Keen gym-goer and Senior Physiotherapist at our Wilmslow and Manchester clinics, John Gripper gives his top tips for avoiding injuries when the gyms reopen.
Start Easy
If you normally lift heavy weights in the gym but have been running, cycling, or doing nothing for the past 6 weeks (due to gym closures), it’s important to start easy and build gradually when back in the weights area.
Running, cycling and sofa place different demands on your body tissues compared to lifting weights. Although you might be feeling fit and may even have recorded a Personal Best on your deadlift before the lockdown, you will need to drop the weight down to allow your body a chance to recondition and adapt.
Build Gradually
Gradually increase the stress on your body. People often pick up injuries because they have experienced a sharp increase in the volume, intensity, and/or frequency of training they are doing. This can lead to injury due to stress on tissues exceeding what they can withstand and tolerate. This can lead to problems, notably with tendons.
Good technique
A lot of injuries happen in the gym because people are lifting with poor technique. Invest in yourself. Get a session with a gym instructor, personal trainer or physio to get coached on good technique – for compound lifts in particular.
Seek Professional Help
Aches, pains and niggles (however minor) if not managed properly can develop into bigger problems down the line. The old saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ is very apt. If you can get an idea of what is niggling and how to improve things from the outset, this is a far better option than to wait until your niggle develops over time in to a more painful debilitating condition, and you are stopped in your tracks completely.