How to Remain Injury Free While Lifting Weights
Exercise does a body good. This much is true. However, weight lifting can be a complex form of exercise. It is an inherently dangerous activity. Serious weight lifters push their bodies to extremes that can be very physically difficult for the human body to endure. By doing so, they are constantly at the risk of pushing a bit too far and sustaining an injury. There are, however, many different methods for remaining injury free while lifting weights.
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Things You'll Need
- Weight Equipment
- Tape
- Braces for Bad Joints
- Ice
- Good Form
- Weight Lifting Belt
Instructions
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Use braces on any bad joints. If you have any joints that you have previously injured, make sure to use a brace on that joint while rehabbing it. This ensures that your weight training doesn't make the injury worse. Re-injuring the area could cause prolonged or permanent damage.
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Tape your weaker joints when attempting extremely heavy lifts. If you're lifting a seriously heavy load, it's possible that your major muscle groups will be able to support the weight while your smaller, weaker joints will not. Tape joints like your knuckles, ankles and wrists when you're attempting seriously heavy weight lifting.
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Avoid the max-out strategy. Many people who are into weight lifting get caught up in the idea of "maxing out." In other words, they try to see how heavy a weight they can lift for one repetition. This is a dangerous practice. It can result in injury. Instead, use a "Max Chart" to see what your repetitions indicate that your max would be.
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Ice your joints after lifting weights if you experience pain. This will help eliminate the pain and swelling of any joint injuries you sustain while lifting weights.
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Have someone teach you proper form. It's never a good idea to just start lifting weights on your own or to make up your own exercises. Instead, have someone who is a habitual weight lifter teach you proper form for weight lifting. A professional can teach you all of the exercises. See the link in our Resources section for an article regarding the proper form to use while lifting weights.
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Tips & Warnings
It's a good idea to wear a weight lifting belt if your core muscles aren't strong enough to support the weights you're lifting. Optimally, though, it's best to learn to lift weight from the beginning using your core muscles to support everything without artificial aid.
Never lift through pain or injuries. Doing so will only exacerbate those injuries. It subjects you to great risk of further complications.
Always use the help of a spotter when lifting free weights.
Resources
- Photo Credit Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
