Injuries

If you want to realize your bodybuilding goals, avoiding injuries should be your top priority each time you step into a gym. If fate strikes and you get injured anyway, getting rid of the injury completely and as fast as possible should become your top priority. Fortunately, bodybuilding is one of the safest sports that exist, because each movement you make is fully planned in all details, and under complete control of yourself. Unless somebody drops a dumbbell on your head, or kicks against your leg while you are doing heavy s uats, you should be able to avoid any serious injuries if you follow some simple guidelines. !ince I am not a medical doctor, and only had a limited number of injuries myself, I am certainly not an expert in this field. "owever, over #$ years of experience as a true natural bodybuilder, and several injuries later, I certainly built some basic knowledge and understanding on the subject, which I believe is worthwhile sharing with you. If you want to know even more about injuries, search the internet for the information you need. If you ever become the victim of a serious injury, always consult a medical professional.

Kinds of Injuries
I do not discuss here all types of injuries because there are too many, and because I don%t know enough about all of them. &herefore, I will focus on the ones that I am most familiar with, and most fre uently occur among true natural bodybuilders.

Lower back injuries

'lmost everybody has experienced or will experience sooner or later some kind of pain in the back. (specially lower back pain fre uently occurs, not only to bodybuilders, but to all people. 'lthough lower back pain can be very debilitating, in most cases it is very innocent and goes away automatically after a couple of days. 'n innocent and minor mechanical problem somewhere along the complex structure of the spinal column, such as a muscle cramp for example, may have caused the pain. In some cases, however, lower back pain can be the result of a very serious injury) a spinal disc herniation *disc bulge+, which basically means that the outer, fibrous ring of one of your intervertebral discs is torn and allows the softer central portion of the disc to bulge out and press onto a nerve root. &his does not only cause a very debilitating pain, but it also can damage the nerve so seriously that some muscles in your lower body, most fre uently the legs, may get temporarily or even permanently paralyzed. In severe cases, emergency surgery may even be re uired. &herefore, all lower back pain should be taken very seriously. ' light spinal disc herniation may heal by itself within a few weeks or months of rest. "owever the spinal disc will always remain a weak spot, and the disc damage and pain may recur and even worsen, if you start using your back incorrectly again, or if you put too much stress on it.

Tendonitis
&endonitis basically is a very painful inflammation of a tendon, which is caused by the accumulation of microscopic tears in the tendon due to chronic overuse. ,ecause bodybuilding workouts are extremely stressful for the muscles as well as the tendons *tendons connect the muscles to the bones+, tendonitis fre uently occurs among bodybuilders. &endonitis can be very painful and can take very long to heal completely. -ou mainly feel the pain when you flex or stretch the muscle that is connected to the tendon, or when you press hard with your fingers directly on the tendon. If treated early and correctly *mainly by rest+, a tendonitis can heal completely, but it may recur very easily. If you don%t let a tendonitis heal, the tendon may completely break during an intense workout.

Torn muscles and tendons

's discussed above, a torn tendon can be the end results of an untreated tendonitis. "owever, in some cases a healthy tendon may also suddenly break or even tear of the bone, without any warning, in the middle of a very heavy workout. &his usually occurs during extreme heavy lifting or by really jerking the weight up in an uncontrolled manner. &he latter can also cause the muscle itself to tear partly or completely. ' torn muscle or tendon is usually uite painful, and you immediately feel that you lose any power in the concerned muscle. -ou may also notice blood accumulation at the location of the tear. &orn muscles and tendons need to be fixed surgically.

Strains and sprains

' strain, also known as a pulled muscle, is an injury in which a few muscle fibers are torn as a result of overstretching the muscle. &he e uivalent injury to a ligament *fibrous tissue connecting two bones+ is a sprain. &ypical symptoms of a strain include localized pain, swelling, stiffness, inflammation, and bruising around the strained muscle or ligament. !trains and sprains do not often occur to bodybuilders because they are mainly the result of sudden, unexpected, unnatural, or extreme movements. !trains and sprains almost always heal completely by themselves after a few days or weeks of rest.

Joint or cartilage damage

If you don%t perform you repetitions in a controlled way, and let the weight bounce at the bottom of your reps, or allow an overextension of your joints, you will very likely sooner or later be suffering from joint or cartilage damage. Usually the damage is the results of long term incorrect use of your joints. "owever, it may also be the result of one very wrong movement, especially when you make uncontrolled, jerking movements with very heavy weights. .amaged joints or cartilage usually results in unstable and painful joints, especially during exercise. &he damaged tissue can cause a local inflammation and water accumulation within the joint. /oint or cartilage damage is usually permanent.

How to Prevent Injuries

Injuries are the biggest enemy of every bodybuilder, because they can have a very negative effect on the uality and the results of your workouts, or even stop you completely from training a specific muscle group for a limited or a prolonged period of time. Unfortunately, some types of injuries do never heal completely, and will hamper your workouts for the rest of your life. &herefore, preventing injuries is of primordial importance if you want to become a successful bodybuilder in the long term.

Lower back lessons

!ome lower back injuries, especially spinal disc herniations, are extremely serious because they can cause a very debilitating pain that can become chronic, and in bad cases they can cause a permanent damage of a nerve root, resulting in partial or total paralysis of some muscles in your lower body. 'lthough spinal disc herniations can be prevented rather easily, they occur uite fre uently because most people use their back incorrectly. 0ost people, including bodybuilders, use their back incorrectly because they don%t know how to do it right, or because they underestimate the risks they take. It is a misunderstanding to think that having big and strong muscles in the back area will prevent you from getting a spinal disc herniation. 1o matter how strong or muscular you are, if you lift heavy weights the wrong way, you run a very big risk of getting one of your spinal discs damaged sooner or later. !pinal disc herniations, however, are certainly not only caused by incorrect lifting of heavy weights. &hey can as well occur as the result of long term faulty use of your back during very simple, everyday activities such as sitting, sleeping, picking up something from the floor, or lifting light objects. &he main aspect in preventing spinal disc damage is to keep your back, especially the lower part, always in a naturally straight position during standing, sitting, lying, and especially during lifting or picking up objects. 2henever you lift an object or pick something up from the floor, you should make a s uatting movement and keep your back straight all the time. 3eep your back straight throughout the movement and only bend at your knees and hips. .o never bend forward at the waist with your knees straight, as this puts extreme tension on your spinal discs, even if you don%t lift any object at all.

wrong lift good lift !ome of the most dangerous bodybuilding exercises for the lower back are) bent4over barbell row, &4bar row, deadlifts, goodmornings, and all s uat movements, especially heavy barbell s uats and front s uats. I recommend you to replace these exercises by safer alternatives such as seated machine row, lying &4bar row, hyperextensions, and machine hack s uats. If you still chose to do any of these dangerous exercises, always keep your back 5$$6 straight throughout the movement, and only allow your knees and hips to bend. 2earing a leather weight lifting belt helps you keeping your lower back straight during heavy lifts.

Warm up and stretc

In order to prevent any of the other injuries to the muscles, tendons, ligaments and cartilage of the joints, there are basically three important aspects) warm up, stretch, and uality reps. ,efore you start to train a muscle all out with heavy weights, it is important to warm up the muscles, their tendons, and the joints involved in the exercises that you are going to perform. 2arming up basically means to increase the temperature of the tissues by pumping warm blood in those areas by doing some high repetition sets of an exercise with light weights. 2arm muscles, tendons, and ligaments are more resistant to injuries.

!tretching your muscles, tendons, and ligaments during and after your warm up, increases their flexibility and elasticity, and decreases their vulnerability to microscopic tears that can occur during heavy exercises. ,efore each muscle workout, I usually do # set of about #$ reps of an exercise with very light weights *#$ 4 7$6 of the weight of my first real set+. 'fter each of these warm4up sets, I stretch the muscles for about 57 seconds. ' third very important aspect in preventing injuries is to perform all your exercises by means of well controlled uality reps. It is very important to do your reps in a slow and controlled manner, without jerking the weight up and letting it fall back down.

Stop w en it urts
' last and very important aspect in preventing, or at least minimizing, injuries is to stop your exercise as soon as you feel any abnormal pain in any muscle, tendon, or joint. &he biological function of pain basically is to give a signal, which tells you that something is going wrong and immediate action should be taken to prevent worse. 8istening to your body, and stopping immediately as soon as a feel the slightest pain, can save you lots of problems and frustrating delays in your bodybuilding results. 'pplying ice on the injured area is very helpful in preventing swelling and inflammation.

!ecovering from injuries

2henever you catch an injury that doesn%t heal by itself within a couple of days, you should consult a medical professional to get a correct diagnosis and an appropriate therapy. 2hatever the diagnosis and therapy may be, some aspects of the recovery process will always be the same, because they are an essential part in the healing process of any trauma, or of major importance in getting your body ready again for intense bodybuilding workouts without damaging the same tissue again. &he following paragraphs discuss some aspects that I believe are essential or very effective for the recovery of any kind of injury.

!est" rest" rest

1o matter what therapy or medication your doctor may present to you, rest will be the most important contributor to the actual healing of the damaged tissue. 's long as you continue to stress the injured tissue, it will not heal, or even get worse. &herefore you should avoid any exercises and movements that put stress on the injured tissue, or cause pain at that location. It may take weeks or even months before the pain is completely gone. 9nly when the pain is gone for 5$$6, you can be sure that the tissue is completely healed. In the meantime you will have to rest, or limit yourself to exercises that don%t put any direct stress on the injured area, and don%t cause any pain at all during execution.

#ppl$ ice
'pplying ice on the injured area right after an accident is very helpful in preventing that the injured tissue starts swelling and developing inflammation. :ut some ice cubes in a plastic bag and place it on the injured area for 5$457 minutes. ;epeat this several times per day until the swelling and inflammation is gone. (specially when recovering from a tendonitis it is very important to use cold therapy after each workout.

%ompression and elevation

'pplying compression to and elevation of an injured limb are two other effective ways to prevent and treat excessive swelling. ;educing the swelling will results in less pain and will accelerate the recovery of the injured tissue.

&assage
!ometimes an injury does not heal by itself and continues to hurt even after many weeks of total rest. If that is the case, massage may offer a solution. 2hile massage is certainly not the ideal solution for all chronic injuries, some types of injuries respond very well on massage therapy, especially if soft tissues are involved such as muscles, fascia, tendons and ligaments. &here exist many kinds of massage, but here I am talking about a specific kind of deep tissue and cross fiber massage in which very high pressure is applied on the painful tissue by the fingertips. Unless you cannot reach the painful spot yourself, it is recommended to perform the massage yourself because nobody else can better locate the exact spot and apply the right pressure. &his type of massage works very well if the pain is caused by cramped muscles, chronic inflammation, deposits of calcium or uric acid, and structural problems caused by scar tissue formation. "igh pressure applied on cramped muscles is known to be very effective in relaxing the muscles and relieving the pain. &he problem of sustained muscle cramps is very common in muscles that contribute to your posture, such as back, shoulders and neck muscles. "igh pressure deep tissue and cross fiber massage can also be very effective in resolving problems caused by excess scar tissue formation after an injury and to promote the healing of a chronic inflammation as in tendonitis. "igh pressure deep tissue massage increases the blood flow and stimulates the natural healing process, whereas cross fiber massage breaks up excessive scar tissue and stimulates restoration of the normal functional tissue structures. &o be successful, very high pressure has to be applied to the painful tissue, resulting in even more pain the first few days after the massage. &his pain will gradually decrease the days after the massage. If the pain is not completely gone 74< days after the massage, you may need to repeat it with even higher pressure. .epending on the severity of the injury it may take several weeks to reach complete recovery.

!ebuild graduall$

2hen the pain is gone after a few weeks or months of rest, the damaged tissue of your injury is probably largely healed. "owever, this doesn%t mean that you are again the old guy. &he injured muscle, tendon, ligament, or cartilage is not replaced= it is kind of recovered but still wears the scars of the injury, and probably always will. -ou are not yet as good as new. -ou have to rebuild the condition of the muscle, tendon, ligament, or cartilage as much as possible. 'nd this may take several extra weeks or months, depending of the severity of the initial injury. If you would immediately start training again at 5$$6 intensity, the healed tissue would get damaged again, and the problem would start all over again. &herefore you have to rebuild very gradually the condition and resistance of the healed tissue. &he best way to do this is by very light resistance training and gradually, week after week, increasing the intensity bit by bit. For a severe injury, such as a tendonitis or a torn muscle, I believe you should start training the muscle again > times per week at only 5$6 of its intensity. .o 5 or # sets of 574#7 reps of a couple of exercises with 5$6 of the weight that you would normally use. (very week you increase the intensity by about 5$6, gradually increase the number of sets, and decrease the fre uency of your exercises. 2hen the intensity of your training is back at 7$6, reduce the fre uency of your exercises back to once per week, but keep ? days after your training a very light training session of a couple of sets at only #$6 intensity to speed up the recovery of your high intensity workout. If everything goes well, you should be back at 5$$6 intensity after about > months. I would recommend you to keep for a few months the light workout session at #$6 intensity between your normal workouts. 2henever you take a break from training of longer than 5 week, I would strongly advise you to be very careful when you start working out again, and do your first workouts at a much lower intensity then you would normally do *let%s say 7$6+ in order to avoid overloading your muscles and especially your tendons. ;eserve a couple of weeks to get back into your normal rhythm at 5$$6 intensity. 't first sight this may sound like a waste of time, however, my experience tells me that it will save you lots of troubles by avoiding tendon inflammations and other annoying injuries.

Warm up and stretc

,ecause the healing tissue is very vulnerable and has reduced flexibility and elasticity, it is very important to do a few warm up sets and a couple of minutes careful stretching before every workout, in order to avoid damaging the same tissue again. .o before each workout # set of about #$ reps of an exercise with very light weights *#$ 4 ?$6 of your normal weight+. 'fter each of these warm4up sets, carefully stretch your muscles for about 57 seconds each.

%onclusion
'lthough bodybuilding is a relatively safe sport, you will probably get your portion of injuries too. ,ecause every injury implies a significant setback in your bodybuilding goals of at least a few weeks or months, and not rarely impacts your training ability for the rest of your life, you should do anything possible to prevent them. &he best ways to prevent injuries is to warm up and stretch before every workout, to perform your exercises correctly, using good form and uality reps with moderate weights that you can fully control. 'lways keep you back straight during heavy lifting, and stop your workout completely as soon as you feel the slightest pain. &raining with pain will result in serious injury. In case you catch a serious injury, and the pain doesn%t go away by itself after a couple of days, consult a medical professional for a correct diagnosis and appropriate therapy. ;est will always be an essential part of the initial healing process, whereas massage may offer a solution for chronic conditions. 2hen the pain is gone for 5$$6, start rebuilding the condition and resistance of your injured muscle, tendon, or joint very gradually, and pay extra attention to your warm4ups and stretching. 2henever you take a break from training of longer than 5 week, reserve a few weeks to get back into your normal rhythm of 5$$6 training intensity. For more information on a specific sports injury you can take a look at the !ports Injury @linic site.