Are Injuries Inevitable?

[paladin235]

I am a weight training/bodybuilding newbie, and just had a conversation today that got me worried. I was told by a personal trainer that injuries are inevitable and are guaranteed to happen if I keep lifting weights. I always thought that if you used proper form, and don't try to use weights that are too heavy before you are ready for them, you wouldn't have a problem.

A little more background though. I recently signed up for a personal trainer program at my gym, basically because I wanted to transition from machines to free weights, and I need someone to watch me to make sure that I am using correct form.

One of the managers who signed me up for the program had me work with a trainer who wanted to put me through a 'boot camp' program that I was not interested in! After a few appointments, I finally got him to show me how to do a deadlift. I practiced it for about 2-3 weeks, until I bumped into the original manager who signed me up. He watched me do the deadlift and told me that my form was completely wrong, and I was headed for a back injury! After that I noticed that my back was pretty sore, beyond the usual muscle soreness that I usually experience. A few minutes later another member of the gym also agreed that I was doing it the wrong way too!

Anyway the manager recommended that I start working with another trainer. After waiting for his schedule to clear up, I met with him earlier tonight. He then told me what I mentioned above, that injuries are inevitable.

I am skeptical of his claim. I also feel like he was just trying to cover up for his buddy! While doing the deadlift I noticed that my back was curved. I have read and seen on this site that your back must not be curved! He told me that some people naturally have curved backs and that I shouldn't worry about it!

At this point I am wondering WTF is going on!!! Why am I actually paying money if they can't help me!!!!

What can I do about this????

[HeavyMetalLover]

Any possibility is inevitable. It's a part of life. This isn't something from the physical side. It's more of a cosmic intervention blah blah blah blah you get it.

I've only suffered a minor RC injury but it really hurts.

[XADO]

Minor sprains, injuries, over-training and all the simple things, a dumbbell on the pinky....are mostly inevitable :D......

Major injuries can be prevented... try to get a feel and knowledge about what you do, your health is mostly in your hands, besided the trainers and friends :D....

[Austere]

http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Safety.html


Weight training injury rates are low.

General Population (Powell et al. 1998)
Athletes (Hamill 1994, Zemper 1990)
Free weights do not produce more injuries, compared to machines (Ralph et al. 1993).

Weightlifting injuries are lower than those sustained in other sports (Hamill 1994, Stone 1990, Stone et al. 1993).

Sports Injury Rates (Hamill 1994)
Sport

Injuries (per 100 hours)

Soccer (school age) 6.20
UK Rugby 1.92
USA Basketball 0.03
UK Cross Country 0.37
Squash 0.10
US Football 0.10
Badminton 0.05
USA Gymnastics 0.044
USA Powerlifting 0.0027
USA Volleyball 0.0013
USA Tennis 0.001
Weight Training 0.0035 (85,733 hrs)
Weightlifting 0.0017 (168,551 hrs)


You're almost 2000 times more likely to be injured playing soccer than you are lifting weights.

[mc-]

To quote pavel tsatsouline: yes. you might die.

I'm not sure about the above stats in terms of what constituted injury
i've yet to work with someone who's been in the gym for more than a year who hasn't had some gym related tweak.

- there's an old joke about asking folks in a weight room so how many of you have had shoulder injuries?

half the room raises their hand; the other half can't.

Most injuries happen at end range of motion or deceleration.
That's where they happen - not why they happen there. The biggest issues in the weight room are:

poor form/technique - not putting reps into cycles perfecting technique before adding load
pushing beyond control - so trying to squeeze in reps without being able to control form - too fatigued to maintain quality - which is when a tendon or muscle gets tweaked with the limb going somewhere it's not used to going.
- and part of poor form technique - doing too much work in one plane of motion/angle/muslce group so not working the complementary groups and then getting tendon issues.


In weight work, few of us spend time practing just movement to build a map of our motion for our brain.
In any sport (besides this one) folks spend tons of time working patterns and technique before putting it into the game.
For us that would be working the movement and our muscles range of motion before adding lots of load. Before pressing it might be doing shoulder cam shafts, top and bottom, side and cross body shoulder circles - it might be practicing band work at the end of our flexion range of motion (when we press, we rarely go back as far as we can in the shoulder - so if we do inadvertently our brain doesn't know what to do with that, freaks out and things tear).

SO WE CAN MITIGATE the risks of injury by working vision, balance and proprioception deliberately as part of our practice.

And without being slaves to sets and reps. Here's a bit more on the last point
http://www.begin2dig.com/2010/06/one-less-rep-its-ok-not-to-finish-set.html

hope that helps,
mc