Injuries and muscle building
September 25th, 2009
Natural body building in itself is not actually considered as a dangerous sport, but of course there are always an few dangers lurking in the shadows, particularly in the form of injuries. The chances are high if you are a body builder you will eventually have some form of injury and how you go about treating those said injuries is paramount to successful recovery.
As with any sport or even in day to day life, the main step is to actually avoid the injuries as best as you can in the first place. You can accomplish this by making sure that you drink plenty of water, so that your actual muscles and the tissues in your body will stay hydrated, as dehydration causes the most injuries. The next best thing to learn is that you will need good form when you are lifting weights. Lifting weights in the wrong way can cause serious injury. Never lift more weights than you know that you can handle, doing this will increase your chance of serious injury. Finally, always use a spotter, in case something goes wrong, you know someone is there to help you.
Of course even after taking all of these precautions, things can still go wrong, and injury could well happen. At the first sign of injury, stop what you are doing, and seek treatment immediately, this is vital. Seeking professional medical treatment early could mean the difference between being injured for a week or two, and being injured for life. Never listen to advice that tells you to work through the pain, seek medical help urgently.
You need to keep in mind the RICE method of treating your injuries. RICE is what is known as Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Your muscles needs to rest, it will then need to be iced, it will also then need to be compressed, and finally it needs to be elevated properly. When you rest it will allow the muscle to start repairing effectively. The ice will go on to reduce any signs of swelling and will help alleviate pain. With compression and elevation, edema is therefore limited.
When you use the ice, make sure it is crushed or chipped ice in an ice bag, or use a specially chemically cooled ice bag on the area that is injured. Place this bag of ice on a towel, which covers the injured area. The usual rule is 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off with ice. During the first 10 minutes though make sure you wrap the ice bag around the injured muscle with an elastic bandage to supply compression, and make sure you keep the area elevated above the heart if possible.