No matter how much you like your physio, whether they’re a physio in Botany or New York, you don’t really want to see them more often than you have to.
Unfortunately, poor form, overdoing it, and certain exercises will increase the likelihood of you needing that physio visit.
It is worth noting that there are many benefits associated with exercise. Injuries can happen with any type of exercise. But, with the right approach, an awareness of the exercises that cause the most injuries, and the understanding of your own limitations, you can avoid developing an injury.
The Treadmill
You may be surprised to find that the treadmill is actually the number one cause of injury. While running can lead to injuries such as runner’s knee and Achilles Tendinitis, the treadmill compounds the issue and makes an injury more likely.
The problem with a treadmill is that it is almost too easy to jump on and off. This results in people failing to warm up properly and often pushing themselves harder than they would if they were free running.
As with most exercises, correct form and listening to your body are the key to staying injury-free.
Medicine Balls
These are another great tool, especially if you’re trying to improve core strength, build strength in legs and arms, or even improve flexibility.
However, the medicine ball forces you to focus on balance, which can result in you sliding off and causing yourself an injury. Some exercises involve throwing the ball against a wall and catching it. Mix and you could end up with face injury, it’s surprisingly common.
The Bicycle Crunch
This seemingly harmless exercise actually offers no support to your back and neck. The faster you do the crunches the greater the strain and the more likely it is that you’ll end up with a herniated disc or muscle spasms.
Behind Head Lat Pull Downs
The lat pulldown is designed to strengthen shoulder muscles. However, if you do it with too much weight the stress on your anterior joint capsule can result in rotator cuff tears which will put you out of action for weeks.
Kettlebell Swing
This is a great exercise for strengthening almost all of your body in one go. However, get the technique wrong and you’re looking at a significant shoulder injury. It’s also possible to injure your hamstrings or even your core, but the strain on your rotator cuff is impressive.
Getting It Right
The trick to staying injury-free isn’t not exercising. It is simply knowing the right technique for the exercise you want to do and adopting it.
This is particularly relevant n the gym. Because there are so many other people around it’s tempting to show how much weight you can lift. That promotes poor form which is likely to lead to an injury.
It’s much better to go light and ensure you have the technique right first, then you can load up. Just remember, you should be doing this for yourself, not worrying about who you’re impressing in the room.