Common Weightlifting Injuries: Practice A Safe Lifting Environment

There might be some reasons that are stopping you from working out. Maybe you have seen some videos online about people suffering from injuries. You may workout as much as you want, but you have to be careful. I mean certain factors may not allow you to workout at all. Whether if it's your schedule or busy from school or office, at least it is a very reasonable excuse to skip a gym day.

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Then again, what are the Common Weightlifting Injuries that we should know be aware? We will tackle about what causes them so that we would prepare ourselves in the near future. Along with the description and symptoms of each injury, we are going to provide some tips on how to further prevent it from happening.

#1 Muscle Tears

I know that it takes to rip a muscle for it to grow, but not a "serious" muscle damage. It is possible if you didn't have a proper warm-up session before a heavy lift. It would feel like a sharp stinging pain that is almost unbearable. You need to have your blood flowing through your muscles for it to be flexible and elastic. The same goes for stretching.

Don't confuse warming up with stretching because the two are different methods. Warming up is doing various movements such as the treadmill, jumping jacks, and spinning. Stretching, on the other hand, is done to make your muscles achieve a full range of motion to your exercises. Imagine this, if you try to bend a dry sponge, it will easily break. If you soak up the sponge, no matter how you play around, squeeze, or bend it; it will go back to its original shape. In a nutshell, that is similar to how a muscle acts around.

#2 Slip Disk

It is another common weightlifting injury when you fail to execute a big movement such as deadlifts with poor form and lack of foundation. Another example is you tend to keep your back "loose" when you do any rowing movements, thus causing possible wear and tear on the spine. How would you know if you have a slipped disk? It would feel like as if there are tiny "things" crawling down your legs, and it would become numb after a while.

If you are planning to go heavy on your lifts, don't hesitate to wear a weightlifting belt. If you can no longer squeeze your core and maintain a stable posture, the belt will aid during the contraction of your core, improving further protection for the lower back. If you are further feeling fatigue with your lower spinal area, stop the workouts and call it a day. Rather, spend the day resting and recovering. Spend a day or even two days to rest. Also, foam-roll the hamstring and hips, so that it would open up allowing proper posture for heavy lower-body movements.

#3 Tendonitis

Most of the times for lifters, they would usually feel this at the outer part of the elbow. It generally occurs when you over extend it, or when you do exercise that requires a strong grip. You will know if you have it if you frequently feel like something is being pulled or stretch on the outer part of your elbow, and this could hinder your lifts especially the pressing and some pulling movements.

If you constantly feel the pain, you can have a soft massage which increases the blood flow and start alleviating the inflammation around the area. Regularly stretch it and do a couple of mobility movements. Rehabilitate it with light movements until the pain is gone. In a case of heavy exercises that will focus on your grips, you may opt to use a lifting strap to support you when you are reaching fatigue. Only by then that you can gradually strengthen it by doing compound movements again. Just repeat the process if it occurs again.

#4 Shoulder Joint Pain and Tear

Be careful with exercises that require you to do overhead movements. It is really painful, and even with the slightest movement, the pain can almost be unbearable. There are times that the tear could only be a minor one, but in any case, of popping sounds, visit a PT so you could get some professional advice on what to do.

Just warm-up with light weight, and do some rotation movements before your go for a heavy one. Do a couple of reps of rotator cuff exercises on a stable platform to loosen up the joints and achieve a full range of motion. Try to avoid heavy behind-the-neck presses to avoid it. In any case that it is a pre-requisite for an exercise, you may only do it once in a while. A light SOTS press could strengthen your rotator cuffs, but you have to do it less often. You can even use resistance bands to do some mobility work for your shoulder.

#5 Pulled Hamstring

Pulled hamstrings are the once you feel instantly. It feels as if something is blocking your legs, and holding it still while having that very painful sensation. Most often, it happens to sprinters who didn't mobilize adequately before their session. There are other movements associated with the injury such as explosive box jumps and any other movements that need a quick reaction. It also occurs when you have a lack of mobility of that muscle and if it is really tight.

When you are going for a sprint session, make sure that you start up gradually and not jump right into the workout. It is just a matter of flexibility and mobility to avoid the painful injury. If you want to strengthen the muscle group, Good Mornings and Stiff-Legged Deadlifts are great exercises for it. Just make sure that you perform the proper mechanics for the movements or you could suffer another injury.

Conclusion

We have just presented you the standard Weightlifting Injuries that you have to be totally aware. All of the said injuries are avoidable with a proper warm-up, mobility exercises, and gradual progression. Just like in bodybuilding, specifically growing muscle, everything needs to start slowly but surely.