Taking A Safety-First Approach*

Taking A Safety-First Approach*

Getting hurt when you’re trying to improve your body is always a shame. A lot of people go through this process, either working to hard or having an accident which makes it impossible for them to keep active for a month or two into the future. With this time having a huge impact on your results, along with a lot of the injuries which can be sustained like this being dangerous, it makes sense that most people would want to take a safer approach. How should you go about achieving this goal, though?

Take It Slowly

One of the biggest causes of injuries in the world of fitness is people pushing themselves too hard. Lifting something too heavy, running too far, or taking on a jump which you can’t make will all be very risky, and could result in painful injuries which will take a long time to heal. Instead, you should aim to take this process nice and slowly. Lifting something slightly lighter won’t have a huge impact on your results, but could save you from having to take time off. As time goes on, you will begin to get a stronger grasp of your strengths and weaknesses, making it easier to judge what you’re ready to try.

Use Good Form

Along with pushing yourself too hard, it will also be very easy to hurt yourself if you don’t use the right form when you’re exercising. When you’re doing press ups, for example, you should clench your stomach and your bum to ensure that your body is straight. Failing to do this could be undue strain on areas like your spine and your hips, and this can easily result in injuries, especially if you’re using machines or weights. If you’re worried about this, it could be worth having someone shadow your workouts until you feel confident.

Take The Rules Seriously

Whether you’re in a gym, in the park, or on the road, you have to take the rules seriously if you’re going to stay safe. OriGym’s Gym Induction process guide can teach you everything you’ll need to know before you go to the gym for the first time, preparing you for your induction and ensuring that you can handle the machines safely. On the road or out and about, you will need to make sure that you’re obeying other rules, like the highway code. Failing to approach your workouts like this could easily result in needless injuries.

Warm Up & Cool Down

If you did any sort of physical education at school, you will probably remember the process of warming up and cooling down at the start and end of each session. While this may seem over the top, it makes a lot of sense to do this each time you hit the gym. It will be easy to pull a muscle if they haven’t been limbered up before you get started. Once you’ve finished working out, though, things can get even worse, with your muscles storing acid and hurting themselves if you don’t perform a cool down at the end. This may not be as important as other aspects of your fitness, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

Use The Right Kit

Going into a fitness or sports store can often be a shock to normal people. The prices of clothing and other kit designed for exercise are often very high when compared to normal products, and this puts a lot of people off of the idea of buying them. By shopping online, though, you can often negate this sort of concern, and it’s well worth it; the clothing you wear can have a huge impact on your safety. Shoes play the biggest role in this, with a good pair of trainers being essential for all runners. Along with this, it will be worth making sure that you don’t have anything which could get caught in a machine.

Treat Yourself Right

Finally, as the last area to consider, it’s time to think about the work which you put into treating your body correctly when you’re out of the gym. Posture, diet, and even things like exposure to the sun can impact your safety when working out, and this makes it worth putting time into figuring out the best route for you. A personal trainer can help with this, making the process of keeping your lifestyle healthy much easier.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to get started on the work you put into making your fitness safe. A lot of people ignore this area, and will suffer with painful injuries as a result.

* This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links