AVOIDING INJURY
Many injuries that result from exercise can be avoided. Follow these tips to avoid getting an injury that could potentially curb your exercise routine.
Don’t Overtrain
While you may be eager to exercise, be careful not to overtrain. Overtraining can happen if you exercise too much, exercise too intensely, or both. Your body needs time to rest between workouts, whether you’re just beginning an exercise program or have been working out for a while. You can avoid overtraining by taking one to two days a week to rest from exercise and working different muscle groups on alternating days. For example, work your upper body on one day, and work your lower body or abdominals the next.
Hydrate
When you exercise, your body releases fluids by perspiring, or sweating, so it’s important that you replace these fluids by drinking water before, during, and after exercise. If you’re not properly hydrated, you could experience muscle cramps and increase your risk of muscular injury. Severe dehydration could lead to even more serious consequences including loss of consciousness and even death.
In most cases, drinking plain water often is enough to keep your body hydrated, so you don’t need to drink sports drinks, which contain a lot of added sugar. In some cases, athletes who work out really intensely, like marathon runners or professional athletes, need to replace the electrolytes that sports drinks offer. However, you can avoid the added sugars of a sports drink and get the same replacement of electrolytes by adding a splash of citrus juice and a pinch of salt to your water.
Warm-Up and Cool-Down
If you have a limited amount of time to exercise, you may be tempted to skip your warm-up or cool-down, but doing this puts you at a higher risk of injury. Warming up helps prepare your muscles, ligaments, and tendons for exercise, and cooling down safely brings your body back down to its resting state. Avoiding these two crucial elements of your workout could result in serious injury.
Learn more about warming up here.
Learn more about cooling down here.
Talk to your doctor
If you are currently injured or have another health condition, always talk to your doctor about exercise. He or she can recommend a modified program if necessary.