How To Prevent Injury

In sports and even in your average gym injury is something anyone can receive. Just yesterday, I was box-jumping on a high box and got a pretty bad scraped shin. I pushed myself a little too hard and have lost focus for just a second, lost my balanced and fell. More embarassing than painful, but painful too. But it could’ve been worse. So in order to avoid any kind of injuries really, there are a few simple rules to follow.

Injury-Preventing Tips

Keep Focus

Keeping focus on the activity while performing is vitally important. It means don’t talk or watch something or someone. Concentrate on the task and your body. Absentmindedness can lead not only to bad scrapes but also broken bones, so make sure to always be aware of what you’re doing and how you are doing it, which leads to our next rule – keeping good form.

Good Form

Before doing any exercise, especially an unfamiliar one be sure to learn the proper form and technique first. This will help prevent any straining or other kind of damage to your muscles and joints. It will also create a good habit of doing certain things a certain way as well as feeling the right muscles at work.

Get A Breather

This is especially true for CrossFit, circuit, and HIIT training when you have to perform exercises back to back with little to no rest. Some days are really easy while others may have you strugling to catch your breath between the sets. On days like these make sure to get a little rest between the exercises especially tough ones that require a lot of concentration and effort. Otherwise you run the risk to lose focus or simply reach high exertion before you get a chance to complete the exercise.

Listen To Your Body

Some injuries aren’t that immediate. You can build up to the point when your body can’t take another rep. Don’t ignore exhaustion, pain, or any other signs that your body isn’t up to the task. Get rest, recover, and go back to your training gradually increasing the intensity or load. Ignoring what your body is trying to tell you about its ability to perform can lead to serious injury that may throw you off the track for a long time.

What are your tactics to preventing injury?