Ten Tips on Avoiding Repetitive Injuries

In order to avoid stress repetitive injuries while exercising, I have provided 10 tips that may be useful next time you are about to work out or play a sport:

1. Drink lots of water! There is nothing worse than exercising while dehydrated. If you are lacking water, you are lacking energy, and you will ultimately cramp up, which can lead to injuries that never should've happened in the first place.

2. Never start your exercise full speed. Sure, your injury may have caused you to be idle for several weeks, and you're extremely anxious to get back into action, but you must be patient. Think of your body like a race car. If you immediately put the pedal to the metal without even warming up the engine and doing some practice laps, then you take the risk of blowing your engine . . . or in this case, blowing your body!

3. Start off with a walk. The best way to start out is by simply taking a brisk walk and/or walking on a treadmill. Get your body started in a sure, but slow motion.

4. If walking is too boring for you, then start off with a light jog. Just be sure not to turn that light jog into a vigorous run.

5. STRETCH! Stretching is without a doubt, the most important thing you can do before exercising. If you don't stretch, you'll be as stiff as a board . . . and you won't get far in your workout.

6. Of course, when I say start off by stretching, I mean start off with simple stretches. Don't start right off by doing a split! If you're stretching starts with a split . . . then it could end with a split.

7. When stretching, don't just focus on the body part that was injured. If you are recovering from a hamstring, then it is obviously important to stretch that part out, but don't forget your other parts. They are just as important. Stretch out your calves, arms, back and everything else. Your body is a combination of working parts . . . you need to treat each part with equal attention and care.

8. Don't cheat on your stretches! You're not doing anybody any favors by cheating. If you are doing each set for 10 seconds, then do them for 10 seconds. Don't count by 2's and/or count off each number per quarter second.

9. It's important not to cheat yourself, but it's also important to know your limits. Nobody knows your body better than you, so if something doesn't feel right, then take a break. Don't just assume that your annoying ache will just magically go away.

10. REST! After you've stretched and exercised, it is vital to give your body a break. Your body needs time to recover and regroup. You've been craving for the time when you could work out 6 nights a week again, but give your body a break to begin with. Start out by only exercising twice a week. Give yourself time to get back into a rhythm. Once you are back in that rhythm, then the world is your oyster again!