Before You Lift a Weight, Get Some Advice

Before Lift a Weight

It seems unfair when people get hurt while trying to do something good for their bodies. But that is exactly what happened to nearly a million Americans from 1990 to 2007 when they sought to improve their strength and well-being through weight training — exercises done with free weights or on gym equipment called resistance machines. 

To be sure, these injuries are less common than, say, those linked to running, cycling or competitive sports. But a national study, published online in March by The American Journal of Sports Medicine, revealed that these mishaps are on the rise and that they spare no body part, gender or age group. 

The study covered 25,335 people aged 6 to 100 who were taken to emergency rooms with weight-training injuries. The research team, from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said that
worked out to nearly one million such injuries throughout the country, an increase of 48 percent from the beginning of the 18-year study period to the end. 

This year Jessica Cleary, a 40-year-old mother from Chicago, joined the growing number of injured weight trainers. Ms. Cleary said in an interview that she had been working out with free weights and on resistance machines about five times a week for several years. She believed she was well trained, having been guided by a personal trainer for eight months. But on a fateful day last May she slid off a leg-strengthening machine head first, and her neck landed hard on a metal part of the equipment. 

Unable to talk and having trouble breathing, she was taken to an emergency room, where tests showed she had fractured her larynx. A challenging operation and three months of recovery later, she said she felt lucky to have ended up with “only a paralyzed vocal cord” and a permanently raspy voice. 

“At another gym on a similar piece of equipment, a woman broke her neck,” Ms. Cleary told me. 

Safety First

 

Men were injured in more than 80 percent of cases described in the study — hardly surprising since they are the primary users of weight rooms. But the study showed that weight-training injuries were rising faster among women, many of whom have only recently taken up the activity to help with weight control, bone density and overall ability to perform life’s chores. 

Yours truly is now among them. Soon after my husband’s death in March, I realized that without his brawn at my disposal, I needed to enhance my ability to wield heavy tools and carry big loads without hurting my back or shoulders. So, guided by a personal trainer and knowing I have little time to spend in a gym, I learned some simple core-strengthening exercises and bought two sets of free weights to use at home. 

I decided to research and write this column in part because I hope to avoid an injury that could make matters worse instead of better. 

 In the study, sprains and strains to the upper and lower trunk were the most common injuries, and in two-thirds of cases, they resulted from people dropping weights on themselves. More than 90 percent of injuries were incurred using free weights, which were responsible for 24 percent of fractures and dislocations.

While people aged 13 to 24 had the greatest number of injuries, the largest increase occurred among those 45 and older, many of them people like me who want to delay or reverse age-related muscle loss and improve the quality of their later years. 

An author of the Ohio study, Dawn Comstock, principal investigator at the Children’s Hospital’s Center for Injury Research and Policy, said that “before beginning a weight-training program, it is important that people of all ages consult with a health professional, such as a doctor or athletic trainer, to create a safe training program based on their age and capabilities.” It is critical as well to get proper instruction on how to use weight-lifting equipment and learn the proper technique, Dr. Comstock said. 

Ralph Reiff, athletic trainer and director of St. Vincent Sports Performance in Indianapolis, agreed. “The worst thing a person can do is go into a gym, look around to see what other people are doing, and then start doing it,” he said. Before starting out, he said in an interview, ask a qualified professional to “sit down with you to discuss your goals and the activities you currently do, and then design an individualized weight-training program that is safe relative to any problems you may have.” 

In seeking guidance, he said, “don’t be afraid to ask about a trainer’s qualifications.

“Is the trainer certified by the American College of Sports Medicine or the National Athletic Trainers’ Association? Your body is too valuable to take advice from someone without a credible education.”  

He recommended that those considering weight training should first be evaluated as to their abilities and limitations — “can you do a full squat, raise your arms over your head, rotate your trunk with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent?” This would be followed by personalized dos and don’ts in the weight room.

Too Much of a Good Thing

 

The most common cause of weight-training injuries, Mr. Reiff said, is trying to do too much — doing too many repetitions, using too much weight or doing the workout too often. 

These practices can result in muscle injury and torn tendons and ligaments, as well as inflammation of the tendons and bursae (the cushionlike sacs around the joints) — all debilitating injuries that can discourage someone from returning to the gym. Lifting weights that are too heavy can injure the rotator cuff in the shoulder or strain the back. 

Muscles get stronger when they are worked hard, developing microtears that are healed with protein-rich tissue. But when muscles are overstressed, the serious tears that can result are anything but strengthening.

In bench pressing, it is best to use a spotter to make sure the activity is done safely. 

A second common cause of injury is poor technique, Mr. Reiff said. Improper alignment while lifting or using resistance machines can place unnatural or uneven stresses on various body parts. You must have respect for the equipment and know how to use it safely in relation to your size and abilities. The machines themselves can sometimes be a hazard, as Ms. Cleary discovered. 

After an injury, it is critical to give the body the time and treatment it needs to heal before returning to weight-training. This does not necessarily mean totally abandoning a strengthening workout. If shoulders are injured, for example, legs can still be worked safely, and vice versa.