Gym Safety Tips for Beginners
Weight training is generally safe IF you know what you are doing. If you don’t,serious injuries or even death can happen.
Here are some tips to keep your training safe.
Do not ego lift.
Overestimating how much you can lift, or lifting more while sacrificing technique in order to impress others is the most common mistake at the gym.
If you are a beginner, start with the bar, and progress slowly enough to maintain control of the weight. Jumping up in weight by 45 plates at a time is not a great idea.
You can progress faster in the beginning, but you should always progressivley increase the weights to ensure it is something you can handle.
Have proper safety set ups.
The deadlift is the safest compound exercise in the sense that you won’t at any point get under the weight. Yet still, without good technique many people end up hurting their backs.
The squat is a bit sketchier as the weight is on you. This is why you want to have safety racks set up the height of your mid thigh. I would not always trust that a random person at the gym is gonna be a good spotter or able to help you in the squat. So use racks.
The bench press is the most dangerous when you don’t know what you are doing. Biggest mistake you can make in the bench is to not have a spotter and have the bar clipped at the ends. While clipping your weight in the squat, for example, is smart, in the bench press it is not ideal in the scenario that you get under the bar. In this case you could tilt the bar to slide of the plates from one side, but if the weights are clipped you can’t. You could still roll the bar over your abdomen and hip, but that is very painful. Even worse is when people slip the bar over their throat. Always have a spotter! You can also use safety racks in most benches, or if any squat racks are available, you can set up the rack for bench pressing and use the safety racks like in the squat.
Practice your technique.
The biggest hazard is ending up under heavy weights, but proper technique is also key to avoid injuring yourself. Practise lifts with a PT, or at least study techniques from video and then record yourself doing them.
Links:
Fitness/Kuntoilu:
Foam Roller/Putkirulla - https://amzn.to/4fO0OTX
Wooden Stick/Puutikku - https://amzn.to/3yRhAAO
Yoga Mat/Joogamatto - https://amzn.to/3yL0ogl
Resistance Bands/Vastusnauhat - https://amzn.to/3Maao5M
Gadgets:
Withings Smart Weighing Scale/Withings älykäs vaaka - https://amzn.to/4cIB9ce
Apple Smart Watch/Apple älykello - https://amzn.to/3XfTfxY
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
