The Top 9 Ways to Avoid Injury

As physical therapists, we see a lot of injuries. We love helping our clients to heal, but we also want to help our clients avoid injury altogether. So many injuries can be prevented, and it’s actually pretty simple to do so.

Check out what you should be doing to avoid injury (and us, but we’ll forgive you).

Warm up and cool down when exercising. So tempting to skip, but so important not to!
Stretch daily. Stretching keeps your muscles long and flexible, and therefore less prone to injury. Do not skip the stretch!
Move regularly throughout the day. Many of us are seated for long periods of time working on a computer or—let’s be honest—quarantine couch surfing. This leads to stiff muscles, which are more prone to injury. Make sure you’re getting up to walk around and stretch every hour.
Don’t do more than you can handle when working out. If you’re doing a new exercise routine or adding to your routine for the first time, make sure you build up to your goal rather than forcing yourself to accomplish it today. This is especially true if you haven’t been exercising consistently.
Be aware of your posture. Neck, back, and shoulder pain are very common, especially for those of us who work on computers. Set up your workspace so that your screen is at eye level, and sit with your back straight and your shoulders pulled down and back. If you keep slouching, you can try setting a timer for periodic check-ins for a few days until sitting upright becomes a habit.
Check your sleep posture, too. The way you sleep can certainly lead to injury, especially in the neck, back, and shoulders. We see it all the time. Here’s how to get your sleep posture in check.
Strengthen your core. Weak core muscles often lead to injury, and they’re also responsible for poor posture. If you are prone to back pain, working on your core muscles might just be a gamechanger!
Pay attention to your alignment while exercising. When we get tired during a workout, we often let our technique slide. A good example of this is sit-ups—when we can’t do any more, we tend to lean to one side to shimmy our way up or our legs come off the floor as we pull ourselves up. When an exercise becomes too tiring to do with proper technique, it’s always best to do less or do a modified version.
Vary your workouts. Working different parts of the body in different ways is another great way to keep your muscles strong and injury-resistant. This is especially true for runners who only run. Be sure you’re getting some kind of strength training and stretching as well to support your running practice and avoid injury to the joints or back.