Love your gym workout? Or are you into kickboxing, functional training or F45? No matter which workout you chose, there’s a big change of injuring your back if you’re not cautious. With the current trend of HIIT style workouts in a group setting, it’s quite easy to hurt your back. Here are top 5 tips from Physios to prevent back pain with gym workout.
Tip 1: Don’t compete with your neighbour!
You heard me right! In a group setting, not everyone has the same fitness level. Haven’t you seen? the overconfident one’s that tend to do every move to perfection are usually right in the front row. Now taking inspiration from them is one thing. But trying to out exercise them in your first class is probably not a great idea. It’s important to focus on the trainer leading you and of course on yourself.
Tip 2: Focus on the quality of your gym workout not the reps
That’s right. Focus on the form of the exercise rather than the repetitions. I am sure our friends at 6 pack bootcamp would agree! I know that you have to complete as many reps as possible within a period of time. But what’s the point if you end up injuring yourself and not working out at all? Especially if you are new to the world of fitness. Go slow and steady. Remember the old cliche’? Slow and steady wins the race!
Tip 3: Listen to your body
So if your body is telling you that you are sick today, don’t go pushing yourself with the gym workout. Take a lighter option and just go for walk. If you feel like you’ll kill yourself with the 15th rep, just do 12. It’s ok. Consistency is the key. Do you know that most of the injuries happen when you are fatigued? So do yourself a favor and listen to your body.
Tip 4: Always warm up BEFORE your gym workout
You knew this was coming right? Even a simple 5 min cardio on treadmill is good enough. It is important to warm your body up before lifting weights. This will prepare your muscles and joints for the gym workout.
Tip 5: Stretch at the end of your gym workout
Now of course we all think of stretching but run out of 5 mins at the end of our workout. Stretching helps to keep the muscles flexible. However, never stretch a cold muscle. Stretches are more effective as a cool down. When the body is warmed up. It is also important to hold those stretches for at least 10 -30 seconds so have a lasting effect. This is because our muscles are elastic in nature. Think of them as rubber bands. If you stretch a rubber band enough, it will eventually become longer.
