It’s something people say over and over again – exercise is one of the only surefire ways of keeping fit and healthy. No miracle pill or quick trick is going to do the same amount of good as a workout that suits your specific needs and body type. However, what some people can forget is that exercise in any form also poses a degree of risk to your physical wellbeing. Anything from occasional yoga to extreme weight-lifting requires preparation and understanding before throwing your body into something it might not be able to cope with straight away. Here are some ways you can prevent injuring yourself while exercising.
Don’t Overdo It
Enthusiasm is great when it comes to physical fitness. Being able to appreciate your own hard work and its many rewards will encourage you to keep going, even when it’s just gone sunrise and you’re already at the gym. One common mistake, especially for those new to their sport or exercise of choice, is to become so keen that they can’t stop. The release of chemicals in your brain is what makes exercise enjoyable to override the physical pain, but it can also distract you from the messages your body sends when it’s telling you to slow down. As a result, new gym-goers can experience days of muscle pain after overdoing it on their first time on the treadmill or pull-up bar. Even the relaxation of yoga and other similarly peaceful methods of exercise can pull your muscles too far if they haven’t been trained and stretched properly. Make sure to avoid the urge to ignore your physical needs in favor of your mental desire to continue. Always stop when your body has had enough.
Don’t Underdo It
Like everything else in life, exercise isn’t as simple as everyone would like it to be. While it’s easy to become too enthusiastic and never leave the gym, you might also find it hard to muster the motivation to go at all. If you have a perfectionist side to your personality that needs structure and plans, don’t punish yourself for missing a day of exercise by refusing to go altogether. If you have trouble leaving your comfortable bed or resisting the warmth of the sofa then practice self-discipline and teach your mind to do as you say. It can be all too easy to delay your exercise for days, then weeks, then months. Before you know it, your body will have lost what you worked hard to give it.
Turn exercise into a habit so as to keep your body accustomed to the pressure of movement and growth instead of letting it slide. When you finally decide to get off the couch and play a sport after weeks of inactivity, your body will hurt even more from having so little practice. That’s why it’s vital you maintain a regular level of exercise to prevent injuring yourself from sudden pulled muscles or worse.
Research Your Activity
What is it about your chosen sport or exercise that could pose the most physical risk? Does it require heavy lifting? Extended use of your legs and ankles? Extreme flexibility? Find out what your body will be doing in order to prepare it. You should try to have an idea of which body parts will be doing what before you undertake the sport. This means you have time to make sure you can handle it.
Overuse of certain joints can cause them to become weaker and muscles that haven’t been stretched can tear painfully. Keep your body strong by treating it like an important piece of equipment. Click here to find information on the best whey protein and other helpful ways of keeping strong, not only for sports and exercise, but also daily life. You can build your strength in the areas you need most for your exercise, like gradually increasing how much weight you can lift or by stretching your muscles over time to become more flexible. Staying strong will help to prevent you from accidentally damaging your body during or after a tough workout.
Research Your Body
Knowing your own physical limits and capabilities will give you a good reference point when researching your chosen sport or exercise. Even though you can push yourself to achieving the most remarkable physical feats through hours and hours of intensive practice and exercise, you can also focus your efforts into an area where your body type is already close to becoming suited to a particular sport. For example, larger frames are well suited to lifting and combat sports – football, wrestling, boxing. People with slim frames can become skilled athletes in swimming, gymnastics, and all kinds of running.
While your body type can certainly help you decide on a sport or exercise better suited to getting you started quicker, this doesn’t mean you are limited by it. If you are slender but dream of a career in body building, use that dedication to prepare your body and strengthen it to the point at which it needs to be. If you are larger but hope to learn ballet, your extra practice and effort will not go unnoticed as your skills improve over time. Just because it will take you longer to achieve it doesn’t make it impossible. Always remember, however, that if you hope to push your body into something it might not be naturally built for, then you must take it at a reasonable pace so as to avoid injury.
Exercise is all about maintaining the health of your body through continued and deliberate use. Remember not to overdo it by putting an unnecessary strain on your muscles but also don’t let yourself go for too long in between fitness sessions. Look into the best methods of training in your preferred sport so you can focus on improving, even if your body type isn’t initially suited to the exercise. Sport is about health and fun, so don’t let an injury stop you from making the most out of life.