Injuries are scary things, they can kill your motivations and plans for getting into shape as quickly as they can happen. And unfortunately beginners are more prone to injuries when they go to the gym, it could be a ton of reasons, lack of knowledge, wrong form, and so much more, however that can’t stop you from going to your workout, can it? Of course not! I am here to share with you some tips on how to avoid injuries when you go for your workout, after all nobody wants to get hurt as they are going to the gym. So if you are a newbie heading off to the gym, please take the time to read this or if you just want to avoid injuries altogether, which I am sure you do, read this article too.

Learn the techniques – And by this I mean learn the proper techniques if you want to avoid injuries. When your form is wrong or you are bending a muscle in the wrong direction, you can end up pulling or stressing something and that will lead to an injury. This is especially true for beginners as when they start to workout, they still don’t know proper forms, it is best to study up and make sure you are doing an exercise correctly or be warned you can be headed for a world of pain.

Never skip stretching or a good warm up.

Too much, too soon – Weights are very daunting for a lot of people, and for beginners this can be a very big cause of injuries. If you want to avoid injuries, and of course, you definitely want to, make sure to test the weight of each exercise properly. Do not be embarrassed that the weights are light, you will strengthen yourself up by coming back. Just focus on being able to avoid injuries for now during your workout, that is the most important thing to concentrate on.

Forgetting to stretch or warm up – Make sure you take the time to ready your muscles for a good workout. Some people say that you shouldn’t warm up but it really depends, I personally believe that a good stretching will help you avoid injuries and so far I have yet to experience otherwise. My suggestion, get proper warm up techniques or stretching that best focuses on muscles that you will be working out for the day.

Training too often – This is not isolated to beginners only, truth be told. There are times that you are so driven that you workout too often, on a daily basis and forget to put a rest day or time in between. This is a big no-no and can really lead to injuries. Muscles need rest, which is why it is advised to exercise every other day when going weight training or at the very least focus on a different muscle group each day. To avoid injuries, make sure to allot enough rest for all your muscles, give them time to repair themselves and grow. Simple enough rule, if your body aches, don’t workout heavily, this will really help you avoid injuries.

A rest day is a must – Working in conjunction with the tip above, a rest day must stay a rest day. People tend to get really involved in the gym, and quite frankly you end up sneaking off to the gym on your rest day, again if you want to avoid injuries, do not do this. As involved as you are with your workout routine, when it is indeed time for a rest day, do just that, rest. You’ve worked hard and your body can appreciate you for it plus it will help you avoid injuries.

Forgetting to pair off with proper nutrition – As beginners start the gym, sometimes the focus is solely on working out and forgetting that the body needs proper fuel. By fuel I mean a good diet, proper and healthy food that the body needs to strengthen itself. I suggest researching a good diet and maybe focusing on proteins, as always in order to avoid injuries, do not dive in a crash diet, take the time and gradually change your diet into something that works for your particular workout.

Cool down – Just like how you had to warm up, never forget the importance of taking the time to cool down your muscles. In order to avoid injuries, get your heart rate back to normal, perhaps by walking or just slowly moving. This is especially true if you are on the treadmill but perhaps for anyone’s overall workout, take the time to cool down as well. Don’t disregard this as most people do, a good cool down can make the difference of an injury and a great a workout.

Don’t go guns a blazing – Getting the drive to go to the gym is great, but a lot of people are overly enthusiastic about it and tend to charge in with all guns whipped out. Not good, not good at all. Make sure you ease into the workout and really take the time to build up, don’t overdo the workout or you won’t be able to avoid injuries. Your top priority is to avoid injuries while you are there, along side with getting fit of course but you can’t get fit if you have injuries now can you?

When in doubt, get a personal trainer especially if it is your first time to hit the gym.

Doing the same exercise over and over – The fun part about going to the gym is that there are so many things to do and while repetition in each exercise is advised, keeping it the same all the time is not something you want to do. Mix it up and learn new things, it will really help you avoid injuries and keep your workout interesting. Feel free to use some of the other machines when you’ve learned how to use them in order to avoid injuries.

When in doubt ask an expert – I highly advise this for beginners or those who just started again. Quite a few memberships come with a few free sessions with the resident trainer, I highly suggest taking them in order to avoid injuries, if there aren’t free sessions, bite the bullet and pay for a session or two. Your safety is the utmost importance, and besides getting injured during a workout is a lot more costly and inconvenient as well, so when you aren’t sure of anything, get an expert to teach you some stuff, such as form and what to focus on.

These are just some of the really great tips in order to avoid injuries when you workout. I highly suggest doing all of them as you can never be too safe when it comes to your body. Again nothing can stop a good gym session faster an injury and nothing destroys a newly found drive to get fit than hurting yourself and putting yourself out of commission. Take the time and make sure to take care of yourself, cause no one else will. Stay healthy!