dropping weights. In sports that require additional safety equipment such as helmets, mouthguards, or protective padding, using the appropriate equipment is essential for preventing injuries.

This is especially important in contact sports such as football, hockey, and lacrosse. In general, it is important to invest in quality equipment and ensure that it is properly maintained and replaced when necessary.

While proper warm-up, stretching, and equipment can greatly reduce the risk of workout injuries, accidents can still happen. Heavy loads squeeze the intervertebral discs, leading to a deformation of the vertebrae and sometimes strained ligaments.

In our sport, back loading cannot be avoided, though. Lifters continually attempt big lifts in training, done for many reps and many sets, especially squats.

One way to avoid much of this is to split up the squat workout. It is not necessary to do multiple sets all in one workout. The squats can be spread out during the day or the week in order to greatly decrease your back loading.

The second most common area for injury damage in weightlifters occurs in the shoulder girdle. The shoulders are loaded in almost all exercises, even squats. The best way to prevent injuries is to do overhead pressing , assuming you are flexible enough in that position that no bone impingement occurs.

In combination with that, you should also always make sure the shoulders are adequately warmed up before progressing to heavier weights. Trying to hurry a warm-up involving the shoulders is sheer folly. You will pay for your foolishness.

Lifters can end up with knee problems as well. The most common injury is patellar tendinitis, which usually comes from the aforementioned inadequate warm-up.

The solution here is obvious. A more serious condition occurs when you do not know how to bounce out of your squat clean properly. There are right and wrong ways to do this, as I have outlined in a previous article. The wrong way will result in stretched ligaments. A less common injury can occur in the neck vertebrae.

The usual culprit here is the good morning exercise. The bar has a tendency to roll down from the shoulders onto the neck when the athlete is at the bottom of the exercise. This can result in a sort of dull guillotine effect on the neck.

Naturally this is problematic with larger weights, but it can still occur even with lighter warm-up poundages if you start the back contraction too abruptly.

In this lift, it is acceptable in gym culture to use a towel for padding. I myself prefer the safety squat bar. It has both padding in the neck area and yolk handles that allow for complete control of the barbell at all phases of the exercise.

We have all read about the importance of a good warm-up prior to a workout or competition, and I have mentioned it multiple times here already.

You know this is a good idea, but often you are in a hurry to get you started and finished , so you may shortchange yourself on the warm-up. You may hope that after you do a couple sets, you will be warmed up anyway. But the reason you warm-up is to stretch your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, and to get the blood flowing and to practice the coming movement patterns.

Truncating the warm-up will have adverse effects when the heavier sets occur. This is the best way to give yourself a pulled muscle or strained ligaments. The technical and functional unpreparedness of the lifter is the cause of the most injuries and damage.

This can include contusions, muscle strain, dislocations, and fractures of the bones. One of the more spectacular occurrences in gym comes when a lifter blacks out with a heavy clean or press. This occurs with the bar blocks blood flow in the carotid artery.

This is prevented by taking big gulps of air prior to lift ensure that enough oxygen will be available. This is also why we do not want straight plates sitting on the platform.

Injuries are certainly possible when missing a lift. Just as wrestlers are taught how to safely fall when thrown to the mat, weightlifters should learn how to safely miss.

This should be one of the first things a coach teaches a lifter, even before teaching him or her how to actually lift. You certainly want to be out of the way of a falling bar. With minimal instruction, you can learn how to avoid this mishap. In fact, the energy displayed by the bar while dropping can be used to your favor by helping to push you out of the way.

Overtraining is also problematic. By overtraining I do not mean having an exceptionally heavy workout. Overtraining is the result of chronically training beyond your recovery capabilities.

This is why we have periodization. We do purposely overtrain for a specific period of time, but then we unload our training sessions in order to affect an eventual adaptation to the higher loads.

If this unloading is delayed too long, then injury and organism breakdown are the inevitable results. After years of training, many lifters also develop pains in the small of the back as a result of calcium deposits. Fortunately, it is possible to avoid major damage from this and even to reduce the problem.

After every squat session you should perform forward bends , placing your hands of the floor while keeping the legs stiff at the knees. This exercise can be performed with weights.