Find out what injuries can accompany you if you started weightlifting and how to maintain the achieved results without harm to your health. It should be said right away that injuries in weightlifting have now decreased, which was largely facilitated by the beginning of the use of modern training systems and high-quality technical guidance. All injuries that take place, as a rule, are associated with fatigue accumulated during training, lack of correct technique for performing movements, or poor-quality warm-up.
The most common injuries in athletes are injuries to the spinal column and knees. In the early 90s, a large-scale study was carried out in the United States. It lasted five years, and as a result, it was found that more than 35 percent of all injuries received by athletes are not related to sports. The most traumatic were the knee and shoulder joints, as well as the lower back. In total, more than 60 percent of injuries to these parts of the body were recorded from the total number of injuries. We will now take a closer look at weightlifting injuries and look at the most common injuries.
Spinal column injuries
Back in 1974, the need to use the right technique was clearly demonstrated. The experiment consisted of compressing the segments of the spinal column in the axial direction under a load of one thousand kgf. As a result, no damage was found. Scientists believe that in the axial direction, the spinal column is able to withstand loads up to 1.5 thousand kgf and at the same time remain intact.
Even earlier, the effect of the load on the spine of experienced athletes, whose training experience is at least eight years, was studied. During training, they lift a total weight of 10,000 kgf. When examining their spinal column in comparison with ordinary people, no degenerative changes were found.
Knee injuries
The knee joint is the most injured area of the body in most sports. Weightlifting is not characterized by the dynamic injuries seen in team sports such as football. Most often, injuries to the knee joints of weightlifters are chronic and caused by severe overload.
Patellar pain syndrome
For weightlifters, the knee is the neuralgic point of the musculoskeletal and postural systems, which is the main cause of fatigue injuries. Patellar pain syndrome is most often associated with heavy loads that athletes endure. In addition, genetic causes are possible, for example, incorrect axial placement of the patella.
Jumper's knee
We can also consider this injury from the point of view of the inconsistency of the load with the specific viscosity of the tissues. Now we are talking about tendinopathy of the muscles, the task of which is to extend the joint. This damage is also common in powerlifting. The exact cause of the appearance of this damage has not yet been established, but doctors suggest that it is all about strong bending of the legs.
Damage to the meniscus
This is a fairly rare injury in weightlifting, primarily due to improper technique.
Damage to the shoulder and elbow joints
Shoulder injury is most common in bodybuilders and powerlifters. However, these injuries are also possible in weightlifting. First of all, this is biceps tendon tendopathy. The cause of injury is the frequent holding of a sports equipment far behind the head, which leads to a shift in the load over the body axis. Arthrosis and inflammation of the subacrimal bursa can also develop.
Among the injuries to the elbows, epicondylitis of the humerus is most often noted, which is also associated with the lack of correct technique. If an attempt to lift the weight is unsuccessful at the moment when the sports equipment is displaced far from the axis of the body, the athlete may even get a dislocation of the joint.
Hand injuries
Fatigue injuries of the hand in weightlifting are observed during voluntary weight training. Most often, damage to the articular discs manifests itself at the moment of strong stretching and simultaneous action of longitudinal force, as well as in conditions of excessive straightening in the presence of additional pronation.
With chronic strong straightening of the wrist joint, as well as often repetitive powerful contractions of the muscles, they can cause the development of stenosing de Quervain's tendenitis. It is also possible the appearance of tendenitis of the flexor tendons of the fingers and hand. If there is pain in the elbow of the wrists, then they may be a symptom of ulnar styloiditis.
The strong stretching effect of the elbow flexor of the hand, caused by repetitive flexion movements in the wrists, increases the pressure in the metacarpophalangeal joint. As a result, this can cause damage to the cartilaginous tissue and further develop into arthrosis of the joint.
Tenosynovitis should be recognized as one of the most common causes of carpal tunnel syndrome. This damage can develop with chronic damage to the flexor tendons. With excessive exercise, paratenon edema first appears.
Muscle damage
The most common injuries in weightlifting are the muscles of the trunk, long muscles, back straighteners, and also the muscles of the shoulder girdle. In addition, doctors often mention rhabdomyolysis, which is caused by physical activity. This damage is typical for powerlifting with bodybuilding.
Rhabdomyolysis is an acute necrosis of skeletal muscle tissue that results in damage to the cellular structure of the striated muscle. This in turn causes the release of myocyte metabolites into the extracellular fluid and bloodstream. Most often, this damage is typical for poorly trained athletes and with existing chronic muscle injuries.
For injuries and pain in weightlifting, see the following story:
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