by When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, with gyms and studios closing, most people turned to working out at home. Home workouts offer several advantages: saving yourself the trouble of looking for a good gym or investing in sophisticated sports clothing or accessories. Reserving little space for home workouts can deliver extraordinary results, and it’s also practical and cost-effective. You can get some basic gym equipment or roll out your yoga mat and hit it daily for an intensive, value-added session. The bonus is that at-home workouts also give you the opportunity to bond with loved ones by trying workouts with friends. However, injuries can occur at any time when following your high-intensity workout routine or lifting weights with poor posture. Some people engage in aggressive workouts at home that result in muscle tears or can aggravate existing injuries such as knee or joint pain.
Health Shots reached out to Dr. Mickey Mehta, global holistic health guru and corporate life coach, to understand the cause of common home workout injuries.
Here is a list of the most common home workout injuries
• Spasms in the back
• Pinched nerves
• Spondyloarthritis
• Sciatica
• Spaces between the L4 and L5 vertebrae
• Shoulder dislocation
• ACL tear
• Rotator cuff injuries
• General spasms, sprains and inflammation
How to avoid injuries when training at home?
Injuries are the result of major or minor mistakes we make while training at home. This may be due to a lack of warm-up, space or knowledge. Let’s take a look at why these injuries might occur during a home workout according to the expert.
1. Skip the warm-up
The expert says: “The main cause of injury when training at home is downplaying a very thorough warm-up. 25 to 30 percent of your workout time should be spent warming up. If your training duration is 1h15-20 minutes, it is very important to devote it to warming up and systematically either from head to toe or from toes upwards.
If you don’t warm up, the risk of injury becomes higher and higher. Common injuries can be spasms and pain.
2. Unsupervised
Working out alone at home can have the drawbacks of working out without supervision. Without supervision, you might get carried away with excessive extra repetitions, lift extra weights, or perform awkward movements in awkward positions which can also cause injury. After training, not allowing yourself to cool down, recover through gentle stretching and slow, relaxed recovery training can also be the reason for many injuries.
3. Lack of health awareness
You may experience problems if you exercise without having a deeper idea of your pre-existing conditions such as joint weakness, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, kidney disease or cancer.
Muscle strains and ligament sprains are the most common non-urgent acute injuries, while fractures, dislocations and tendon ruptures are urgent injuries,” adds the expert.
4. Space
The expert recommends making sure to select a sufficiently spacious and ventilated room to carry out your workout. Rotate 360 degrees while spreading your arms wide to ensure you are not injured. Make sure the floor is not slippery or wet.
Read more: Are you concerned about weight loss? 7 Home Fitness Equipment for HIIT Workouts
5. Choice of material
Using unstable or subpar quality hardware is a no-no. They can lead to serious injuries to the upper or lower body, and even infections in some cases. Investing in quality equipment can help you save time because it increases the effectiveness of your exercises and helps you achieve better results faster. If you plan to do stretches or exercises that require you to be on the floor, use a yoga mat.
6. Maintain variety in your exercise program
“With a fusion of different workouts to amp up your routine, you can prevent a certain group of your muscles from being overused. Doing the same actions regularly can lead to overuse problems like tendinitis or shin splints. With each workout, pay attention to a different area of your body,” says the expert.
7. Give your body a rest
Give your body some much-needed time to rest and recover between workouts. This will help you feel more energetic.
