Personal trainer Omar Lewa Rasheed demonstrates the correct way to work out to avoid injury at Muscle Health Gym, Vision Plaza on Mombasa Road. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA
What you need to know:
Personal fitness trainer Omar Rasheed says that proper warm-up and proper posture can help prevent injuries during exercises.
Most people enthusiastically start new workouts only to be slowed down by injury. After dislocating a joint or tearing a muscle that is when one realises the ‘no-pain-no-gain’ mantra does not always apply during exercises.
Personal fitness trainer Omar Rasheed says that proper warm-up and proper posture can help prevent injuries during exercises.
“Aside from training, mind to stay positive on every move you take, remember that posture is a key during workouts,” he says.
Common workout injuries include muscle pull, sprained ankle, injury of the shoulder, back, shin and knee, wrist sprain and dislocation. Omar shares tips on the correct postures at the gym or home to avoid injury.
Muscle pull
It commonly affects the leg muscles. It basically is a stretch or tear in the muscle that caused by over-stretching or over-tightening of the muscle tissue.
The various leg muscles prone to the strain include the calf (at back of lower leg), hamstring (at back of thigh) and quadriceps (at front of thigh).
The muscle pull can be graded on the level of severity ranging from minor damage to full tear. At all three levels, swelling is the visible effect accompanied by pain.
“Muscles are a band of fibres, which relax and tighten as we move. Proper warmup can condition the muscles for strenuous workout ahead, thus prevent a muscle pull,” he says.
Shoulder injury
The shoulder is the most mobile joint of the body and only few movements we make in the course of day do not involve it.
To avoid shoulder injury, strengthen the rotator cuff –a group of muscles and tendons stabilising the shoulder.
Exercises that strengthen the rotator cuff include the lying dumbbell internal rotation, the lying dumbbell external rotation and the lying dumbbell shoulder abduction.
“To avoid injury, you have to graduate the weights from the lowest to failure (maximum your body can withstand),” says Omar, adding that one should strive to do free weights as opposed to using machines.
Sprained ankle
This mostly occurs when you take a rapid shifting movement with the foot planted down.
Often the ankle rolls outward and the foot turns inward causing the ligaments on the outside to stretch and tear.
Omar says to avoid this kind of injury, one should strive to wear the right workout shoes and consciously consider every move before taking it.
Wrist sprain and dislocation
Wrist sprain is a ligament injury that is common in sporty people. A wrist dislocation on the other hand indicates that bones are out of the ligament.
Omar advises that one can wear a wrist band to avoid injury, but cautions that it should not be worn for prolonged periods of time.
“This is because the band restrains movement, yet it is this movement that is needed to heal the wrist,” he said.
Back pain
Most people with flabby tummies resort to sit ups as a way of firming up and toning up their muscles.
Usually their hard work yields no positive results because of tucking the chin into the chest, rising themselves too high off the floor and not keeping the abs contracted throughout the workout.
Unknown to them, the resultant lower back pain is caused by the wrong posture during workout.
“All workout should come from the core, otherwise known as the abs, not the neck. Also hack your back properly. If you do this well, then there should be no lower back pain or neck strain,” he says.
Shin and knee injury
When it comes to the knee, injury occurs in its soft tissues such as ligaments, tendons and cartilage.
To avoid injury, keep the knees soft and remember to hack your back always to boost stability.
When doing squats, avoid letting your knees drop inward. Remedy this by actively spreading your knees apart.
“It might help to do air squats with a band around your thighs to master proper techniques of squatting,” the personal trainer says.
He suggests the ‘Good morning workout’ and ‘Hack squat’ as some of the gentle exercises that can help one adopt good knee posture.
Arm and elbow injury
Arm injury usually comes due to straining while elbow injury results from cold penetrating the bones. To avoid arm injury, use a benche to avert a twist in case there is loss of balance during workout.
To avoid elbow injury, keep warm while training. This is especially applicable to people who exercise during cold weather, at night or early morning.
