As we emerge from the indulgence of Christmas and enter the new year, many of you will be taking up new exercise regimes to improve your health and fitness. The extra motivation that comes with new year’s resolutions is terribly exciting but that enthusiasm and inexperience makes everyone a little prone to injuries. Here are six of the most common injuries beginners can pick up and how to avoid them.
1. Shoulder Impingement
Subacromial shoulder impingement is most often felt as you raise your arm out to your side and above your head. It occurs commonly with beginners lifting weights because they often don’t have the necessary strength in the small muscles that stabilise the shoulders. The source of pain in impingement is the tendons that travel through the subacromial space. With impingement, the subacromial space becomes narrow and these tendons become pinched between two bones that form the walls of this space.
Why does this happen?
There are many reasons the subacromial space becomes narrow. Most subacromial impingement are created by some combination of these occurrences:
Tight chest muscles draws the scapula forward and down which narrows the subacromial space.
Weak middle and lower traps and rhomboids limits proper movement of the shoulder blade..
Instability of the shoulder allows excessive gliding of the humerus (arm bone) up into the subacromial space.
Slumped thoracic spine (upper back) posture further limits scapular rotation and acromial movement away from the humeral head.
How Can Shoulder Impingement Be Prevented?
Create a balanced workout that reduces chest and anterior deltoid exercises and replaces them with added back and posterior deltoid exercises.
This means doing less bench, front raises and overhead press.
Instead do more close grip rows, bent over lateral raises and face pulls.
Instability can be countered with rotator cuff exercises. This means using the cables to perform internal and external rotation exercises. Check out videos of infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor strengthening.
Slumped posture can be improved with Chiropractic adjustments, fixing your workplace set up and performing thoracic stretching over a foam roller.
2. Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar Fasciitis gives you pain at the sole of the foot and heel that can feel like a knife stabbing you in the bottom of your foot. It occurs with running as a result of repetitive compression or stretching of the plantar fascia (connective tissue at the bottom of the foot). It more commonly affects new runners because they are more likely to be overweight, older and wearing old shoes.
How Can Plantar Fasciitis Be Prevented?
Runners need to reduce the impact on their feet by doing the following:
Run on soft surfaces rather than the footpath.
Buy new shoes with good support.
Get yourself checked for flat feet as they have less spring and are unable to absorb the strain of running.
Start by running short distances and increase the distances gradually over each session.
3. Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (Formerly Known As Shin Splints)
Medial Tibial stress syndrome is microtearing of the muscle attachments to the the tibia (shin bone). It gives runners vague pain in the front of the leg during a run. The pain commonly appears earlier in each subsequent run as the condition gets worse. It occurs often in new runners because it is typically precipitated by a sharp increase in physical activity. Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome is also caused by running on hard or uneven surfaces, wearing worn out shoes, having flat feet and running up hills.
How Can Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome Be Prevented?
Runners need to reduce the impact on their body by doing the following:
Run on soft surfaces rather than the footpath.
Buy new shoes with good support.
Start by running short distances and increase the distances gradually over months.
Avoid hills when starting out.
There are numerous other conditions that can give pain around the shin including tibial stress fractures and chronic exertional compartment syndrome. It is best to get any pain checked with your healthcare provider.
4. Lumbar Disc Injuries
Lumbar (lower back) disc injuries are particularly common in beginners at the gym who hurt themselves squatting or deadlifting. Beginners often hurt themselves due to poor lifting technique and due to a lack of core strength that’s necessary to stabilises the spine. The disc is the spongy cushion that separates each vertebra in the spine. Bending forward with squatting or deadlifting under the added load of the weight can place excessive force on your discs. These injuries cause significant lower back pain and can also cause sciatica (pain felt in the leg but originates from the disc bulging into the spinal nerve that supplies the leg).
How Can Lumbar Disc Injuries Be Prevented?
Maintain a straight lower back throughout these exercises.
Have a personal trainer monitor your deadlift and squat.
Perform these exercises with very light weights – newcomers to weightlifting will feel the burn without lifting heavy weights.
Strengthen your core with crunches, quadruped, planks and side planks.
Get your breathing right. It is encouraged that lifters fill their lungs and hold their breath through a lift.
Warm up your glute muscles with a bridge exercise before you squat or deadlift.
5. Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is a knee pain common in exercise beginners as it’s caused by muscle imbalances that are prevalent in most people that have time away from exercising. This syndrome gives vague pain in the front of the knee during running, squatting or climbing stairs. It’s felt when the knee cap (patella) drifts sideways during knee movement and rubs against the groove at the top of the knee. This sideways drift is called patella maltracking and is caused most often by hip and leg muscle imbalances that enable stronger muscles to pull the patella out to one side. Most commonly, the glutes and VMO are weak which cause the TFL and ITB to become tight and pull on the patella.
How Can Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Be Prevented?
Strengthen your glutes with glute bridge and crab walk exercises.
Foam roll your ITB (the outside of your thigh).
Strengthen your quads (especially the VMO) with knee extension exercises.
Get your squat checked. Avoid becoming knock-kneed during your squat – keep your knee over your pinky toe.
6. Achilles Tendinopathy
Achilles Tendinopathy is a common problem in beginners to running because it is generally precipitated by a sudden increase in activity. The achilles tendon connects the calf muscle to the bone at heel of the foot and so it is placed under great load when you push off your foot while running. Sufferers feel pain and tenderness at the back of the ankle as a result of microtearing of the tendon with activity. In rare cases the achilles tendon can tear all the way through and rupture.
How Can Achilles Tendinopathy Be Prevented?
Perform eccentric calf exercises. These exercises are proven by research to reduce tendon tearing during running.
Warming up and cooling down is essential to prepare the tendon for load bearing.
Start by running short distances and increase the distances gradually over each session.
Avoid hard or uneven surfaces.
Wear new and supportive shoes.
Get assessed for having flat feet and other risk factors.
Give yourself plenty of recovery time between sessions to allow your tendons to heal – Tendons adapt to grow stronger in response to training when given time to recover. They only become weaker with consistent training without sufficient rest.
Scott Leabeater is The Backstory Chiropractic’s Principal Chiropractor. Scott uses up to date research literature to guide an evidence based approach to diagnosis and treatment. His unique professionalism and knowledge has made Scott highly sought after. Throughout his career he has treated everyone from local office workers to Olympic athletes. Scott is an AHPRA registered Chiropractor and member of Chiropractic Australia.