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.