Essential Weight Lifting Safety Tips
Make your training safe with these essential weight lifting safety tips. It might be the most important page at Real Weight Lifting!
Warm Up
A simple way to maximise weight lifting safety is to warm-up before your session. It’s a good idea to get the heart pumping and blood flowing before you begin your weight lifting. Five minutes on the exercise bike at a moderate pace is sufficient.
The goal is to get your muscles and joints warm and pliable to reduce the chance of tearing anything as you lift.
As for stretching, it’s been proven that stretching prior to lifting weights actually takes some of the tension out of the muscle – think about a spring before and after it’s been stretched – and as such you might find you’re able to lift less weight if you stretch first.
However, unless you’re a competitive lifter or strength athlete, it’s a good idea to do some light stretching before lifting weights. Stretch the relevant muscles before your session begins, holding the static stretches for 8-10 seconds each.
Avoid Failure
“Muscular failure” is defined as the point in a set where you have reached your physical limit, and have to exert all your strength and will to complete the last rep. Training to failure means you do repetitions up to the point where you couldn’t even begin to lift the bar for one more.
The vast majority of lifters really shouldn’t be training to failure anyway – whether you're training for strength, size, or power, you’ll experience better gains by staying a couple of reps away from failure.
Aside from it's negative effect on your gains, muscular failure is simply unsafe. Pushing yourself that far can be very dangerous – a lot can go wrong (think ligaments, tendons, blood vessels) when you’re that close to your physical limit. Training to failure is a surefire way to compromise your weight lifting safety.
Stay a couple of reps away from complete muscular failure, and you’ll stay safe.
Always use locks
Sounds simple, but sometimes, people get lazy. If the locks are on, weight doesn’t go flying everywhere should you drop a barbell or accidentally overload one side. Toes don’t like 45lb plates!
Train with ample space around you
Should something go wrong, especially with standing barbell movements like the military press, squat or snatch, you want ample space around you to offload the barbell.
In fact, something is more likely to go wrong if you’re squeezed in tightly next to gym members or furniture at home.
The reason is, when you’re focussed on avoiding your surroundings, you’re not focussed on applying yourself to the lift and using proper form.
So clear a space beforehand, and don’t be afraid to ask people to move in the gym – they’d much prefer that, than if you clipped them with a barbell as you lift - or something far worse. Weight lifting safety comes first.
Use proper form!
The importance of proper form really can not be stressed too heavily. The exercises listed on this website are all extremely safe if performed correctly.
Poor form is probably the number one cause of injuries in the weights room. Check out the correct form in the exercise section, and if you train in the gym, have a trainer watch your form and give you feedback.
Only increase the weight on a lift if you can maintain perfect form. For the majority of lifts, good form includes lifting the weight smoothly and under control - that means no extra jerking or swinging motions to get the weight up.
Good form in most exercises requires strength in the abs, lower back and hips. These are the “core” muscles that keep your body stabilised when performing physical activity.
If you find your form failing on some exercises before the muscles you’re targeting get a decent workout, it’s probably a core strength issue. In that case, you should look into developing that aspect of your fitness.
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Weightlifting Safety – Keep Things Safe
Some of the most common injuries that take place in the gym or during a weightlifting routine include injuries to joints (knees, shoulders, elbows, etc.), the lower back, and of course, various muscle groups. For the most part, these injuries are the result individuals who fail to follow proper lifting techniques, try to lift too much weight, fail to warm up, or fail to stretch properly.
Weightlifting safety is an important component to any weightlifting workout or exercise routine. The risk of injury can be greatly reduced if individuals simply take the time to follow a few weightlifting safety guidelines.
Before You Start
Before beginning any exercise or weightlifting routine, it is always best to pay a visit to a doctor or physician to rule out any potential physical problems. A thorough physical exam will reveal any problems that an individual may have with joints, muscles, or any other physiological functions that might be affected by certain types and levels of exercise. A physical exam can also be a beneficial tool in helping an individual personally tailor a workout to his or her needs.
Take Your Time And Warm Up
No weightlifting workout is ever complete without a good warm up and stretching session. Take the time to stretch out the entire body (from head to toe) paying more attention to the muscles that are going to be used and trained the most during the workout. Although times might differ from individual to individual, most experts recommend spending at least 15 to minutes stretching.
Along with a stretching session, individuals should also spend some time warming up. A warm up before a weightlifting session can not only prevent injury, but also prepare the muscles for the workout to come. A warm up session can include anything from a jog or a brisk walk, to a set of lifts using light weights right before the actual lift. The main key is not to jump right in to a big lift before the body is ready to start.
Choose The Proper Weight
Before beginning a weightlifting workout, and to promote weightlifting safety, it is very important for an individual to select the proper weight level. Although most individuals may have a difficult time finding the right amount of weight at first, the general rule is to start with light weights. For safety reasons, it is always best to start out too low than to start out too high.
Unless a person has access to a personal trainer, the best approach to take is to select a weight that can be lifted at least 15 times, while still being able to maintain proper technique and form. Consider this a warm up weight. If the weight feels light when you are lifting it 15 times during warm ups, then you've probably found the right weight. With a little adjustment, a person can find the right weight relatively quickly.
Keep Things Clean
One of the easiest ways to avoid injuries in the weight room is to keep the area clean. Leaving weights on the floor or in areas that cause obstructions can be an easy way for an individual to be injured, usually by stubbing a toe or tripping over a weight. Rack all weights and use collars to keep heavier weights from slipping off of the bar.
Always Make Sure
Sometimes when individuals use weightlifting machines, they forget to properly place the pin that holds the weight in place. Failure to secure this pin can cause the weights to fall – sometimes onto a person's fingers. Always make sure that the pin is securely inserted before beginning any lift.
During The Lift
There are three very important things that any individual must do, in terms of weightlifting safety, to make sure he or she will not suffer an unnecessary injury. First, it is always important for an individual to practice proper technique and form. Whether lifting alone or with a partner, most machines and weightlifting stations will contain a diagram illustrating the proper lifting procedure for each individual lift. Following proper weightlifting technique is essential for a beneficial workout and for avoiding injuries.
During some lifts, certain areas of the body can become stressed and injured. The areas of the body most commonly injured include the hands, neck, and back. To protect the hands, a pair of weightlifting gloves is usually enough to prevent the development of calluses and blisters. A thick towel behind the neck is a good way to protect the neck from injury during squats, while a weightlifting belt is an excellent way of protecting the back, especially when an individual is lifting heavier weights.
The final, and perhaps most important weightlifting safety tip is to consider the use of a spotter. While an individual can get away with not using a spotter during certain lifts, most injuries in the weight room happen when individuals try to do too much or something new without the help of someone who knows what is going on. Take advantage of the people around you and ask for a quick spot – it doesn't look as wimpy as a person might think.
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Weight Lifting Safety
Once, in the process of loading a leg press, I dropped a 45 lb. plate on my foot. When I went to have it X-rayed, the doctor said that nothing was broken, but that I should definitely be more careful in the future. Thanks, doc, I thought. It wasn’t that I was being intentionally careless with that plate. I simply let my mind wander for a moment, and the next thing I knew, the plate had slipped and my foot was in agony. If I can do it, anyone can; so a few words on the importance of weight lifting safety seemed appropriate.
When lifting weights in the gym, you are responsible for your own safety, as well as the safety of those around you. If you’ve ever almost (or actually) been bumped by someone trying to negotiate a huge barbell around a row of benches, you probably understand how important it is to pay attention to your surroundings while in the weight room. The mirrors that line the walls of most gyms can help you keep an eye out, but it’s always good to pay attention to what you are doing and what those around you are doing.
A second important component of weight lifting safety is proactive injury prevention by always using good form. Whenever you’re lifting a heavy weight you should take measures to protect your back and any other joints or muscles at risk. When lifting from the floor or from a rack, you should always have bent knees and engage your abdominal muscles. It is best to use two hands to pick up heavier pieces of equipment or those that are more difficult to hold, like plates.
Releasing weights after a set also presents an opportunity for injury or mishap. How many times have you seen or heard someone just drop a huge set of dumbbells to the ground? I’ve seen a lot of this in the gym, and frankly it makes me uncomfortable every time. Sure, most gym floors are padded such that the weights won’t bounce too far. But after my experience with the plate and my foot, dropping weights that could be just as easily (if not as excitingly) set down seems like an accident or injury waiting to happen. The same goes for releasing a bar or cable attached to a weight stack. A controlled release is the safest way to end your set. Dropping a weight stack—despite being an unnecessarily loud move— is just not good weight lifting safety.
When performing exercises that involve any overhead weighted movement (like a military press), your back is at a much higher risk of injury or strain than when you’re working in the plane in front of you. Weight lifting safety dictates that you keep the knees soft (slightly bent, rather than locked) throughout the range of motion decreases the strain on the low back. Keeping the abs tightly contracted from the moment you touch the weight until it is safely set back down is also crucial in preventing lifting-related back injuries.
In addition to using good form, weight lifting safety involves knowing your strength and limitations, and working within them. Straining to pick up too heavy a load can easily lead to injury. When you’re in the weight room, being aware of what’s going on around you, and know what you’re doing are the first and best steps in weight lifting safety.
