10 Tips To Avoid Exercise Injuries
1. Listen To Your Body
If you feel something you shouldn't (or never used to, or don't on your other side), then your symptoms register on the scale of pain, however mild they may be.
Listen to your body... it is talking to you? If it "doesn't hurt much," or you "think you can work through it," you are admitting that it does hurt. Maybe it doesn't hurt while you are exercising but you find yourself with pain the next day. If you are pushing yourself beyond a threshold of pain you probably are doing too much.
So why do many of us ignore the early signs and symptoms? Maybe we just can't admit we are getting older and don't have the capacity we used to. We may start a program with too much enthusiasm! Maybe the "no pain, no gain" adage many of us grew up hearing is rearing its ugly head. Let's agree to bury that one.
There are only two "good hurts" with exercise. The first may be a bit of a burn; the result of fatiguing a muscle when strengthening -- without eliciting or exacerbating pain in your joints or other areas. The second relates to physical therapy more than fitness, and comes into play if a joint lacks full range of motion and you must push past your comfort zone in order to restore mobility.
Don't wait until pain becomes chronic before paying attention!
