Common Injuries and How to Prevent Them

A lot of the time women fear lifting weights just for the fact that they are afraid of injuring themselves! In fact, NOT lifting weights and gaining strength leads to more injuries than actually working out! Crazy, right? It’s better to lift and be strong, than weak and susceptible to injury! 

Strains/Sprains/Pulled Muscles

One very common injury in strength training is strained or pulled muscles. The overstretching or tearing of muscles, ligaments or tendons can happen when you don’t practice proper technique or good warm-up in any exercise. Some areas that are more prone to these injuries include the lower back, shoulders, knees and wrists. 

How to prevent: practice proper form in each and every exercise, make sure to warm up property, and don’t lift more weight than you can handle.

Lower Back Pain

Getting pain in your lower back can be a result of poor form, excessive weight or a lack of core stability. When this happens, the muscles in your lumbar region become strained. Some of the most common exercises where this injury happens are deadlifts, bent-over rows and back squats. When done improperly, with too much weight or without good core strength, there could be stress put on the lower back, resulting in injury.

How to prevent: master your form for the exercises mentioned above (plus all other exercises!), don’t add too much weight when you aren’t ready, and work on building up your core strength to support your back during strength training. 

Wrist Injuries

Wrist injuries are common in exercises that involve gripping weight such as deadlifts, barbell rows and kettlebell exercises. Overuse of the wrists can place strain on them, resulting in wrist sprains or even fractures. 

How to prevent: master your grip technique and use weights that are appropriate for your progress and skill level.

Knee Injuries

Since many strength training exercises are done standing up, the knee joint is susceptible to injuries. When excessive stress is placed on the knee joints, conditions can arise such as include patellofemoral pain syndrome (AKA runner’s knee) or anterior cruciate ligament (AKA ACL) tears. Some common exercises that contribute to these injuries are squats, lunges or jumping movements. 

How to prevent: warm up properly with dynamic movements, strengthen muscles around the knee (hamstrings, quads, glutes) that provide support and stability for the knee, wear proper footwear when exercising and incorporate low-intensity exercises into your fitness routine such as swimming or cycling to reduce overall stress on your joints.

It might seem scary or intimidating after reading about all of these injuries, but rest assured, you are more susceptible to injury when you DON’T exercise! Gaining total body strength helps with performing every day activities and aids in your future workouts. Focus on doing your workouts properly and you should be good to go!!