One of the key ingredients to maintaining your fitness is being consistent in your exercise. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that those people who maintain a regular exercise routine all year round are the most likely to retain their fitness as they get older and the least likely to have changes in their weight.
One of the keys to being able to exercise consistently is to stay well and injury-free. Nothing is more frustrating to a regular exerciser than to be restricted by an injury. The rest of your body and your heart is saying move, but your injury and head is saying you have to rest. It can cause people to get irritable and mess with their body and brain chemistry.
With that in mind, here are some tips to stay injury free.
Don’t go flat out with enthusiasm
If you’re just getting back into exercise or doing an activity that you haven’t done for a while, don’t go as hard as you can or as hard as you used to. It takes a couple of sessions for the nerves, muscles and blood vessels to remember what is required. Go a bit easy for a couple of sessions and increase the amount and intensity gradually. How long this takes will depend upon how long since you’ve done this activity and your general level of fitness. It doesn’t have to take months. The body will adapt within weeks.
Warm up and cool down properly
The blood supply takes a little while to catch up when you start exercising so you don’t want to fatigue the muscles unnecessarily at the start. Start slowly and increase your activity level gradually. This gives the heart, lungs and blood vessels a chance to supply enough oxygen and remove carbon dioxide.
Vary what you do
Many injuries are caused by overuse – doing the same exercise every day. Ideally muscles have a day’s rest before being called upon again. This is especially the case for impact activities like running.
Giving the muscles a time to recover before they are used again does not mean you have to do nothing. Ideally you would exercise every day but not do the same activity two days running. Even sports such as cycling and swimming, where there is minimal impact can result in overuse injury. Alternate activities so you are using different muscles or at least different actions during the week.
Go harder rather than go longer
Most adults don’t exercise hard enough to get the most benefit from the time they spend. As a result, they do more, thinking that more is the answer. Doing more at a slow pace doesn’t necessarily make you fitter and increases your chance of overuse injuries like stress fractures, stiff or sore joints and muscles, and inflamed tendons and ligaments. If getting fitter or staying fit in the least amount of time is your aim, then go harder not longer.
Listen to your body
While I strongly recommend that you do something active every day, you need to know when to back off. Hold off on exercise when you’re sick or feeling very fatigued. Cut back if you are struggling with an exercise session, feel faint or suffer persistent aches and pains in joints. As a general rule, if you have a cold it is usually safe to exercise, but if you have a flu or temperature it is better to rest or at least do an easy session.
Be realistic after a break from exercise
If you stop exercising for a while, drop back to a lower level of exercise initially. If you’re doing strength training, for example, lift lighter weights or do fewer reps or sets.
Drink up
For most people, simply drinking plenty of water and eating a healthy diet is sufficient. But if you’re training especially hard or doing long training sessions in preparation for an event (the only reason you should be doing long sessions!), choose drinks that replace fluids plus essential electrolytes.
Dress to impress (your body not other people)
Choose clothes and shoes designed for your type of exercise and the climate. Shoes especially can make a huge difference to your chance of injury. If you run or walk regularly, check your shoes every six months to make sure they are still providing adequate cushioning and support.
While on clothing, don’t be tempted to overdress just because the temperature has dropped a bit (in the southern hemisphere anyway). Unless it is very cold, you probably don’t want to add too many extra layers. The body doesn’t like being too hot and you’ll burn more calories if you’re a bit cool!
Always get your technique right
For strength training especially, good technique is essential. Initially use no weight, or very light weights, when learning the exercises. Never sacrifice good form by hurrying to finish reps or sets, or struggling to lift heavier weights.
Even for aerobic activities, poor technique increases your risk of injury. If in doubt, book a session with a professional coach just so they can correct any techniques problems.
Adapt to the environment
Exercising in hot, humid conditions can lead to serious overheating and dehydration. Ease up or do shorter sessions when the temperature or humidity is high. Watch for signs of overheating, such as headache, dizziness, nausea, faintness, cramps, or palpitations.
If you’re sore, wait a day
Delayed muscle soreness that starts 12 to 24 hours after a workout and gradually decreases is a normal response to taxing your muscles. In contrast, persistent or intense muscle pain that starts during a workout or right afterward, or muscle soreness that persists more than a week should be checked out by a health professional.
If you are sore from a previous activity, ease up or do something using different muscles until the soreness has gone.
You won’t get any fitter exercising sore muscles.


