Four Tips to Help Prevent Weight Lifting Injuries

Weightlifting injuries are a subject that gets very little attention nowadays. Few people realize the danger that they are putting their bodies in when they don't take the proper precautions to insure their safety at the gym. Most of the time however it is not out of ignorance that people put themselves in danger in the weight room, its just that they do not know what they are doing. If you follow these guidelines you will have an effective, but more importantly a safe workout that will hopefully stop any weightlifting injuries.

Always have a partner for just about every exercise that deals with the bar. This goes especially for bench press and power cleans (or the clean and jerk). Even if there are power racks you should still have a partner to help you lift the weight up when you cant get it. For instance if you doing bench press alone then you are at the mercy of a power rack that you hope is set at the correct height, or that you hope has been locked into place correctly. Without a partner weightlifting injuries can be easily happen.

Make sure you are always using correct form. The way you were taught to do the exercise is the way should always do it. Don't arch your back for every set of bench press, don't hunch over so much when doing squats, and don't use your back when doing clean exercises. This will not only stop weightlifting injuries from happening but also make you stronger faster.

Do warm-up sets before attacking heavy weight. Failing to do so could so could result in pulled or even worse torn muscles, and trust me you do not want that. I knew a football coach that in his younger years attempted to max without warming up and had his pectoral muscle torn in half when attempting to lift. Your muscles are too tight if you don't warm up and this will cause one the more painful weightlifting injuries. So just get your muscles ready for a good lift, and warm them up.

Don't do steroids. I know at this last tip seems frivolous but there is more to steroids that meet the eye. It's true that steroids allow you to workout at higher levels but they are also levels that the human body is not designed to workout at. When your on steroids you can workout for a really long time and in the process your body is really taking a pounding that it can't handle, and a soon as you get off the steroids your body could be really injured without you even knowing it. This one the reasons why people who get of steroids are within a short time lot less strong then when they are on them. Steroids can really cause weightlifting injuries to occur. So don't use steroids because there really is no "safe" way to take them.

Sources:

About.com Exercise
Powertec Power Rack