Making progress in bodybuilding requires intense and consistent training. Unfortunately, pushing yourself to the limit day after day increases your chance of getting injured. Typically, an injury can turn you away from the gym a few days or weeks, but if neglected, it could even end your days in bodybuilding. As you can see, this is a critical issue and deserves special attention. Learn with this post how to deal with injuries, and some safety tips for preventing them.
Of course, nobody wants to get injured. However, this happens to almost everybody at some point in their training career, and for this reason it is convenient to learn how to deal with injuries. If you get injured, you have to stop training immediately. By continuing with your workout you are only making the injury worse, probably prolonging the recovery time by weeks.
For most injuries, you will be fine again if you just give yourself the time to heal properly, thus rest is the key. Additionally, you can try to accelerate recuperation applying ice to the painful area for approximately 15 minutes every two hours following an injury, compressing the area with a bandage and elevating it, and applying heat for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day four or five days after the injury.
You have to avoid any kind of training on your injured part until you notice definite improvement. At this point, you can probably start with very light training but avoid heavy training until you are completely recovered. However, that does not mean that you have to stay out of the gym until being almost recovered. In fact, you can still train all body-parts which are not related to the injured body-part. For instance, having an elbow-injury, you can still do legs, abdominals, and lower back. Use the time to work on your weaknesses, keep going to the gym regularly, stay active and stick to your diet.
When coming back from an injury, spend some time on reviewing your training routine. In order to prevent future injuries, it is important to determine what caused the injury so you can avoid it. During this review process, you have to pay special attention to the following issues:
Are you thoroughly warming up before weight training? This refers both to general warm-up for raising your body temperature, and generally preparing the body for activity, and to specific warm-up for the muscle you are about to train, for adapting it to the weights you will use. Refer to previous post “Proper Warm-up for Gaining Muscle while Preventing Injury” for details.
Do you consider some stretching in your program? Stretching reduces soreness, increases flexibility, and strengthens your joints. You should do some stretching after warming up and between each set, and you have to stretch thoroughly after working a muscle. Refer to previous post “Stretching for Safe and Successful Muscle Development” for details.
Are you always using proper form in your exercises? Poor form is a primary cause of injury. For this reason, use always textbook form, maintain the control on the weight over the whole movement, and avoid cheating, jerking or using momentum. In this sense, it is convenient to stay focused and avoid distractions which contribute to poor form. Related to this, it is also convenient to avoid dangerous exercises (such as behind-the-neck pull-down, behind-the-neck shoulder press, and upright row) that put your joints in a position that is prone to injury.
Are you evenly training all your body-parts? Having an unbalanced body can increase the chance of having an injury. In this sense, it is important to have a strong midsection (abdominals and lower back), since this acts as a stabilizer in a great amount of exercises.
You can find further details about how to deal with injuries in the article “Injuries: How To Prevent & Treat Them” by Matt Danielsson and the article “A Bodybuilder's Guide To Injury Prevention” by Jon Huston.
Of course, nobody wants to get injured. However, this happens to almost everybody at some point in their training career, and for this reason it is convenient to learn how to deal with injuries. If you get injured, you have to stop training immediately. By continuing with your workout you are only making the injury worse, probably prolonging the recovery time by weeks.
For most injuries, you will be fine again if you just give yourself the time to heal properly, thus rest is the key. Additionally, you can try to accelerate recuperation applying ice to the painful area for approximately 15 minutes every two hours following an injury, compressing the area with a bandage and elevating it, and applying heat for 10 to 15 minutes several times a day four or five days after the injury.
You have to avoid any kind of training on your injured part until you notice definite improvement. At this point, you can probably start with very light training but avoid heavy training until you are completely recovered. However, that does not mean that you have to stay out of the gym until being almost recovered. In fact, you can still train all body-parts which are not related to the injured body-part. For instance, having an elbow-injury, you can still do legs, abdominals, and lower back. Use the time to work on your weaknesses, keep going to the gym regularly, stay active and stick to your diet.
When coming back from an injury, spend some time on reviewing your training routine. In order to prevent future injuries, it is important to determine what caused the injury so you can avoid it. During this review process, you have to pay special attention to the following issues:
Are you thoroughly warming up before weight training? This refers both to general warm-up for raising your body temperature, and generally preparing the body for activity, and to specific warm-up for the muscle you are about to train, for adapting it to the weights you will use. Refer to previous post “Proper Warm-up for Gaining Muscle while Preventing Injury” for details.
Do you consider some stretching in your program? Stretching reduces soreness, increases flexibility, and strengthens your joints. You should do some stretching after warming up and between each set, and you have to stretch thoroughly after working a muscle. Refer to previous post “Stretching for Safe and Successful Muscle Development” for details.
Are you always using proper form in your exercises? Poor form is a primary cause of injury. For this reason, use always textbook form, maintain the control on the weight over the whole movement, and avoid cheating, jerking or using momentum. In this sense, it is convenient to stay focused and avoid distractions which contribute to poor form. Related to this, it is also convenient to avoid dangerous exercises (such as behind-the-neck pull-down, behind-the-neck shoulder press, and upright row) that put your joints in a position that is prone to injury.
Are you evenly training all your body-parts? Having an unbalanced body can increase the chance of having an injury. In this sense, it is important to have a strong midsection (abdominals and lower back), since this acts as a stabilizer in a great amount of exercises.
You can find further details about how to deal with injuries in the article “Injuries: How To Prevent & Treat Them” by Matt Danielsson and the article “A Bodybuilder's Guide To Injury Prevention” by Jon Huston.
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4 comments:
Are you paying any of those authors for their work?? Just wondering...
I try to provide readers with useful information for developing their routines, and in this sense, I suggest what I consider good articles of other authors, which can be freely accessed on other sites. I don't make any profit by recommending these articles
I have found some guidebooks similar to your blog content and would like to share. There are interesting ideas for body building, fitness, muscle, lose weight, health etc. Get it and enjoy! :o)
Rick,
Thanks a lot for sharing!
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