Getting Back in to Fitness

Whether you've decided to start upping your fitness game or you're getting back into exercise after a break, it's important to look after your body and ease yourself in. This is a little information on what injuries are really common when working out, how to prevent injury and how to ease your way into fitness.

Common workout injuries:

Muscle pull and strain

Ankle or wrist sprain

Knee injuries

Lower back pain

Lower leg/shin pain

1. Preventing injuries

See a professional like a Sports Therapist, Strength and Conditioning coach or personal trainer, before you start increasing your fitness regime.

This is important as they can give you a general 'MOT' to see if you have any muscle imbalances or areas of weakness which can lead to injury. Sports professionals can also see if you are wearing the correct footwear for the workouts you plan on doing.

2. Warm up before each session.

Just a little jog, cycle or rowing machine for 10-15mins before you start your workout. Warm ups are massively under-rated but can save you from injury! Spending a little time on a bike before you start helps to increase your heart rate and blood flow slowly and allows your muscles to loosen up and prepare for your session.

3. Cool down afterwards.

Once you have finished a challenging cardio workout, the first thing you want to do is stop and sit down, DON'T! If you stop straight after a session, your body will hate you for it in the following days; if you just walk or slowly jog for 5-10 minutes at the end of a session, you allow your heart rate to slow down and you decrease lactic acid build up which means a better recovery time between sessions. Your body will thank you for it!

4. Don't forget to stretch!

Stretching or using a foam roller after your warm up and cool down lengthens stressed and worked muscles, increases flexibility and decrease stress on the joints, ultimately decreasing the chance of injury! using a foam roller after workouts also helps to move lactic acid out of your muscles and aids a quicker recovery.

5. Ease yourself into your programme

Be it completely new or just slight changes to your current workout. Allow yourself time to progress with duration, intensity and frequency; going in too hard may not only cause injury but could decrease your drive to workout again if your recovery took a long time. It's also important to vary your workouts - doing the same thing can not only be monotonous, but over working one area increases the chance of overuse injuries like tendonitis.

6. Fuel your workouts and listen to your body.

It's so important to make sure you eat 1-2 hours before your workouts and keep hydrated. Have a google or ask someone to find out what sort of things you should be eating! If your body starts to give you signals of dizziness, stop your workout and you probably haven't eaten or drunk enough, the other signs to look out for are any sharp pains or inflammation as these can be signs of injury.

7. Last but not least, rest and recovery!

Give yourself time between sessions, if you do legs one session, do arms the next to give your legs a rest. Also ensure your getting enough sleep, your body does most of it's muscle repair while you're sleeping!

#fitness #injuryprevention