Injuries, strains, niggles, etc are unfortunately an unavoidable part of anyone’s exercise regime? But when you get an injury, how do you assess whether you should stop you exercise completely or try to carry on?

Tis is a really difficult subject, as obviously each injury and situation is different and therefore should be treated on its own merrit. However I will try to give you all the information you need to make a decision.

In my experience of being a personal trainer, far too many people simply stop exercising and ‘rest’ when they think they have an injury. In truth it’s almost as if feeling a twinge in their knee is exactly the excuse they needed to pull out of a training session.

However 9/10 if you fee a twinge, even if you think it’s joint pain, it will be muscle tightness causing the problem. So some really good stretching, and even better a sports massage therapy session should make it feel a lot better.

The problem is, that if you stop working out every time you feel you have a slight injury you will never reach your fitness goals. You have to learn to work around problems that crop up. For example, if you have a sore knee one day, just concentrate on core and upper body exercises for that session. There is no need to miss your workout altogether.

Today’s Takeaway - Please don’t follow this advice in all situations. You yourself should know if you have incurred a serious injury that needs resting, and if in doubt always consult your physio/doctor.

To grab your copy of Rob’s Free Report ‘Cheat’s Guide to Fat Burning From Home – Simple 5 Step Plan,’ plus 2 other great free gifts, click here; ‘www.homeworkoutsuccess.co.uk/free-report.’

Many exercisers suffer from knee pain of one sort or another. In today’s article I will give you the best tools to (a) get rid of your knee pain and (b) stop yourself incurring it in the first place.

There are obviously many, many different types of knee pain, some far more serious than others. What I will discuss are measures to get rid of less serious and niggling knee pain issues. If you suffer a more serious injury or the pain persists it’s important that you consult you GP.

1/ Stop Running on hard ground. You should never run on the road. The repetitive stress through the knees will cause you pain sooner or later. So either run on soft ground or find alternative training methods.

2/ Always Stretch. Tight muscles is the number 1 reason for joint pain. Regularly stretch all the muscles surrounding the knee over a sustained period of time. This alone may solve the problem.

3/ Strengthen the legs. Performing exercises such as squats and lunges will help strengthen the muscles around the knee and take the pressure of the joint.

Today’s Takeaway- Knee pain is something that can often be caused by years of not taking care of your knees. Implement these measures now and hopefully you will avoid knee pain for the years to come.

To grab your copy of Rob’s Free Report ‘Cheat’s Guide to Fat Burning From Home – Simple 5 Step Plan,’ plus 2 other great free gifts, click here; ‘www.homeworkoutsuccess.co.uk/free-report.’

Injury Prevention is a key area, which most people ignore until it is too late. If you get injured, you can’t exercise – simple. Therefore you fitness goals go totally out of the window. Here are two simple but highly effective injury prevention steps for you to take.

1/ Ensure you warm up properly. Allow a 5-10 minute warm up to get your heart rate up and the blood pumping around your body before engaging in any physical or strenuous activity. In this way your muscles  are given time to adjust to the demands you are about to place on them rather than shocking them into action.

Without warming up you could cause an immediate injury, for example a muscle strain or tear, or alternatively it could cause a wear and tear injury that will develop over time. After you have warmed up properly, a liquid called synovial fluid is released into the joints. The fluid lubricates the joints, meaning when the bones rub together there is not as much friction. Very similar to how a bike or a door hinge stops squeaking if you oil it. Failure to warm up means the fluid will not have time to get into the joints, and injuries may occur.

2/ Ensure you stretch properly at the end. If you don’t stretch you will get tight muscles, which in turn can lead to injury. Any of the following could be caused; increased muscular soreness the next day; increased risk of a muscle strain to the area; increased risk of injury to other parts of your body.

Today’s Takeaway- Don’t neglect the importance of warming up and stretching in injury prevention. If performed properly they will have a big positive impact on your reaching your fitness goals.

Injury Prevention is the holy grail for most exercisers. You can’t stay fit and/or lose weight is you are injured. Is good technique the answer to your problems?

 So what should you do to give yourself the best chance of staying fit and healthy?

Technique is probably the most important factor in injury prevention. If you are unsure about the correct technique,  make sure a trained professional has assessed you technique before attempting anything complex or new.

I haer a lot of statements like; ‘I have been exercising like this for years and haven’t had any injuries, so my technique must be okay.’

Simply because you have always exercised in a certain way doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the right way. Injuries can occur after years of poor technique, it doesn’t have to be one specific event or exercise that causes the problem.

What practical things can I do to improve my technique?

1/ Keep your back in a neutral spine position. Whatever exercise you are doing, if someone put a pole against your back, it would touch on the back of your head, the back of your shoulders and the base of your spine.  Adopting this position will mean you put the minimum strain possible on the discs and ligaments in your back.

2/  Perform repetitions in a slow and controlled manner. Doing certain exercises too quickly will put unnecessary strain through the joint. If you perform a chest press, if you go through the downward phase too quickly, you will be putting far too much stress through the shoulder joint.

3/ When you feel a twinge or niggle whilst exercising, stop and assess the problem. A lot of people choose to fight through the pain barrier, hoping the problem will just sort itself out. If something hurts you body is trying to alert you to a problem and… Read more->