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What are the injuries that may cause the end of you regular training in the gym. I read that Hernia can cause the end of the gym life as people who has hernia can not lift anymore (I mean heavy weight lifting)

Is there any other injuries? and how to prevent them?

Thanks

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  • Injuries come in different levels. I have a bellybutton hernia, but it hasn't caused me any problems yet. It's somewhat noticable during ab training, but that's about it. And I know that fixing it is a simple surgery with a non-catastrophic recovery time.
    – Alec
    Nov 26, 2017 at 12:02
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    I have a herniated disc in my neck (C5-C6) and multiple level arthritis. I am not allowed to exceed 135 pounds on deadlift and I do not do rear squats. I also can no longer do pull-ups or lat pulldowns. Before the injury I was by no means a beast but I was dabbling with 315 deadlift. Since the injury I do my best to remain functional and try to train more for living a functional life. I do a lot more kettlebell workouts, and try to incorporate many forms of squats into my life. I swim and run for cardio but I’ll never be “me” again. DON’T CHICKEN NECK A PULL-UP. That’s how I did it.
    – Frank
    Nov 26, 2017 at 13:47
  • @Frank - What does it mean to "chicken neck" a pullup? I haven't heard of this before, and now I just really want to learn about it, so I can avoid it!
    – Alec
    Nov 26, 2017 at 15:23
  • Simply put: Keep your head and eyes looking straight ahead. When I really started progressing with pull-ups I had this tendency to want to tilt my head up and over the bar so I could “count” that last rep. Keep your head and eyes looking straight forward at all times! I didn’t know that it puts a tremendous load on one’s cervical spine. C5-C6 is what finally gave way on me. It sucks. Also, don’t do upright rows unless you want a bad shoulder impingement.
    – Frank
    Nov 26, 2017 at 21:10

2 Answers 2

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Lower back and rotator cuff injuries are the biggest contenders when it comes to gym injuries.

Lower Back Injury

Can potentially be caused by one or more of the following:

  • Lifting too heavy too soon
  • Inadequate recovery (between reps/sets and/or days between workouts)
  • Poor form

I did all three of the above while doing deadlifts and hurt myself enough to hardly be able to get up from sitting, get in/out of bed, walk, or sleep without excruciating pain. Couldn't go to the gym for several weeks and spent that time at the chiropractor. Learned my lesson and am careful and smarter now. See this great article on fixing and preventing lower back pain.

Rotator Cuff Injury

Can potentially be caused by one or more of the following:

  • Not doing any rotator cuff exercises
  • Not doing any rotator cuff exercises in combination with lots of pushing (bench, overhead press)
  • Overstretching shoulder joint

as well as:

  • Lifting too heavy too soon
  • Poor form

I have shoulder impingement in both shoulders which was caused by overstretching in yoga (thought I was as flexible as I once was, I was wrong) and not doing any rotator cuff exercises. I have since mostly recovered from it with exercises, which I have listed in another post.

Thankfully I didn't get injured so bad that I was permanently out of the gym, but it could totally happen where someone needs back surgery or their rotator cuff tears.

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I'm looking at an Australian research paper on emergency room data. "The causes of injuries sustained at fitness facilities presenting to Victorian emergency departments - identifying the main culprits". The ... most common cause that led to hospital admission ... was "crushed by falling/dropped weights". Another big one was tripping on equipment. So if you are lifting weights, walk slowly, lift things carefully, unplug your smart phone and be mindful about what you are doing. If it is iron versus your body, your body loses.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5005555/

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  • Welcome to the site! It would help if you could also link the study that you are quoting, it sounds like interesting and valuable information!
    – JohnP
    Jan 20, 2019 at 21:42

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