Pardon me, but can you hand me my lumbar back. Bodybuilding Injuries

After being in the gym business for the past 17 years I have
seen my share of lifters getting hurt. A majority of the
injuries are shoulder related from bench pressing. Others
include lower back spasms from deadlifting and squatting, torn
biceps from a preacher curl and sore joints. I had a few
injuries myself. I had a major one some years ago in my upper
back/shoulder area. I was doing behind the neck shoulder presses
and all of a sudden I heard a pop and then radiating pain. The
next week I barely could bench an empty bar. It took months to
recover from that uninviting setback. The next thing I asked
myself is what caused this horrific injury and how to not let it
happen again. 

 I was training six days a week at the time and came to the
conclusion I was drastically overtraining. I wasn’t giving my
body enough time to recover from the last workout.

Lets go over some important issues to help prevent injuries.
Make sure to warm up before hitting it hard. Do a little cardio
to get the blood moving and some light stretching. Don’t lift
too much right away. 

 It is best to follow a good cycle or periodization program. A
cycle program varies the weight used and the number of reps each
week. Use a lifting program that works the complete body. This
will help prevent muscle imbalance. 

Did you ever see a lifter that only benches and works his arms.
They start to look hunchback because their chest muscles are a
lot stronger than their back. The stronger chest muscles pull
together. Mix up your routine at least once a month with new
exercises. Keep it fresh. 

 Make sure to fuel your starving muscles after you workout with
the right nutrition. This will help you recover faster and get
ready for the next workout. 

Principles of injury prevention. Warm up properly before
lifting. Don’t stay on a continuous regiment
Don’t lift too much to fast. Stay on a
bodybuilding diet. Don’t Overtrain. Work the
whole body to prevent muscle imbalance 

Since I learned the error of my ways, I haven’t had a serious
injury from bodybuilding since. I not saying following these
principles will totally stop injuries. But it will help prevent
them.

Kevin Doberstein is a Certified Fitness Trainer living in
northern WI. He has been a natural bodybuilder for 25 years. His
web site is www.nature-boy-bodybuilding.com, Nature Boy, Your
Natural Bodybuilding web source. Check out his book at
http://www.cafepress.com/nature_boy_bb.15317423 Pre-Workout
Nutrition for Bodybuilding