There are so many reasons to exercise regularly, one of them being that it can keep you out of a doctor’s office. Physical activity safeguards your heart, helps stave off metabolic disease, and improves your strength and stamina. That is, if you do it well. But fall into the trap of common exercise mistakes, and working out could have the opposite effect, landing you right in the office of an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist like Jason Snibbe, MD, or worse, in the hospital, where physicians see a spike in workout-related injuries at the top of each year, as people flock to the gym.
It’s all too easy to make a wrong move or overstress a joint because of the fact that most of us don’t learn how to exercise with good form, Dr. Snibbe tells SELF. Getting a trainer to observe you through every pump and squat may not be accessible or appealing. (And the info on social media is often a mixed bag, if not downright dangerous.)
But, working out safely requires know-how. Below, Dr. Snibbe breaks down the top exercise mistakes to avoid, as an expert who deals with their consequences daily.
1. Pushing your range of motion to the max
Flexing a joint as far as it can go while bearing weight on it is a recipe for injury, according to Dr. Snibbe. The two moves where this most often occurs are squats and lunges. “For some people, when they squat, they’re aiming to get their rear end to touch the ground, and when they lunge, they push their front knee over their toes and send their back knee to the floor,” he explains. This can do a number on both your hips and knees, putting “an enormous amount of stress” on the labrum in your hip (a ring of cartilage lining the socket) and the cartilage behind your kneecap, he says, risking inflammation and pain.
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What to do instead: Avoid flexing your knee or hip joint past a 90-degree angle in any strength move where you’re standing and bearing weight. And if even flexing to this degree bothers you, do less, Dr. Snibbe urges. “You can go halfway, to 45 degrees, in a squat or lunge, and still get great gluteal and quad activation without compressing or potentially injuring your knee or hip joint,” he says.
2. Doing high-impact exercise on a very hard surface
Building power with jumping exercises and plyometrics can support bone density and agility, sparing you from a life-altering fall. But Dr. Snibbe has also witnessed the ramifications of going overkill on impact, particularly in those who run or jump often on rock-hard surfaces like concrete. Each footfall brings a significant shock, which can ripple up through your feet, legs, and low back, putting you at future risk for injuries like patellofemoral pain syndrome (a.k.a. runner’s knee), shin splints, and Achilles tendonitis, as well as joint issues.
What to do instead: Dr. Snibbe is a big fan of trampoline workouts, where you’re bouncing on a surface with plenty of give. But you can also safely hop on the floor of a typical gym or workout studio so long as you’re adequately warmed up. If you’re going to run, particularly for long distances, opt for surfaces like dirt or grass trails, the rubber track at a high school, a treadmill, or even asphalt, all of which offer greater shock absorption than concrete.
3. Overdoing those leg circles on a Pilates reformer
Hip circumduction is one exercise that’s proven itself to be a repeat offender among Dr. Snibbe’s patients. It’s most often done on a Pilates reformer or a modified piece of equipment called a Megaformer (which is used in Lagree): You put your foot in a stirrup attached to a cable, and while keeping your leg straight, draw large circles with your foot, flexing your hip joint through its full range of motion. This move works your core and the stabilizing leg (the one not moving)—but the problem is, it’s tempting to turn it into a dynamic stretch for the mobile leg and make those circles way too big, Dr. Snibbe says. He sees a lot of labral tears and other hip injuries from these maneuvers.
What to do instead: If you’re in a class where this move comes up, keep the circular movements small. Dr. Snibbe suggests making them about the size of a basketball to get the benefits for your lower core and leg muscles without overtaxing your hip joint.
4. Working out the same muscles on back-to-back days
Unlike cardio, which you can safely do for several days in a row, it’s not wise to tap the same muscle group for consecutive strength sessions. “Every time you work out, you’re creating microscopic tears in your muscles, and those areas need time to heal in order to build strength,” Dr. Snibbe says. If you keep burning out the same muscles day after day, you’ll bypass the recovery necessary to make gains—and risk an overuse injury.
What to do instead: Alternate between muscle groups for resistance training. For example, you can strength-train as much as three to four times per week, Dr. Snibbe says, but you might hit chest and triceps one day, back and biceps the next, followed by leg day; or intersperse weight and cardio days. And don’t forget to fit in at least one to two days a week of rest or active recovery (with low-intensity movement, like yoga or a gentle walk).
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5. Doing bootcamp workouts to “get back in shape” ASAP
These workouts consist of a high-intensity combo of cardio and strength-training moves designed to blast your whole body. That’s great if you’re already pretty fit—but bootcamps often appeal to people who haven’t worked out consistently and are looking for a “quick fix” to whip themselves into shape, Dr. Snibbe says. “All of a sudden, you’re sprinting on a treadmill, you’re lifting way-too-heavy weights—you’re going from zero to 100 miles an hour.” But the only thing you’re fast-tracking is your path to fainting or rupturing a tendon.
What to do instead: Remember, there’s no short cut to becoming fit. If you haven’t ever consistently worked out, or you’ve taken a break from doing so, it’s important to ease in, beginning with brief or low-intensity cardio and bodyweight moves, and ramping up slowly and steadily. Focusing on alignment is key when you’re starting out and your stamina is low, Dr. Snibbe says, because form tends to crumble with exhaustion, opening the door for injury.
Original article appeared on SELF
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