by Tracy Willis
Club Manager Dusit Resort Sports & Fitness Club
Whenever people exercise vigorously, the chance of injury is present. There
are, however, many things you can do to try and prevent injury. Firstly,
your fitness club director and instructors should do all they can to assist
you in exercising safely and effectively.
After this, if you follow these guidelines, you should be able to avoid
nearly all injuries.
1. Monitor your heart rate. Studies have shown that people who exercise at
more than 80% of their maximum heart rate can increase the likelihood of
injury. Ideally, you should exercise at between 60-80% of your maximum heart
rate. If you are unsure of how to calculate this, your instructor should be
bale to help you.
2. Always include stretching, warm-up and cool-down periods. Many people
avoid these important areas, which is not a good idea. Inadequate warm-up
and cool-down leads to muscle tightness, inflexibility and ultimately,
injuries. There’s also evidence that, for people over 40 years of age, blood
pressure and heart rate can rise precipitously if they don’t warm-up
properly.
Spend about 5 minutes warming up gradually and the same length of time
cooling down and stretching at the end of your workout.
3. Your program should take into account previous injuries. It is possible
to aggravate an old injury, so you should take care to avoid this.
4. Use proper exercise technique. If you do not execute movements properly
with good technique, whether it be tennis or weight lifting, its very likely
that you will develop an injury. Bad habits develop quickly, so be sure to
have a coach, instructor or personal trainer check your technique regularly.
5. Rest! You exercise or play sport for the sake of good health & fitness,
not to injure yourself. If you push too hard or too fast, you are setting
yourself up for problems. Take your time and try to be patient. The body
needs time to recover in between sessions, so take at least one day off
exercise every week. If you have a break of a week or more, be sure to
reduce the intensity and duration of your program slightly until you’re back
on track.
Keep in mind that there are 2 principle types of injuries - acute and
chronic. An acute injury is one that develops suddenly (like a sprained
ankle). A chronic injury, on the other hand, develops over a period of time,
often when you ignore a nagging pain. An example would be “tennis elbow”
where inflammation of the tendons in the elbow (and pain) develops from
strenuous and repetitive action.
Your body is a very good judge of how much stress it can handle without
injury. Listen to the warnings and take heed. If you sustain an injury, seek
medical and professional assistance, get it treated and allow time for full
recovery. Happy and safe training.
