Safety & Injuries

Read these articles, to learn how to lift safely and avoid injuries.

Bodybuilding Safety
by Sean Quade

If you've just started bodybuilding you are just doing the basics and just beginning to learn how your body responds to certain experiments with overall recovery, nutrition and weight lifting.

These are vulnerable times, your safety in the gym determines whether you will ultimately succeed, or receive an injury that can last a lifetime. Being educated and careful during your bodybuilding experience is absolutely essential and one of the key fundamentals of gaining muscle mass as well as strength.

Muscle Anatomy:

To learn the fundamentals of exercise safety, you first must be familiar to muscle anatomy. Where the muscles originate, where they insert, have tie-ins, as well as the proper symmetrical size. Refer to this chart for the surface anatomy of the human body:

Kinesiology, The Functions Of Your Muscles:

Kinesiology, as stated above, is the exact functions and purpose of your muscles. Just for a recap, here's the basics:

Proper Biomechanics:

In your bodybuilding experience you will perform thousands of reps, but if you can't learn to do one properly, you will get nowhere. Using proper exercise form is the number one fundamental of not only achieving muscularity and strength, but avoiding a serious injury.

Using proper form also makes sure your muscles as well as joints are in the strongest possible position. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen someone in my gym demonstrating horrible form that not only requires virtually no muscular effort, but increases the chance of them injuring themselves, and ending their career instantly.

Ideal form can be defined as moving your limbs in the widest range of motion possible for every rep, using a slow eccentric movement and making sure the muscle contracts.

Proper Warm Up:

One of the most common causes of training injuries is lack of a proper warm up procedure. Stretching, light aerobics and doing high rep sets with light weight can seriously reduce the chance of injuring yourself.

Try doing a variety of warm up calisthenics: push ups, body squats, maybe some chin ups as well as all kinds of stretches for that particular muscle group. This will warm your muscles and prepare them for the heavy stress to come.

Safety Guidelines:

Here is my official list of principles that will not only help you achieve muscularity easier, but save you from a devastating injury:

1. ALWAYS properly warm up

This is the top guideline for working out safely. Warming up increases flexibility and prepares your body for the intense stress to come. Hell, it even feels good.

2. Stress good exercise form

This is a no brainer. It will save you from hurting yourself. Always have complete control over the weight.

3. Use a spotter for intense or dangerous lifts

You cannot avoid the situation when you will need to perform a potentially harmful exercise such as the bench press. Your partner will save you from injury, which leads me to the next guideline,

4. Don't workout alone

Barbells could fall on you, you could trip over dumbbells etc. - Obviously a workout partner could help you out. Not to mention having a workout partner creates an atmosphere where incredible intensity is possible.

5. Utilize a correct breathing pattern

When performing intense exercise such as weight lifting, holding your breath can slow the rate of blood flow to and from your brain, causing you to faint. As a general rule, exhale while performing the positive portion of a rep, and inhale while performing the negative portion of a rep.

6. Use common sense

Put your equipment away after use, use collars on your barbells, use a weightlifting belt or wrist straps when necessary, you may save yourself a trip to the hospital.

7. Eliminate un-natural exercises from your routine

Behind the neck presses, behind the neck chin ups or pull downs, or anything that puts unnecessary stress on your body should be eliminated.

8. Attain as much bodybuilding knowledge as possible

The more you know, the less likely you are to hurt yourself. (This Home Study Course will increase your knowledge greatly)

9. Use proper poundage's

If you are looking to add mass to your frame, the best rep range is generally anywhere from 6-12 reps. If you go below six reps, the weight your using is too heavy.

10. Use safety racks

Primarily using a squat rack when performing squats. If you can, for home purposes, purchase a squat rack with safety racks in case you fall. Remember, most squatting injuries occur when backing up.

A bodybuilders guide to injury prevention
by Jon Huston

Aching joints. Sore muscles. Stiff back. These are some of the many complaints most bodybuilders complain of. Injuries are a common problem with any type of athlete but is highly prevalent in the bodybuilding community due to the physical and psychological stress placed on the body. Injuries can cause you to lose the gains you have made, cause you to miss workouts, lead to poor sleeping habits, and even end a promising career. This article will describe some of the symptoms of common injuries and describe how to prevent them from occurring.

TYPES OF INJURIES

Tendonitis: Inflammation of the tendon connecting muscle to bone.

Strain: Over-stretch/over-use of a muscle.

Sprain: Over-stretching a ligament connecting two bones.

Bursitis: Inflammation of the bursa sack, which serves as padding between a muscle and a bony prominence.

Avulsion: Complete tearing of a muscle, typically along the junction between the muscle and its tendon.

Contusion: Bruising caused by impact.

Fracture: Breakage of a bone. Can be complete, partial, or from compression.

COMMON INJURIES

Neck Strain: Injury resulting from undue stress placed on the muscles of the neck. Common during shoulder shrugs, squats, etc.

Pectoral Tear: Injury resulting from avulsion/tearing of the tendon connecting the Pectoralis Major to the humerous. Most often seen in people who overuse anabolic steroids (discussed later). A minor tear will be painful and may demonstrate minimal bruising. A major tear will result in a balling of the muscle towards the sternum with a significant amount of bruising.

Elbow Tendonitis:

• Triceps Tendonitis: Pain along the tendon of the triceps connecting into the pointed part of the elbow. Resulting from overuse.

• Lateral Epicondylitis / Tennis Elbow: Pain along the lateral epicondyle (outer bone on the upper portion of the forearm). Results from strain placed along the origin of the extensor muscles of the forearm. Can ultimately result in tearing of these muscles.

• Medial Epicondylitis / Golfer's Elbow: Pain at the medial epicondyle (inner bone on the upper portion of the forearm) due to overuse of the flexor muscles of the wrist. Usually indicated by pain when gripping weights.

Back Strain/Sprain: Indicated by pain at center of lower back, along top of gluteal muscles, or along paraspinal muscles. Usually resulting from lifting too much weight or using poor form during squats or deadlifts.

Knee Strain/Sprain: Various injuries include meniscal tears, patellar tendonitis, ACL tears, bursitis. Will be indicated by pain along the joint line of the knee, behind the knee joint, or just below the knee cap along the patellar tendon.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness: Soreness in a muscle that has been worked. Typically occurs within 24-48 hours and should be gone within 72 hours. Resulting from build up of cortisol, lactic acid, or micro tears in the muscle.

PREVENTING INJURY

Preventing an injury should be at the top of every bodybuilder's list. The slogan "No pain, No gain" is not only false but a good way to hurt yourself. Here are a few ideas to prevent injury.

Warm Up: Perform 15-20 repetitions of the exercise you are preparing to do using very light weight. You can also aid the warm-up process by walking on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes before your workout.

Stretch: After warming up, stretch the muscles you are preparing to work. Take the joint to the end of its range of motion and hold for 30 seconds to 1 minute. It is important to hold the stretch and not bounce. Bouncing a non-warm, non-stretched muscle can result in injury.

Focus: Keep your mind on what you are doing. The easiest way to hurt yourself or someone else in the gym is to pay no attention to what you are doing. It can be very easy to drop a plate or dumbbell on your foot if you are watching the girls in the aerobics room or chatting with your buddy. Maintaining focus will also help to keep your form proper and give a safe spot to your partner.

Diet: A diet high in protein will help to maintain muscle fiber strength and help to promote a quicker recovery. Supplements such as Glutamine will also help to speed recovery.

Shoes: DO NOT WEAR SANDALS TO THE GYM! Open-toed shoes offer no protection whatsoever against falling plates, other people stepping on your foot, or catching a toenail on the edge of a machine. Wear stiff-soled comfortable shoes. If you do much running or walking you should replace your shoes every 3-4 months.

Wrapping: Using knee wraps during heavy squats help to protect your knee joints. They do this by helping to increase external pressure and distribute strain across a larger area. Wrist wraps are useful during heavy lifts such as deadlifts or shrugs. They not only prevent you from dropping the weight but will allow you to lift heavier weight, due to the fact that you don't have to worry about your grip.

WHAT TO DO IF INJURED

If you do happen to get injured here are a few of my recommendations to a speedy recovery.

Go see a doctor: If the injury is serious enough to see a doctor then you probably need to. Postponing the inevitable will only delay recovery time and the amount of time to get back in the gym.

PRICE: This is a simple saying to follow after an injury
P: Protection: Protect the injured area from further injury by supporting it with a brace or splint.
R: Rest: Give the injured area time to heal. Typically symptoms should resolve within 48 hours.
I: Ice: Your best friend. Helps to limit inflammation, swelling, and internal blood loss caused by injury. Will also decrease amount of scar tissue that will circulate to the injured area.
C: Compression: Application of a bandage or towel placed over the injured area will help to decrease swelling.
E: Elevation: Elevate the injured area above the level of your heart. This will help to slow blood flow to the area, which will help to decrease blood loss and swelling.

Use Common Sense: If a certain exercise exasperates your symptoms, don't do it. Give your body a little therapeutic rest and let the injury heal. Missing one workout or exercise will not cause you any harm.

Preventing and Treating Muscle Cramps
by James Mace

You’ve rushed all day. You rushed to work, rushed through a less than nutritious lunch. You rushed about so much that you forgot to pack your water bottle with you. By the end of the day you are ready to call it quits, but your mood improves when you remember that it’s biceps day at the gym. You’re on your way out the door, when the boss tells you to come to his office for a late meeting. You suffer through another pointless hour of rhetoric and dribble before you can finally leave work.

And you fear you are going to be late for your workout. On the way to the gym, an accident has traffic tied up for several miles. You beat your head against the steering wheel in frustration. Finally, after an hour and a half of delays, you come rushing through the doors of your gym. Your workout partner has long since warmed up and has been waiting impatiently for you to show up.

Excuses

Not wanting to waste time with excuses, you rush to the locker room and change clothes. After a couple of light reps, you immediately start with you first set of dumbbell curls. On your sixth rep, your right arm seizes up and you drop the weight, clutching your arm. You realize that you have a really bad cramp.

Muscle cramps are nothing new, nor are they limited to the world of athletes. You can get cramps simply because you slept wrong the night before. There are many things that can cause cramps, but there are simple ways to prevent this.

CAUSE: Overexertion.

Remember, your muscles need time to rest between sets. If you are rushing too fast through your workout, your muscles will not have time to recover and will start to spasm.

CURE: Make sure you give yourself ample rest time between sets. A minute to a minute and a half is usually adequate. However, if you are doing extremely heavy weights on a total body exertion such as squats, give yourself about two to three minutes between sets. Also massage the muscles between sets, especially when doing a high volume of reps, or extremely heavy weight.

CAUSE: Dehydration / Lack of vitamins.

Vitamins, especially Potassium are key to helping prevent muscle cramps. Also remember that a large percentage of your muscle tissue is water. If you are dehydrated, you will cramp up that much more easily.

CURE: Ensure that you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day, not just before you workout. If you have doubts as to whether or not you are dehydrated, examine the color of your urine the next time you go to the bathroom. If it is clear, you are properly hydrated. If it is a dark yellow, or worse yet you can’t even remember the last time you had to go to the bathroom, start consuming water immediately.

Also avoid sodas and coffee - They will dehydrate you faster than not drinking anything at all. A good rule of thumb is: if you are going to have a soda or cup of coffee, immediately consume twice the amount you drank in water. Also make sure that you are eating enough fruits that are high in Potassium. Bananas are probably the best for this. If nothing else, make sure that you take a multi-vitamin once a day.

CAUSE: Lack of stretching / warm-up.

For most people, this one is a no brainer. However, you would be surprised by the number of people who head straight from the locker room, and start immediately with their heavy sets. Not only do they risk muscle cramps, they also risk tearing the muscle and causing injury.

CURE: No matter how much of a hurry you may be in, always make the time to properly stretch and warm-up. Spend at least 20 seconds on each rep while stretching. Also perform at least one complete set of a light weight for 15-20 reps before you start your heavy lifts. A warm-up should not tire your muscles out, however it should get the blood pumping to ensure proper circulation.

CAUSE: Excessive heat.

This is probably one of the most common causes of muscle cramping, especially during the summer. When your body heat rises above what your body can cool down, your muscles start to overheat. Think of it like a car engine without oil or water that is ran excessively. Like the engine, your muscles will seize up and fail to function.

CURE: This goes hand-in-hand with staying properly hydrated. Whenever your environment heats up more than usual, make a conscious effort to keep drinking water. If the area you are working out in is hotter than normal, you may want to slow down the pace and make sure you don’t overheat.

Summary:

The keys to preventing muscle cramps can be summed up as follows:

• Give yourself proper rest time between sets
• Maintain good hydration and nutrition
• Make the time to warm-up and stretch before working out
• Be conscious of the temperature where you are working out.

By no means am I saying that you shouldn’t work up a good sweat and train with speed and intensity. Just use a little common sense. Like the car engine, make sure your muscles are properly taken care of, and they will serve you well.

The "How To's" on Lifting Equipment
by David Knowles

First let me start by saying that I try to use the least amount of lifting equipment while working out as possible. Lifting equipment is used in order to help your body in supporting and lifting heavier-than-normal weight. Powerlifters tend to use these aids more than any other type of lifter. The main reason is because the extremely heavy weight being used makes your body more susceptible to injury. By using specific equipment, you can reduce your chances of bodily injury.

Lifting Belts

A weight belt is probably the most common piece of equipment used in a gym. There are many different brands such as Valeo, Everlast, Inzer, etc. that most sporting good stores sell. Ideally, you want to use a belt while performing exercises that can be rough on your lower back such as squats, deadlifts, and stiff-legged deadlifts. In addition, I've been told that by wearing a belt while bench pressing, you can enable yourself to support and press more weight, if done correctly. I don't understand why people tend to wear belts while doing every exercise in their workout, it really is unnecessary because a belt is not needed in order to perform curls or pull-ups, or any other exercise that doesn't put a great amount of stress on the lower back.

In order for a belt to work for you, you need to know how to properly wear a belt. Seems simple, right? The belt is positioned just like any other belt that you've ever worn, right above your hips, and around your waist. You should wear the belt very tightly, but not so tight that you can't breathe. Once the belt is on, suck in a deep breath before you lift the weight off of the rack. Once you've picked up the weight, let out all your air. Suck in again right before you do a negative. Try to push your stomach outwards as hard as you can so that your stomach and lower back are pushing hard against the inside of the belt. Begin letting out your air on the way up, and then repeat for your next rep.

Personally, I think a belt should only be used when absolutely needed. This means that you should never wear a belt while warming up. Also, if you are going to use a belt, find one that is about 6-8 inches thick and the pressure of the belt is distributed over the entire width of the belt.

Straps

Wrist straps are also a very common piece of equipment. Straps are used in order to aid your grip so that you can hold onto heavier weight without it slipping out of your hands. To tell the truth, this is the only piece of lifting equipment that I use. You use straps for exercises such as stiff-legged deadlifts, shrugs, and bent-over rows. Remember to not wear straps when doing exercises that you don't need them for such as pressing or curling movements. I've actually seen people using straps for movements such as these, and they look like clowns.

It's amazing to me that many people use straps incorrectly so that the straps can actually work against you increasing the chance of the weight slipping out of your hands during a set. So listen up; without twisting the strap, run the regular end through the looped end. Now place the strap around your wrist so that the loose end points away from your body and runs directly in line with your pinky. Now, here is where everyone gets it wrong. Grab the bar normally, and wrap the strap around the bar going UNDERNEATH the bar first, not over. Once the straps are in place you can tighten them by grapping the wrapped strap, not too tightly, and roll the bar back towards your body. By doing this, you greatly increase the amount of the weight that you can hold. Take caution in how tight you wrap the strap, because the tighter it is, the higher the risk of snapping it becomes. Trust me, I've had a strap bust on me while I was shrugging over 600 lbs, and the outcome is no fun.

Wraps

Finally, wrist wraps and knee wraps are usually used by those with weak or injured knees or wrists. Knee wraps are used on squats, and wrist wraps can be used on any pressing movement. By using knee wraps, you give yourself a little bit of spring at the bottom of a squat. This is very useful for powerlifting. I used knee wraps every time I maxed out on squats. They give your knee extra support, so if you have pain in your knees to the point that you absolutely can't squat, then you might want to look into using them. However, if you can tough it out, then do so. It is important that you put the knee wraps on correctly in order for the outcome to be effective. First roll up the straps like toilet paper. I always started at the top of my knee and worked my way down. When you are wrapping, be sure to overlap the last wrap by half of its width. You should end up about an inch below the bottom of your knee cap. Once you finish, tuck in the loose end. Don't wrap too tightly because, for one, it's really painful, and two, you don't want your feet to go absolutely numb from absence of blood flow. If you can see any of the skin on your knees between individual wraps, then you wrapped incorrectly. Try overlapping a little bit more.

Wrist wraps are very simple. Before performing a pressing movement, wrap your wrists as tight as you need. If your wrists don't stay straight, wrap tighter. Many people limit their use of wrist wraps for heavy weight on bench press mainly.

As stated earlier, many people use this equipment for the wrong reason, and use it incorrectly also. The downfall to using these items is that you weaken the muscles that you are aiding. For example, using a belt weakens your lower back strength, and using wrist straps decreases your grip strength. This is the main reason why you want to use aids only when absolutely necessary.

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