Recovery and Injury Prevention Tips for Workouts

Recovery and Injury Prevention Tips for Workouts

How You Can Avoid Injury When Working Out

Regular exercise is important for so many reasons. In addition to helping you feel stronger and control your weight, regular exercise can make you feel happier, protect your brain health, strengthen your immune system, and much more.

However, while living a healthy and active lifestyle is certainly good for you, it can open you up to potential injury. Here are some injury prevention strategies and ways to boost your recovery if you do suffer an injury.

Stretch and Warm Up

Make sure you give yourself time to stretch and do a proper warm up before you exercise. This helps your body get ready for a workout, loosens up your muscles and joints, and reduces your risk of injury.

Know Your Body

There’s a difference between feeling sore because your muscles are working and feeling sore because you’re overdoing it or exercising with a significant injury. When you’re working out, it’s always important to know your body, to stop when something feels wrong, and to take the time to recover if you’re injured.

Cool Down

Much like a warm up is crucial. so is a proper cool down. For instance, walking slowly for five or ten minutes after a workout will help lower your heartrate and bring your body temperature back to normal. It can also help your muscles relax, which is what you need for injury prevention.

Recovery and Aftercare Tips

While working out safely and practicing injury prevention is obviously important, it’s just as vital to take care of yourself between workouts. Here are a few tips to help you recover after a workout:

• Get plenty of rest
  • Be sure to take time to heal between workouts. This means at least one full day of rest after every 3-to-5 workouts, or more if you have an especially tough workout. Rest will help you avoid injury.
• Stay hydrated
  • Staying hydrated is so important for so many reasons. If you’re not properly hydrated, you’re more likely to suffer an injury, so be sure to drink water before, during, and after your workouts.
• Treat injuries
  • If you’re injured during a workout, it’s a good idea to properly treat the injury rather than try to “power through” the pain.

Working with a personal trainer can give you access to so many exercise, fitness, and recovery tips. If you’re ready to get started, contact us today for a free consultation.