Strength training provides a multitude of benefits. No secret there! Consistent strength training builds muscle, increases bone density, improves athletic performance, and lowers your risk of injuries that take you out of commission. Plus, there’s more good news. Strength training for just 30-60 minutes per week is associated with a 10-20% lower risk of death from all causes.
But despite these benefits, improper technique or overtraining can contribute to overuse injuries and reduce those coveted strength gains. Isn’t it better to prevent them? Let’s look at five tips for safely strength training to lower your risk of overuse injuries.
Focus on Technique
How’s your strength-training form? Being attentive to form is a must when performing exercises for injury prevention. Common errors you could be making include rounding your back on deadlifts or squats, jerking the weights, and using an improper grip. Such errors can overload your joints and connective tissues, leading to injury. Always control the weights through the full range of motion and avoid “cheating” on the last reps when your muscles are most fatigued.
One key aspect of safe strength training technique is maintaining proper spinal alignment and posture throughout each exercise. Cues like “keep your core braced” and “don’t round your back” can help you maintain a neutral spine during your workouts. Be sure to control the speed of each rep, avoid locking out joints, and use a full range of motion to prevent undue strain.
Start Low and Progress Gradually
When beginning a new exercise or increasing weight, start conservatively and make gradual progressions over time. Rapidly ramping up weight or volume places excessive stress on the muscles and joints. Increase the weight you train with by no more than 10% per week. This approach will allow your muscles and connective tissue to adapt in a controlled manner.
Take deload weeks where you reduce the training load by 20-40% to help your body recover. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that different load-management strategies, including deloading, can optimize training-induced adaptations in strength and power.
Effective ways to deload include lowering the sets, reps, and weights by 20-40% for a week. You can also take 1-2 rest days, take the full week off from lifting, or switch up your exercise selection during this time.
Deloading every 4-10 weeks is a reasonable plan, especially after intense training periods or competitions when fatigue builds up. But you may also want to deload when you feel worn out, have plateaued, or lack motivation.
Deloading allows your body and mind to bounce back. It enhances recovery, jumpstarts motivation and performance, lowers injury risk, and sets you up for further progression at higher loads and volumes. So don’t skip your deloads – they are a valuable part of smart, sustainable training.
Address Muscle Imbalances
Muscle imbalances contribute to poor lifting mechanics – and poor lifting mechanics can lead to overuse injuries. Weak stabilizer muscles cause improper joint alignment and force compensation from other muscles. If a muscle is tight or weak, it forces other muscles to take over its job. This leads to improper alignment and extra strain on tissues that aren’t meant to handle that stress.
For example, tight hip flexors pull the pelvis forward, which arches the lower back when you do exercises like squats and deadlifts. This puts a higher compressive load on your spine. Meanwhile, weak glutes and abs can’t stabilize your pelvis properly. Before you know it, you’re getting back twinges because your muscles aren’t moving correctly.
The best approach is to incorporate targeted stretches, isolation exercises, yoga, and Pilates into your routine. Work on flexibility for chronically tight muscle groups like the hips, chest, and shoulders. Strengthen commonly weak areas like the lower back, glutes, rotator cuff, and posterior chain. This will help realign your body, improve movement patterns, and prevent injuries.
Also be mindful of using good form during compound lifts. Poor technique coupled with muscle imbalances is a recipe for injury. But by addressing flexibility and weakness, you’ll have an easier time lifting with proper alignment. It takes effort, but balanced, supple muscles can transform your training and keep you healthy.
Allow Adequate Rest and Recovery
Overtraining is one of the leading causes of overuse injuries. When you’re enthusiastic about exercise, it’s easy to think more is better. You push harder, tune out fatigue, and grit your teeth through aches and pains. But there’s a tipping point where more training stops being beneficial and starts breaking the body down.
Your body needs recovery time to adapt to training stresses. Without adequate rest between intense workouts, tissue damage accumulates. Inflammation ramps up. Hormones like cortisol skyrocket. Before you know it, tendons start squeaking, joint pain flares up, and you feel drained instead of energized.
The key is to listen for early warning signs. Then have the discipline to schedule a recovery. Aim for at least one full rest day between intense sessions for the same muscle groups. Be religious about getting enough sleep –shoot for 7-9 hours per night minimum. Incorporate active recovery techniques like self-massage, cold therapy, and low-intensity mobility work.
It’s not always easy. You get hooked on the adrenaline rush and bliss of intense training. But just like overeating unhealthy foods, more exercise isn’t sustainable. Your body breaks down when overloaded over extended periods. Intelligent programming that balances strain and rest prevents overtraining and keeps you healthy for the long haul.
Use Proper Gear
Wearing a weightlifting belt provides lumbar support for exercises like squats and deadlifts. Wrist straps allow a secure grip to prevent strain. Consider knee sleeves, elbow sleeves or ankle braces if you have previous joint injuries. Replace running shoes regularly – old worn shoes lose their shock absorption.
Following these preventative tips will help you safely progress in your strength training journey to reach your goals injury-free. Always keep safety top of mind by using proper form, progressing gradually, allowing adequate rest, and listening to your body.
Train Smart for Greater Strength Gains
Strength training is tremendously beneficial – when you do it properly. It builds muscle, strengthens bones, enhances athleticism, and boosts longevity. However, if you use poor technique or overtrain, you may end up with painful overuse injuries that can sideline your fitness goals.
The good news is that overuse injuries are preventable by following some basic guidelines. Use proper form on all exercises, progress loads gradually, address muscle imbalances through targeted stretching and isolation work, schedule adequate rest days, listen to warning signs from your body, and consider using supportive gear like belts and braces if you have a previous injury.
It’s not easy to hold back when you love training hard. But a few prudent precautions go a long way towards safe, sustainable, lifelong strength gains. By making injury prevention just as much a priority as progressing, you’ll achieve your aesthetic and performance goals safely. Just remember – the safest way to get strong is the smart way.
References:
- Evidence mounts on the benefits of strength training. News. Published March 17, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2024. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/strength-training-time-benefits/
- Bell L, Strafford BW, Coleman M, Androulakis Korakakis P, Nolan D. Integrating Deloading into Strength and Physique Sports Training Programmes: An International Delphi Consensus Approach. Sports Med Open. 2023 Sep 21;9(1):87. doi: 10.1186/s40798-023-00633-0. PMID: 37730925; PMCID: PMC10511399.
- “Overuse injuries in sport: a comprehensive overview – PubMed.” 05 Dec. 2018, /pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30518382/.
- “Overuse Injury: Practice Essentials, Pathophysiology, Epidemiology.” 09 Aug. 2022, emedicine.medscape.com/article/313121-overview.
Related Articles By Cathe:
7 Smart Strategies for Avoiding Strength Training Injuries
Weight Training and Shoulder Injuries: The Importance of Strengthening Your Rotator Cuff
Shoulder Training: Why It’s More Important That It Be Balanced
Ways To Stay Injury Free When You Fitness Train
Building Strong and Beautiful Shoulders: is Your Shoulder Workout Balanced?
The Most Common Fitness Training Injuries & How to Prevent Them
Common Shoulder Problems: Keeping Your Shoulders Healthy When You Lift Weights
