Keeping Yourself Safe During Workouts

There isn't much that can throw you off track when it comes to your workouts than getting injured. I've worked with many people who ended up getting injured during their workouts & then they either have a difficult time getting back into the groove or they try to come back too soon, ultimately re-injuring themselves & putting their workouts out even more. Here are some suggestions to help keep you from getting injured in the first place.

1. KEEP A LOG: Keeping a log of your workouts is a great idea. You need to record what kind of workout you did, how long you went, what weight/speed/time you accomplished, even the temperature & terrain you worked out in. This way, if you changed something & end up getting sore or injured, you have a way of looking back to see what you did differently.
2. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR PAIN: The old adage "No pain, no gain" doesn't necessarily mean to keep going if you are really hurting. If you are in the middle of a workout & something starts to hurt, you need to stop & either change what you are doing, or stop the workout altogether, depending on the level of pain. Otherwise, you will end up hurting yourself more & have more serious injury.
3. DO A DIFFERENT EXERCISE: Cross-training is one way to avoid an injury due to overuse. Another reason you would want to consider a different exercise is if you are too sore or injured to do your regular workout, you need to find an exercise to do so you don't get completely away from exercising. One example would be, if you injury your arm, you can still get on an exercise bike or even a treadmill to stay in the habit of a regular exercise routine.

Remember to take pain seriously, but try not to confuse it with the discomfort that sometimes goes along with getting in shape. Any sudden pain needs to be taken seriously. And, be sure to check with your doctor if an injury is extremely painful or a minor injury doesn't seem to be getting better after a few days.