Photo 4/7
Shoddy Footwork is Ruining Your Run
No. 1 Mistake: Your heel hits the pavement first, aka "heel strike."
Dreyer sees heel strike in both veteran runners and beginners training for their first 5K. "With heel strike, every time you're taking a stride, you're putting on the brakes," says Dreyer. "It makes your running less efficient and contributes to injuries."
Second runner-up mistake: you're stretching like a rubber band before you start running. "If you watch Olympic athletes, they're not doing hamstring stretches before a race. They're jumping around, keeping their body warm and shaking it out," Dreyer says.
The Fix: Instead of running by sticking your legs out in front of you, focus on your legs landing underneath you. Lean your body forward (without falling on your face) instead of leaning back. Dreyer says the best shoes to prevent heel strike are those with minimal construction. Vibrams, anyone?
And about all of that stretching? A light warm up run and shaking and loosening the body will do more good than stretching cold muscles. Likewise, runners who don't do a cool down jog after a race are running the risk of muscle contraction and cramps.
Avoid Injury:"Preparing for a race is like coming up with a really good business plan," says Dreyer. If you've prepared, you should have worked out all the kinks that might pop up. But, if you find yourself hobbling mid-race, or experiencing sharp, shooting pain, Dreyer says you need to slow down, shorten your stride and assess what is hurting.
Photo 5/7
Swimming: All Brawn and No Brain
No. 1 Mistake: You're not using your brain.
Hall says the most common mistake is sloppy technique. You can't just do what feels right, you have to think about your form. For beginners, Hall says that means rotating the body when swimming freestyle. "Most beginners don't grasp just how important that rotational motion along the axis of their body really is," says Hall. The rotations create a force for the swimmer to pull against -- kind of like riding a wave. You might feel like you're thrashing around, but the extra movement is creating the ideal swimming environment.
For advanced swimmers: "Swim with your brain, not your brawn," says Hall. He says swimmers often default to a stroke that feels powerful, but isn't proven to be the best way to swim.
The Fix: Halls says he sees immediate improvement when beginners remember to rotate. "Add the rotation in, and presto, the swimmer gets further down the pool with each arm pull -- almost like she's pulling on a lane line marker," says Hall. For advanced swimmers, Hall teaches them to pull with the high elbow, which means the elbow is always close to the surface. It feels awkward, but it's the fastest way to swim, because letting your arm drop or sliding it under the body creates a slowing frontal drag.
Avoid Injury: Work on your flexibility, which is required to prevent injury to the muscles that support joints. "My idea of a perfect week? Three days of swimming and two days of yoga," says Hall.
Photo 6/7
Dance-Based Interval Training: Your Posture is, um, Preposturous
No. 1 Mistake: You're paying too much attention to your feet.
For beginners, Kaiser says the biggest mistake is lazy posture. Similarly, she says advanced dancers forget to dance with their upper bodies, and focus on their footwork instead of dancing with their whole body.
The Fix: "Pull your shoulders back, lift your sternum, pull your navel to your spine and don't look down!" she says. Kaiser says this will make your core work harder, giving you a better workout and better form.
Avoid Injury: Before you hop into an advanced class, check your middle school dance moves at the door. "Just because you are an advanced runner or weightlifter, that doesn't mean that your body is conditioned for a new dance class, especially one that is high intensity. Start with a beginner class. It's always safer to try less than to jump into a class with a crowd that has been working at it for years," she says.
Photo 7/7
Yoga: You're Taking Cues From the Wrong Person
No. 1 Mistake: You roll out your yoga mat in the wrong spot.
Where you set down your mat does matter. Don't think that standing in front means you'll get the best view of the instructor -- he or she will spend much of the class walking around to correct poses. And although hanging in the back might be more comfortable for your new-to-yoga ego, McGee says beginners can get lost without a clear view of the poses.
And another thing: wearing baggy clothes and loose t-shirts that fly up over your face half the class is not only embarrassing, it'll also distract you from the poses. You can't properly downward dog if you're trying to tuck your shirt into your pants.
The Fix: Instead of cowering at the back of the class, praying the instructor doesn't come around to "fix your form," McGee advises that you pay for a few one-on-one sessions -- it's worth it. "That way, you can make sure you're doing the exercises correctly and pushing yourself hard enough," she says. In a group class, stand in the middle, where you can see advanced students in front of you.
And invest in some spandex -- trust us, they're way more comfortable than those baggy pajamas you're wearing.
You're finally following through on that New Year's resolution. You'll get to the gym, sign up for that 10K and come up with a workout plan. But before you do, consider this: Every year, more than 174,500 women end up in the ER with an exercise-related injury. The No. 1 cause of exercise-related injury? "Overenthusiasm," says Dr. Joseph Horrigan, a board certified chiropractic sports medicine practioner at DISC Sports & Spine Center in Los Angeles.
Horrigan says many women who are new to a workout feel good when they start to train, and push themselves too hard. The combination of overdoing it and a competitive streak (no one wants to feel like they can't keep up) often leads to injuries -- whether it's a yoga mistake, CrossFit injury or SoulCycle slip-up.
"When you start a new workout plan, really ask yourself, 'When is the last time I did this?' If the answer isn't 'recently,' pull back," says Horrigan.
While everyone knows what the end game is -- how many pounds you want to lose, or miles you want to run -- Horrigan says few of us actually have a real workout plan to get there. "[Most people] don't appreciate that it takes time to change your physiology," he says.
His advice? "Put to rest forever the idea of 'no pain, no gain.' Create short term goals that are achievable."
Easier said than done, with so many of today's fitness trends focused on pushing you to your limit. We asked seven instructors of the most popular workouts (yoga, CrossFit, SoulCycle, swimming, dance workouts, barre and running) what the most common workout-related injuries are and how to avoid them, so you can get fit and stay healthy. That's the point, right?
Horrigan says many women who are new to a workout feel good when they start to train, and push themselves too hard. The combination of overdoing it and a competitive streak (no one wants to feel like they can't keep up) often leads to injuries -- whether it's a yoga mistake, CrossFit injury or SoulCycle slip-up.
"When you start a new workout plan, really ask yourself, 'When is the last time I did this?' If the answer isn't 'recently,' pull back," says Horrigan.
While everyone knows what the end game is -- how many pounds you want to lose, or miles you want to run -- Horrigan says few of us actually have a real workout plan to get there. "[Most people] don't appreciate that it takes time to change your physiology," he says.
His advice? "Put to rest forever the idea of 'no pain, no gain.' Create short term goals that are achievable."
Easier said than done, with so many of today's fitness trends focused on pushing you to your limit. We asked seven instructors of the most popular workouts (yoga, CrossFit, SoulCycle, swimming, dance workouts, barre and running) what the most common workout-related injuries are and how to avoid them, so you can get fit and stay healthy. That's the point, right?
