Training-related injuries are not as common as people believe, but they still happen (1). An injury can vary in severity and occur because of many reasons. For example, a common way to injure your lower chest muscles is to lift too much weight and strain a pectoral. You can also damage a joint – for instance, your shoulder while bench pressing.
There are other ways to get injured, but you shouldn’t focus on that. So long as you follow our recommendations, you’ll reduce your risk of injury and train safely for many years.
Overview
Despite not being that common, injuries happen. In almost all cases, injuries occur because we recover poorly, train improperly, or don’t listen to signals our bodies give us.
The good news is that preventing injuries is more straightforward than most people imagine. Common sense plays a vital role in preventing injuries, but there are actionable tactics we can use. Some of the techniques are more intuitive, where others are clearer and more actionable. Below, we’ll outline five ways to avoid injuries.
List of 5 Ways to Avoid Injuring Your Lower Chest
- Warm-up well before each workout: Preparing your body for each workout is one of the best time investments you can make (2). Combining some light cardio, stretching, and warm-up sets will deliver the best results. Warming up improves muscle elasticity, optimizes performance, stabilizes your joints, and improves your form.
- Train with weights you can control: Trainees often sacrifice proper form in favor of lifting more weight. But the goal of training is to stay safe and stimulate the right muscles. What good would a few extra pounds on the bar have if they lead to an injury? Always train with weights you can control from start to finish.
- Listen to your body: The great thing about injury prevention is that your body typically sends signals when things are about to go wrong. Aches are always a good indicator that you should slow down or change things up.
- Recover well between workouts: Our muscles, joints, and connective tissues accumulate stress, which can eventually lead to an overuse injury (3). An excellent way to prevent such injuries is to recover well between workouts by giving yourself enough time, sleeping well, and paying attention to your nutrition.
- Improve your flexibility: Stretching your muscles makes them more flexible and resistant to traumas, such as pulls and tears. To reduce your risk of injury, add a couple of chest stretches, such as bent arm and behind the head stretch.
Final Thoughts
Injuries are never fun to have: they hurt, restrict our movements, and force us to spend weeks, even months, outside the gym. While injuries and other traumas might seem outside of our control, we are the ones responsible for our safety in the gym.
The good news is that preventing injuries is more straightforward than most people imagine. Using common sense, listening to your body, and warming up are all beneficial ways to stay healthy and ache-free as you train.
