AVOIDING THOSE ALL TOO COMMON EXERCISE MISTAKES
Date of Article: 1/21/07

So you've started off the New Year with a resolution to start working out? More people start an exercise program in January than any other time of year. Within a few weeks or months, most of them give it up and that is often due to a lack of motivation or because of injury. In our last article “Action Creates Motivation”, we talked about several strategies you can incorporate into your routine to help stay motivated. You also need to stay healthy as you progress with your new workout in order to maintain it. Here are some ways in which you can avoid the common problems of injury and even chronic pain as you begin to workout more.

•  Be careful about stretching before your workout. Our soft tissue is comprised primarily of muscle and tendon. Tendons have a very limited blood supply so it takes them longer to warm up than muscles. When we stretch, we actually stretch both the muscle and the tendon. But stretching a cold tendon increases the risk of tiny tears in the connective tissue in or around the tendon and those can be very painful and quite slow to heal. Instead, take five to seven minutes to warm up by walking on the treadmill or cycling, and then stretch the major muscle groups. And, of course, always stretch again when you finish your workout.

•  Take your time when weight lifting. We often have so many other things on our minds by the time we get to the gym that we just want to get out of there. But rushing through your repetitions greatly increases your risk for injury. Not only does rapid lifting put extra stress on your joints, it compromises your form and posture. In addition, the extra momentum generated by the accelerated pace makes the movement much easier, significantly reducing the function of the exercise. In other words, that's cheating! When lifting weights, you should take about two seconds to raise the weight, and about four seconds to lower it. This pace is slow enough to maintain proper form throughout the movement and maximize the functionality of the exercise.

•  Don't lift too much weight. Lifting too much weight is one of the most common causes of injury. If it's your first exercise of the day for a particular muscle group, warm up by lifting a little lighter-than-normal load. For instance, if you are going to do bench press with 100 pounds, begin with a 10-repetition set using 50 or 60 pounds. Once you've warmed up, you can proceed with your normal load.

•  Listen to your body. If something hurts, back off! That doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop the workout; there are many ways you can adjust a workout to accommodate for just about any ailment (unless, of course, your doctor has recommended you stop a particular activity altogether). Really pay attention to the way the exercise makes you feel. If it doesn't feel right, start by critiquing your form. Sometimes a very minor adjustment can make all the difference. If you're doing bicep curls with dumbbells, for example, and you feel some pressure in your lower back, make sure you're standing exactly upright, your shoulders are square, your feet and knees are in proper alignment and your abdominal muscles are engaged. You may also consider lightening the load a bit to get your posture down. If you're still having discomfort, move to another exercise and another muscle group. You can come back to the biceps tomorrow.

•  Don't forget to cool down. After any vigorous activity, keep moving for a few minutes at a slower rate. This will allow the heart to restore normal blood circulation without working quite so hard to do it. A proper cool down will also help flush from the muscle tissue some of the lactic acid that is produced during exercise. Lactic acid is one of the main culprits in causing muscle soreness following activity. Proper cool down will help minimize your soreness over the next day or two. And, of course, one of the most important parts of your cool down routine should involve stretching all of the major muscle groups.

Stay motivated, avoid these common exercise mistakes, and you're sure to find success with your workouts in 2007!