Tips For Avoiding Injuries

When trying to lose weight and adapt to a new healthy lifestyle, the
last thing we need is to get injured. It can set us back and derail our
hopes.
The best thing to do is to avoid getting hurt in the first place!

There are a few easy ways to prevent injuries while working out.

Warm up!

You should always do a 5 minute cardio and dynamic stretching
based warm up before any workout. This gets your muscles and
joints warmed up and flexible, lessening your risk of injury. Things like
arm swings, jumping jacks and toe touches are perfect!

Know how to stretch!

So many people stretch their muscles every which way before a
workout, but the bad thing is, most are doing it at the wrong time.

There are two types of stretches you must know about.

Dynamic and static.

Dynamic stretches are stretches that require movement (think arm
swings, toe touches, etc. )

Static stretches require no movement and are best done after a
workout. These are the stretches where you hold the stretch for up to
30 seconds.
These are the most commonly seen stretches, and are great, when
done at the right time.

Do not do static stretches before a workout because you are
stretching a tight muscle that hasn't been warmed up.
What happens to a cold rubber band if you pull it far apart? It snaps!
What would happen to a rubber band if you slowly pulled it apart,
bouncing it for a while? It would become more elastic as it warms up!
Your muscles are the same way.
You must slowly warm them up with dynamic stretching and cardio
moves before a workout.
Save the static stretches for after.

Keeps your knees in check!

Do not let your knees travel past your toes! Keep them in line with
your ankles to avoid injuring your knees! It may seem odd at first
while doing moves like lunges or squats, but you'll be a pro before
you know it!

Suck in your gut!

Do not go through any workout with your stomach muscles relaxing.
This causes all of the work to fall on your back. Support your back by
keeping your abs engaged. You don't have to hold them in to the
point that it is uncomfortable, but hold them in enough to help support
your back. Use your best judgement.

Get proper shoes!

This may not seem like an issue, but it is, trust me.

Back when I was a beginner, I used to use "old" shoes for my
workout shoes, instead of buying new ones. Big mistake.
Now I have painful plantar fascitis in my right foot.
At first, I had the usual soreness that comes with exercising, but then
I began to feel terrible heel pain after sitting for short periods of time.
My foot would be incredibly stiff and I would have to limp around until
it warmed up. Not fun.
Worse things could have happened, but this also could have been
prevented.

Get shoes for what you will be doing. Running, walking, crosstraining,
etc.
Because of my foot pain, I actually buy running shoes because of the
extra shock absorbtion, even though I'm not a runner. I do jump a lot
during my circuit workouts. The running shoes have helped me
tremendously.

Your feet feel most of the impact during exercise, so take care of
them!

One of the top rated brands as far as comfort is concerned, is New
Balance.
They have a sizzlin' special going on now!