Avoiding Injury in the Weight Room

Don't Be the Biggest Dumbbell in the Gym!

-- By Jason Anderson, Certified Personal Trainer

Navigating your way around the weight room can sometimes feel like an obstacle course—especially if you are not familiar with the surroundings. You can easily injure yourself if you're not being careful or attentive. In probably the largest study ever performed on weight room injuries, University of Arkansas researchers looked at weight-training injuries over a 20-year period and found that:

• The body parts most often injured in the weight room were the hands (23% of injuries) and the upper trunk (18% of injuries).
• Soft tissue injuries (such as muscle pulls and strains) accounted for 64% of diagnosed exercise injuries
• Forty percent of injuries occurred while exercising at home (and 18% at fitness centers).

Just as the manufacturing world works by the slogan that "Quality is job number one," safety should be your number one priority when you're at the gym. Strength training, like many actions in life, shares both risks and rewards. But you can keep the benefits and reduce your risk of injury by following these 10 safety tips for strength training.

Safety Tip #1: Always warm up.
Think of your muscles and connective tissues as cold rubber bands. If you were to pull hard on a cold rubber band, there is a good chance it will break, and your muscles are similar. A warm up serves to elevate your heart rate and increase blood flow throughout your body to prepare the muscles you are about to exercise. It should last about 5-10 minutes, at a low intensity that increases your breathing rate and makes you break a little sweat. Try to choose an activity that involves all muscle groups, like the rowing machine, elliptical trainer (with upper body handles) or power walking.

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• LABYRINTH "Great tips for beginners and experienced users can always get a reminder to..."
• JIM.VANDERVEEN "Excellent article! I especially like the suggestion of stretching between s..."
• JERRYCTGC "Very excellent article. So much information. Now I understand the proper ..."

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