Avoiding Injuries (Part 1)

                Everyone does not like to be injured. Either they be an athlete, a office worker, student, etc2 because it would cause a lot of delay when it comes to work or their activity. Having an injury is a no fun experience. We have seen professional athletes get hurt and cause a game, play-off chance or even a championship. So this will be my first tip of avoiding any sort of injury in any field that we deal with.

Tip # 1: “Do Proper Warm-ups”

                In our daily lives, we may not realize it but we need proper warm-up before doing any activity. For instance, after getting out of bed, most of us stretch our arms or even legs (for some) in order to prepare our body for the rest of the day. If we observe our surroundings, everyone and everything does their “warm-up”. Just like motorcycles or cars need to be properly warmed up before we use them for the road ahead.

                During my taekwondo varsity days way back in highschool, we as a team always performed our warm-ups before training or before a tournament. It conditions our body in order to perform well and to perform at the highest possible level.  Just to share my latest injury in weightlifting 3 to 4 months ago. I was performing a bench press and the maximum weight that I can lift that time was about 160-170 pounds. One day, I was carrying two fifty pound plates and after finishing my first set, I added two thirty-five pound plates. And unexpectedly, I hurt my left elbow. Good thing that there was someone behind me that spotted me. Morale of the story: “Do Not RUSH things if We have not Yet Properly Warmed-up”.

                Having my left elbow hurt, I rested for a week and after that incident, I have done some research about avoiding injuries and I have realized that the main cause of my injury is because of my carelessness and my neglection of doing warm-ups. Now, before I reach the maximum weight that I can carry, I gradually increase the weights like adding two plates of 10, 15, 20 pound, etc. So there we go, that wraps up my first tip for avoiding any injury. Remember: “Do not be lazy and do warm-ups”. Have a nice day.