Winter is knocking at the door Winnipeg, back to your gym routine. You must practice the correct posture, form and biomechanics to avoid injury and the right choice in exercise. As a orthopedic physiotherapist, it is crucial to learn the biomechanics of an exercise first; otherwise injuries are eminent. Ask your trainer, yourPhysio or the gym supervisor for education as to how to perform exercise correctly, and gain the greatest benefit.
Ever tweaked a muscle when working out? Whether due to a loss of focus or chronic poor form, getting hurt when exercising can be a huge setback. Fortunately, weight lifting and cardio needn’t be dangerous if you can keep a few concepts in mind. For this blog post, you’ll learn how to stay safe with some of the more common resistance exercises, with good posture and technique.
Try this posture test: When viewed from the side, an imaginary vertical line should pass through your earlobe, the tip of your shoulder, midway through your trunk, over the bony part of your thigh, and then through both your knee and ankle. If there is any deviation from this alignment, like if your ears are in front of your shoulders or your shoulders roll toward your chest, you are set-up for potential injury.
Aside from maintaining ideal posture, try these technique modifications to avoid injuring yourself during 5 common exercises:
1. Squat:
Don’t let you knees drop inward. This common mistake can be remedied if you actively spread your knees apart. Try to keep your back straight as possible, body weight over your heels such that your center of gravity does not fall forward, potentially injury for knees and hips.
Our advice: Doing air squats with a mini band around your thighs is a good way to train proper technique.
2. Deadlift:
Avoid low back injury by maintaining your natural lumbar curvature.
Our advice: Imagine a broomstick running along the length of your spine; if your pelvis curls off the bottom of the stick during the deadlift, then you’ve lost your lumbar curve.
3. Shoulder Press:
Decrease the risk of shoulder impingement by mimicking the natural plane of shoulder motion.
Our advice: Hold your elbows slightly forward of your chest, rather than directly at your sides.
4. Plank:
Spare yourself unnecessary spinal compression by preventing your head and belly from sagging to the floor. Maintain thoughtful and regular ‘belly breathing’ to elicit a better core effort.
Our advice: Tighten your core and shoulder girdle so that you are one straight line from the top of your skull to your ankles.
5. Running:
Land as softly as possible to decrease impact on your joints.
Our advice: One method to do this is by decreasing your stride length, while simultaneously increasing your cadence.
Remember, none of these exercises should be attempted without proper individual instruction; there is no ‘recipe’ that works for everyone, consult yourPhysio or your nearest sportsmed doctor.
