COMMON WORKOUT INJURIES AND HOW TO GO ABOUT THEM.


    Injuries are one of the most inevitable occurrence, especially for anyone who puts their physical body under frequent tension and stress. This could be through athleticism or regular fitness practices. A human injury can be defined as the physiological damage to the living tissues, bones and joints as a result of immediate or prolonged stress on them. This can further be diversified into two:
a) Acute injuries - they occur suddenly and are usually as a result of a specific impact or trauma. Some of its examples are sprains, strains, fractures, dislocations, cuts, bruises and concussions.
b) Chronic injuries - they develop overtime often due to repetitive stress and overuse. They can be more challenging to diagnose and treat. Some of its examples are tendinitis, bursitis, stress fractures, shin splints, tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

What are some of these common injuries?
a) A sprain.
Ligaments connect one bone to the other in a joint. Whenever there is a tear around the connection, it leads to a sprain. One of the most common areas affected by this is the ankle. In an actual occurrence, symptoms such as pain, swelling, a bruise, and limited mobility tend to be common. It can occur in the following circumstances:

  • Ankle sprain - walking or exercising on an even surface and landing awkwardly from a jump.
  • Knee sprain - sudden pivot during an athletic activity or doing a squat using unbearable load could cause it.
  • How to properly do a bench press.
    Wrist sprain - landing on an outstretched hand during a fall or doing a push exercise like bench press where the load isn't proportional to the wrist.
  • Thumb sprain - quite popular for guys who are in racket sports like tennis and squash. Overstretching of the thumb can easily lead to a ligament tear.
Other factors such as environment, muscle fatigue and poor equipment could highly contribute to this. A slippery floor would put anyone at risk of a knee or ankle sprain. Muscular fatigue from squats can easily results in lumbar sprain. This will cause a lot of discomfort and pain in the long-run. Poorly designed equipment that lacks the understanding of biomechanics would cause more harm than good. 
One of the greatest ways of rehabilitating and preventing this is use of dynamic stretches before a workout. This will help lubricate the joint before a heavy lift. Use of proper form should highly be prioritized. Ability to constantly listen to the body's reaction, will indicate whether you are heading in the right direction or not. 
b) A strain.
When a muscle is overstretched beyond its capacity, it leads to a tear. The tear is what defines a muscle strain. The concept is similar to a sprain but this is more muscle oriented. It can be caused by various factors:
  • Overtraining/overusing a particular muscle - it's quite common for sprinters to experience 
    An image of a grade 2 hamstring strain.
    hamstring tear as a result of it being under constant tension for a prolonged period of time. 
  • Lack of proper warm up - especially for guys that are into explosive type of movements like powerlifting and CrossFit. The sudden explosive change in velocity could easily result in a strain.
  • Poor technique and ego lifting - almost all experienced lifters and athletes have passed through this at some point. The lower back often takes a beating as part of the repercussion. 
  • Lack of flexibility - which is highly contributed by sedentary lifestyle and excess muscle mass. Gym bros might argue that one is better than the other but it's pointless if the range of motion is limited. This makes anyone prone to injuries like a muscle strain.
Symptoms such as swelling, pain, discoloration, limited range of motion and muscle spasms are quite common in case of an occurrence. The strain can be partial or mild depending on what led to it. One can visit the doctor in situation where he/she is unable to move the muscles or when the injury is bleeding. 
One of the best ways of preventing this is by properly warming up the muscles before a heavy lift or explosive activity. This will ensure sufficient blood flow to the muscles which carries the by-products of energy production such as oxygen. Some sort of strength training and conditioning will help strengthen these areas in case of an occurrence.
c) Rotator cuff injury. 

Annually, it's estimated that close to 2 million people in the USA end up with rotator cuff injuries. This makes it among the most common types of injuries. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles that aid in shoulder movements and helps stabilize the joint. It's most common injuries are strains, tears and tendinitis. Age and occupations that have a repeated overhead motion like painting or carpentry often result to this injury. There are two types of rotator cuff tears:
  • Partial tear -  it doesn't detach the tendon from the bone. A slight damage through the thickness of the tendon is experienced. This makes it ideal for quick recovery by taking a break, doing stretches and going for physiotherapy sessions.
  • Full thickness tear - it results to detachment of the tendon from the bone. A small detachment is classified as incomplete tear while the full extent is a complete tear. In most cases, a surgery will be necessary to attach it back. A post-rehabilitation surgery which entails more physiotherapy session will be necessary for quick recovery.
The causes are also split into two:
  1. Acute tear - this is a sudden injury that occurs due to a specific traumatic event. This could be from a sudden fall, overstretching of the arm, lifting something heavy with a jerking motion or receiving a direct blow to the shoulder. The pain and discomfort is instantaneous. It often occurs with other injuries like a dislocated shoulder or fractured collarbone.
  2. Degenerative tear - age and occupation being the leading factors. The manageability of the discomfort, makes it easily for most guys to let it slide without paying keen attention to it. The prolonged assumption is what catches up with age or a sudden trigger, resulting to a complicated and almost irreversible injury. 
Symptoms such as a deep aches, limited mobility and weakness of the shoulders are things to look out for.
An example of a warm-up exercise
for the rotator cuff.

A proper warm up before a heavy lift, being mindful of how to go about activities that directly affects the shoulders and seeking medical or physical assistance, could be great ways of preventing this. A proper warm up will ensure enough blood supply in areas like the "watershed zones" around the rotator cuff where it's limited. The frequency of sufficient blood supply through mobility and physiotherapy, will quicken the healing process, for blood carries essential components necessary for the process. 
d) Knee injuries.
This is the largest but the most injured joint in the body. It's made up of various parts but we will discuss four of them:


  1. Bone - the knee joint is composed of femur, tibia and patella/knee cap which joins the two bones.
  2. Articular cartilage - this is the slippery substance at the end of the tibia, femur and back of the patella which makes the gliding a bit smooth.
  3. Meniscus - it is a tough and rubbery cushion that acts as a shock absorber. It's also important for stabilizing the joint.
  4. Ligaments and tendons - ligaments are tough fibrous connective tissues that connect the bones together. They offer stability for ACL,PCL,MCL and LCL. Tendons connect muscles to the joint like quadricep tendons which connects the quad muscles to the patella. 
common knee injuries include:
  • Anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) - often occurs to athlete that are into sporting activities with different forms of agility like football and rugby. This could also be from bad landing or from a fall. Most of this injuries are accompanied by other collateral damages such as meniscus or ligament tear.
  • Posterior cruciate ligament injury (PCL) - Most times it occurs as a result of a blow to the front of the knee when bent. Easily occurs in road accidents and sports related activities. The aftermath tends to be less detrimental making it easy to heal on their own.
  • Collateral ligament injury - it caused by forces that push the knee sideways. It's a by-product of contact injury. Medial collateral ligament injury (MCL) are caused by a direct blow to the outside of the knee. The injury is often related to sports. Lateral collateral ligament injury (LCL) is caused by an inside blow to the knee. It's less common.
  • Meniscus tear - it's acute version occurs during sports as a result of twisting and sudden pivoting. The chronic version occurs mostly as a result of arthritis and aging. At this point, an injury can be triggered by simple activities like getting up a seat. 
  • Tendon tear - this type of injury tends to be quite serious. There are two types of such tear i.e. Patellar tendon tear which occurs as a result of sporting activities or prolonged overuse. The other is quadricep tendon tear which is quite common for heavy lifters and guys suffering from underlying health conditions like arthritis.
  • Fractures - the most affected part being the knee cap. It's often caused by high-impact trauma like a fall or an accident. 
  • Dislocations - occurs when the bones of the knee are out of place either partially or completely. It can be caused by an abnormality in the structure of the person's knee. High energy trauma caused by a fall, sporting activities or road accident can result into such an injury.
Symptoms such as severe pain, swelling, emerge of a pop sound during the occurrence or immobility of the knees should be things to watch out for. In case of an emergency, the R.I.C.E  (Rest, use of Ice, Compression and Elevation) method would come in handy. In case of medical assistance, the treatment can either be non-surgical or surgical.

Non-surgical treatment will be more of physical therapy, immobilization where they may use casts or braces to align the joint or use of NSAIDs which are nonsteroidal drugs used to contain the pain. Speaking of surgical methods, it can either be open surgery or keyhole surgery called arthroscopy where the orthopedic inserts a scope which can be used to screen or treat the problem.
Keyhole surgery in action.

There various ways of preventing this such as being cautious while undertaking certain activities that can be detrimental to the knees. Warming up the knees properly before strenuous activities. Embracing workout that help rehabilitate and strengthen the knees. Use of accessories like knee straps while lifting heavy will help. Seeking medical assistance when necessary. 
e) Tennis elbow and golfer's elbow.
They both fall under tendonitis (which is the inflammation of the tendon) but affects different parts of the elbow.

The tennis elbow also known as lateral epicondylitis, affects the outside of the elbow where tendons attach to the bony bump of the joint. The golfer's elbow also known as medial epicondylitis causes pain on the inside of the elbow. In this case, the pain can extend to the forearms and wrist. Apart from what their names' suggests, other factors also contribute to them. This factors include:
  • Forceful and repetitive occupational movements like painting, carpentry and plumbing that experience such motion could be a great factor.
  • Poor weightlifting techniques that put excessive pressure on the elbow. 
  • The older we get the more our tendons and ligaments weakens. This can easily be triggered by any activity that put pressure around the elbow.
  • Other racket sports that imitates the same movements as the names of these injuries. A good example is squash and badminton.
Symptoms such as pain or tenderness around the elbow, stiffness, weakness in the arms and tingling feeling that transfers to the finger can be things to lookout for. Situations where the elbow is inflamed, can't bend, looks deformed or you suspect a fracture could be the right time to see a doctor.
Prevention mechanisms such as warming up properly and doing mobility movements of the elbow will help prepare for strenuous activities that might be detrimental.
Wrist curls to help strengthen forearms.

Strengthening the forearms will help act as a shock absorber in situations of high-impact falls or activities. Proper form should be kept paramount at all times. Use of proper equipment shouldn't be compromised especially if it's going to be in use for a longed period. Lastly, taking rests and breaks when necessary would help give these injuries time to recover.

f) Bruises and abrasions.
They are both common injuries but differ in how they affect the skin and underlying tissues.
An image of a bruise.

A bruise also known as contusion, occurs when small blood vessels under the skin breaks causing blood to pool around that region. This causes discoloration which mostly begins as red or purple but changes to darker colours as days progress. It's caused by a physical trauma/accident, having aging skin or having medical conditions like leukemia that changes the blood's platelet count. During the occasion, it's maybe tender to the touch and slight swelling may be experienced. Most heal on their own. In case of an emergency, the R.I.C.E. method may come in handy.
An image of an abrasion.

Abrasion or scrape, occurs when the skin rubs against a rough surface causing the top of the skin to wear away. It appears like a red, raw area and may bleed slightly. It might be painful and may sting especially when exposed to air, salty water, sweat or germs. They mostly occur on the shin, elbows, knees and ankles. It can be split into:


  • First degree abrasion - this involves superficial(mild) damage to the epidermis. 
  • Second degree abrasion - results to the damage of the epidermis and the dermis.
  • Third degree abrasion - it involves tearing of the skin to the layer of tissue deeper than the dermis.
In an occurrence of a first degree abrasion, cleaning the area with mild soap and water will help erase any left debris. Application of an antibiotic ointment and covering it with a clean bandage will help prevent infections.





















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