Lots of people go to the gym every day, either to stay healthy or to have their dream body. Businesses have caught on to that and the number of gyms is on the rise. For example, South Carolina has over 445 gyms. Therefore, there are a lot of options for fitness aficionados. However, gyms are not always the safest and you can get injured while doing your workout. This might lead to you hiring South Carolina personal injury attorneys to compensate for the losses.
Working out puts you at risk of physical strain and injury, either from overworking yourself or from using faulty equipment. If you go to the gym frequently, knowing what risks you’re subjecting yourself to may help you prevent them. Let’s take a look at the most common injuries you may experience when going to the gym.
Knee Pain
People may often experience what is known as knee patellofemoral syndrome. This is a discomfort or pain around the knee cap. Some people call it “runner’s knee”.
This problem usually occurs due to poor patella tracking, although factors like muscle imbalances can make the issue worse. Besides, if you live a sedentary lifestyle, it increases the risk of dealing with knee injuries during intense workouts. If you make too many repetitions during your workouts or use weights that are way too heavy, your knee extensors may become damaged, resulting in discomfort and pain.
Knee pain may also occur when you have weak hip muscles, and you do squats or lunges.
If you want to prevent knee injury, you should make sure your feet are aligned when you lift weights. Moreover, you should do exercises that boost the strength of your quadriceps and hips.
Pulled Hamstring
A pulled hamstring is not uncommon. Hamstrings include four muscles that go along your thigh’s back side. These muscles let you bend your leg at the knee. The injury is especially common among runners.
The pain could be unbearable when the injury is severe. Otherwise, it may simply be mild pain. The best way to avoid this issue is by doing warm-up exercises before and after you run, and by slowly increasing the volume and intensity.
Shoulder Injuries
Your shoulder joint is stabilized and supported thanks to the rotator cuff. If you keep repeating the same activities, particularly overhead ones, it could lead to rotator cuff muscle injury.
For this reason, you should stay away from overhead repetitive movements or take breaks if you’re engaging in this activity. Moreover, your workout schedule must also include shoulder-strengthening exercises. Don’t forget to maintain a good posture.
Wrist Strain
Your wrists are often involved in your workout exercises, especially when you lift weights a lot. The joint is very complex, and despite its mobility, it can often become overloaded when you do too many push-ups or too many barbell curls.
It’s best to focus on smaller muscles instead of doing too many heavy lifts in order to make your wrists stronger.
Lower Back Pain
Some athletes end up feeling a pulling or twinging sensation all of a sudden. This occurs when they exaggerate during their workouts, overworking themselves. Most of the time, the feeling comes from a strain of the muscles around the spine. What’s worse is that you may end up with injuries like disk herniation or nerve compression from this. Twisting motions, squats or deadlifts can lead to this.
You must maintain proper form during your exercises to avoid this injury. Over time, you can increase your load, but you should not go overboard from the beginning.
Elbow Pain
Elbow pain happens when you perform repeated movements or lift heavily with the wrong techniques. It can also happen when you work out and use improper techniques without lifting heavy weights. The most common types of elbow pain are Tennis elbow or Lateral epicondylitis.
You should refrain from making any repetitive or fast movements, or even lifting weights if you feel any pain in your elbows. Your elbow should also be kept in a neutral position when you lift heavily. And if you want to make your wrist extensors stronger, you should do exercises that meet this goal.
Shin Splints
Athletes who run and jump a lot experience shin splints. This type of injury involves the muscles in your lower front leg. When they are overstressed, they hurt your shin bone.
The injury can be avoided if you do some warm-up before your training sessions. Also, you should wear good shoes.
Final Thoughts
Gym injuries can be avoided as long as you know how to work out properly. Make sure to be careful when you’re at the gym and always maintain a good position during the workouts. If your injury is caused by the negligence of the gym staff, you can always file a claim against them.