Causes of injuries...

[T-Rage]

Coming off a triceps injury and more recently and more seriously a lower back injury I thought it would be a good idea to for all of us who have had injuries to post what they believe caused their injuries in hopes that others can learn from our unfortunate mistakes.

Here are some broad categories...

Lack of proper warm-up
Too much weight
Extreme range of motion
Lack of stretching
Overtraining - Too much volume/intensity along with a lack of rest

Triceps Injury
Cause - Overtraining

Anxious to get back into lifting after a few months of a layoff I was doing intense heavy bag work on one day, then Chest the following day, then intense heavy bag work the next day, and finally the next day I did a heavy shoulder workout and bam! The injury was in a tendon in the funny bone area of my elbow and would cause extreme pain when moved a certain way. This is still healing.

Lower Back Injury
Cause - Lack of proper warm-up, extreme range of motion, lack of stretching

I was starting a running program. I was late getting to the track one night and it was getting dark. I usually walk a half mile before even jogging but that night I barely walked and started jogging before being properly warmed up. I felt tight but worked through it. The next day I was sore but nothing major. Then the following day (I was still sore) I was squatting with light weight but was not warmed up or stretched properly and ended up going too deep (beyond my ROM). Well that was it and bam! I spent the next 2 weeks barely able to get out of bed and now 3 months later and a month of PT I am healing but far from being healed. This was/is the biggest set back of my entire life and has changed how I approach my training entirely. I will never again touch a weight without doing atleast 15 minutes of cardio and atleast 10-15 minutes of stretching.

 

[CollegeKid]

very good thread idea!

the only injury i've ever had was with my wrists. kept messing them up badly from bench press when i was first starting. solution: took time off, lost the gloves with "wrist support", did forearm/wrist work, and moved on to DB bench.

 

[Lord_Suston]

Shoulder injury= Bad spotter
before I could get the last rep up he pull toward him and the weight started to drop below the racking pins causing my shoulder to slightly dislocate

 

[Spectre]

From my experience.

1) coming back from a layoff, the strength comes back too quick and riiiiiiiiip...
2) Lack of flexibility. My ROM goes to nothing when on or making good gains. I have devoted 1 day a week to cardio and stretching.
3) Making good gains on a new movement. Example: Last month I added box squats, never done them before in my life. Making great gains every week and blew my quad up. Pace yourself.

 

[michaelcoutts]

I am a regular injury sufferer so i have a few things to add.

1) Genetics can determine a persons ability to stay injury free. This is one area i do not excel in.

2) Lack of flexibility can make it easier for a muscle fiber to overstretch and strain.

3) Insufficient warmup can lead to a shock to the muscle fiber causing a strain.

4) Muscular imbalances eg. tight pecs and weaker back. This can put the tendons and particular joints into awkward posistions making injuries commen.

5) Rapid strength and muscle gains can cause a muscle tendon imbalance which will can cause a tendon tear.

I can smell my dinner so i think that is all i will say

 

[Y_lifter]

Knee injury..
Old Man Running on a Treadmill that had Speed control issues.

Lifting Cold
Too much weight too soon
Trying to go beyond 1-2 reps after failure without GOOD help.
Incorrect Movement on lifts especially Deads and Squats

 

[Exodus]

the biggest advice i can offer is this. for low back most people dont realize that a good chunk of the lower back injury's come from non flexible, unstretched hamstrings. i train abs for strength because i have a bad low back. then i built up my lower back to a 440lb beltless strapless conventional deadlift 2 years after my pulled muscle. at my last contest i decided i was going to the the splits at the end of my routine. so i trained strething for 2 months to be able to do it. the result, i quit wearing a belt. after the contest was over i kept training without it and built up some good core strength. the only time by low back hurts now is after leg day, not becuase of the workout, but becuase of my tight hammies, the pull down on the back causing an unillignment of the spine.

so if your back is hurting next time, try so toe touching stretches and thank me later.

X

 

[jeremys]

last june i was doing light stiff-legged deads with too much range of motion. i was only using about 200 pounds, but i was bending way over w/ my head down. i heard a 'pop' sound in my lower back on the left side for 5 reps, then i stopped. i couldn't walk that day but the week after that my dad made me work construction with him, so that aggrivated it horribly. i did some light back and ham stretching, light good mornings, band good mornings, and more stretching. i've recently added in weighted ab and lower back work. i'm going light in squats and deads, the weights are pathetically low, and it still hurts for days after a squat/dead session.

toe-touching stretches don't stretch it good enough and neither does any other stretch i know of. it still hurts today

 

[collegiateLifter]

when i think back injuries are so easy to avoid, most of the time with me its overtraining and/or a moment of stupidity/indiscretion where i break form and boom

 

[danielson]

the majority of times for me its overtraining an area. by elbows have been suffering a lot recentyly because ive been training with the heavy bag, push ups and low rep weights HARD....hence a similar thing going on, there are areas of the elbow very prone to injury, big powerful muscles tuggin on tiny little bits of bone not designed for that stress dont help (hence tennis and golfers elbow)

not warming up properly was what caused my biggest back injury. that and continuing to workout even though i could feel EXTREME pain.....really stupid on my part. grinded oput 1 hr just so i could miss the next 2 weeks in bed. i know better now

once a bad spot almost made me lose a shoulder, one side was lifetd more than another during bench....

thankfully my form is fairly constant now, early on this used to be the biggest cause of injury 4 me