According to data analyzed by researchers at the University of Oregon, recreational weight training accounts for an estimated 60,000 emergencie-room visits per year. The most commonly injured body parts were the lower torso (15%), fingers (13%) and shoulder (11%), with the most common diagnosis being strains/sprains. These researchers concluded that widespread education, spotting and an emphasis on technique rather than resistance will help minimize the incidence and severity of all resistance training injuries.

Here are my tips for safe weight lifting:

• Do not attempt to train if you are in a hurry. Or, if you are upset or anxious. Calm yourself  first by doing some type of aerobic exercise.
• Avoid locking your elbows when extending the arms, doing any  form of pressing movement.
• When doing machine hamstrings never use your lower back or  buttocks to  lift the weight. If you have to use your rear end to get the weight up, you are using too much weight.  Make sure your hips and butt are pressed into the bench.
• Never swing, drop, or jerk the weight. Always handle in a controlled manner. Lift to a count of one, lower for two. Never let the weight pull you down. Always lower using resistance.
• The most important factor in weight training is not how much weight  you can lift, but how well you can lift. Technique is everything. You can  be lifting hundreds of pounds, but if your form is not correct, you will not see results.
• If you hold a lot of tension in your neck and shoulders, as many people  do, practice shoulder and neck rolls on a regular basis to relax those muscles. Otherwise, when you do exercises such as crunches, you will feel pain in that area. Tense muscles are more likely to be injured than relaxed ones.
• Always exhale on the lift, inhale on lowering phase of the exercise. Rhythm pattern is important. Do not hold your breath.
• Do not bang your weights together. Metal chips and if you are holding the weights overhead, the chips can fall on your face and cause eye injury.

EMELINA, November 2000