Step Nine: Preventing Injury that Will Slow You Down

Preventing Injury that Will Slow Your Ab Training Down

The average amount of sports related injuries in a year is roughly about seventeen million people. Even if you wear wrist guards and a helmet, you are bound to fall eventually on your skates. There are a million and one ways to injure yourself while exercising and even though you may be safety oriented, they can happen to you. Many people associates “sports” injuries with snapped bones and ripped tendons in traumatic accidents, when it is usually true that many of these injuries occur gradually. Stress that can cause kneecap injuries, stress fractures, shin splits, pulled muscles, and tenderness can also affect a person’s abdominal muscles. Most doctors say that these muscle injuries are from overuse, but you do not necessarily have to work out hard or long to get them.

An abdominal muscle strain, which is also called pulled abdominal muscle, is usually an injury to one of the muscles of the abdominal wall. A muscle strain occurs when the muscle is stretched too far. This occurs when the muscle fibers are torn and most commonly when strains cause a microscopic tear in the muscle. In severe injuries, the muscle can rupture from its attachment.

Ways to prevent these muscular strains are to stretch properly and to focus on the abdominals. Stretching from side to side works the oblique muscles while squats work the lower abdominals. Simply stand with feet shoulder width apart and take deep breaths as you lower your body down. Inhale as you come back up.

Crunches, sits ups, and plank exercises are a few ways to strengthen those muscles and target those washboard abs. After an exercise make sure you stretch as well, by doing a few squats and stretches to help the muscles relax. This helps them to calm and to relax better. Look for signs of injuries and consult a medical professional immediately if something does not feel right. Do not overlook minor pains that do not recover – this is important to find and fix because it can take you out of your workout routine eventually.

Women should try to avoid injuries by making sure they get enough nutrients. This includes calcium, because bone injuries are far more common in women than in men. Improve your odds of a rib cage injury by taking a calcium supplement or getting enough minerals and vitamins crucial to building bone. Dehydration is also a risk factor, because while it is not a “muscular” injury, it can cause cramping of muscles and increases the risk of heat related illness.

Abdominal muscle strains are fairly common injuries because people can over do simple exercises and cause themselves trauma. The best way to avoid this is to only do what you can physically handle – the more you do beyond your capabilities the more likely you are to become injured. A strained abdominal muscle can put you out of commission for several days at least – and that is less time that you are exercising.