Three Quick Tips to Avoid Injury

Frequent, intense workouts are necessary to get into shape and reach your full fitness potential. But, those workouts are also physically demanding and can take a toll on your body if you’re not careful.

Being smart with your workouts is equally, if not more, important than pushing as hard as you can every single time you hit the gym. After all, if you become injured, you could very well end up out of the gym for weeks at a time.

Luckily, there are countless strategies for injury prevention that are super simple to follow. Below, I’ve listed four of the most important tips to keep you in top physical form and injury-free.

Prepare your body for every workout.

Before any type of exercise, you need to warm up your muscles before you start. You can do this by performing reps of simple exercises with no added weight and stretching. By getting your blood pumping and loosening up your muscles before an intense workout, you’ll be preventing muscle pulls or tears and even tendonitis.

Eat healthy foods that will sustain you during exercise.

Your body needs high-quality fuel to perform at its best and function properly. Always make sure that you’ve had enough to eat prior to hitting the gym–your pre- (and post-) workout meals should include both protein and complex carbohydrates. Intense exercise without enough calories in your system will lead to fatigue, loss of focus, and, in the worst case scenario, injury.

Build up strength before taking on more weight.

We all want to gain as much muscle as possible, as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the reality is that strength is built gradually, after many days of effort and commitment. Never lift more than you can realistically handle, and only start to add more weight or more reps as you improve.

Injuries don’t have to be inevitable, even when you work out religiously. You can follow these tips to stay safe in the gym and keep your body as healthy as possible. Injury prevention is simple with mindfulness, focus, and respect for your body.