How to get stronger without getting hurt
Many gym injuries come from four common mistakes. You can avoid all four.
Lifting is safe when you do it properly. Many injuries come from four common mistakes.
Starting too heavy
Muscles get stronger faster than tendons. Give them time. Pick a weight you can lift with two or three reps left in the tank.
Adding weight too soon
Get the movement right while it is light. Then add weight.
Skipping the warm-up
Take five minutes. A little easy cardio, then two or three lighter sets of your first exercise. Long stretching is not a warm-up.
Never easing off
Take an easier week now and then: half the sets, a bit lighter. It lets your body catch up.
One more thing
Film a set from the side. Most mistakes are easy to see. Not sure how a move should look? See Exercise videos.
Put it into practice: Your first gym plan
Based on 5 sources
- How often lifters get hurt, and whereReview · 2017 · Sports Medicine
- How tendons adapt to training, rest, age and injuryReview · 2019 · Journal of Physiology
- What stretching before exercise does, and doesn't doReview · 2016 · Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism
- Warming up improves performance in most casesReview · 2010 · Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
- You don't have to lift to total failure to build muscleReview · 2023 · Sports Medicine
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