Bodybuilding injuries are always just ahead for the sloppy weight trainer. One of the easiest ways to stop progress is to endure a careless injury. This article’s chief function is to guarantee your safety. That way, you can get the most out of your workouts while avoiding injuries. If you do sustain an injury, it doesn’t mean that you should stop working out. However, it does mean that you should take the right precautions. You can still safely and effectively do your workouts pain free.

Here are the ten most common causes of bodybuilding injuries:

Faulty Technique

The most common bodybuilding injuries are associated with poor workout technique. Faulty technique can tear or jerk a muscle. Or, it can rip fragile connective tissue faster than you can strike a match. Every person’s body has very detailed biomechanical pathways. Arms and legs can only move in certain ways. That’s particularly true if you’re stress loading a limb with weight.

Lifting Too Heavy

Bodybuilding injuries can result from guys trying to lift a heavy weight not within their capacity. They will start curling the weight up. Yet they end by using the momentum of their upper bodies to finish the curl. A large amount of pressure is placed on the lower back. Also on the shoulder joints. That’s because when this happens it’s no longer the muscles pulling the weight up. It’s the speed of the movement.

Using too much weight in an exercise is a high-risk proposition rife with injury potential. How do you know when it’s too much? First, if you can’t manage a weight as you lower it. Second, if you can’t hold a movement within its biomechanical boundaries. Finally, if you have to jerk or heave a weight in order to lift it. An unrestrained barbell or dumbbell takes on a mind of its own. The weight follows the laws of gravity and looks for the floor.

Not Warming Up Properly

Be sure to warm up before your working sets. You should also include stretching and cooling down into your program. This will prevent your chances of bodybuilding injuries. It does this by increasing blood flow to your muscles. This prepares your muscles for the work they are about to do. Using good lifting form is essential. It’s not only to work your muscles properly, but also to avoid bodybuilding injuries.

Training Problem Areas

Sometimes bodybuilding injuries occur from overworking a specific area. Does anything hurt while you’re doing a particular workout? Try to find another type of exercise that takes the pressure off that area. For instance, do you have shoulder troubles? Keep away from the bench press for a while. Use the chest press machine at a higher seat level. Or, use the Smith machine to stabilize the exercise.

Cheating

Bouncing, wrenching and grabbing movements do not get faster results. However, they do encourage grave injury. Cheating doesn’t impress anyone. It ruins your workouts, and it makes you look stupid.

Cheating and forced reps are advanced techniques. They allow the lifter to train beyond failure. Real world data proves that cheating movements work. Yet cheating, by definition, is unsafe. A cheating rep incorrectly performed can push or pull the lifter out of the groove.

Stressing The Same Joints Repeatedly

Many bodybuilding injuries may be related to stressing the same joints repeatedly. Often, this takes place until muscular or tendinous failure occurs. There’s a problem with working out to failure all the time. You should be using periodization. Or, cycle the intensity or length of the workouts. Not doing these things adds to the possibility of developing tendonitis and other injuries.

Ignoring The Experts

The primary exercise slip-up many people make is not looking for guidance. Always check with a doctor before starting a new exercise program. A good instructor can do a lot to get you on the right track from day one. Without help you could waste a lot of time and cause yourself unnecessary harm.

Improper Breathing

This may not lead to bodybuilding injuries. Still, lifting weights causes a short-term rise in blood pressure. Not to mention, holding your breath is a sure way to make it increase even more during exercise. A lot of people dispute whether or not you should breathe out during exertion or not. The main thing to bear in mind is to keep it controlled. Not properly controlling breathing has caused many people to get nauseous and throw up. Or worse, pass out during intense training.

Missing Or Poor Spotters

Do you go heavy or practice power lifts? At some point you will need spotters. There’s nothing wrong with needing some help getting that last rep. It means that you’re working to the max. A reliable spotter should always prepare for you to miss the lift. At some point he can give you what help you need to finish that rep.

Degeneration, Or Wear And Tear

Some bodybuilding injuries occur over time. Certain muscles, such as those in the shoulder, receive very little blood supply. Especially the tendons of the rotator cuff muscles. They receive little oxygen and nutrients from blood supply. Therefore they are particularly susceptible to deterioration with aging. Lack of blood supply is a reason why a shoulder injury can take a long time to heal.

Do you feel worn-out, unwell, or sense that you are overtraining? Don’t aggravate your condition by going to the gym. Stay home and get better. If you have had bodybuilding injuries, remember to do your stretches in the morning. Also before bed. As well, any core exercises recommended by your doctor. Now you know the do’s and don’ts of bodybuilding. That means you will achieve your goals faster without any injuries to set you back.