Injury avoidance tips from Anthony Larson

Elite Body Squad ambassador and UKBFF competitor has been sharing some of his top training advice when it comes to avoiding injury. Check out his tips below.

Avoiding Injury

Quite possibly the worst thing that could hinder your progress is picking up an injury. Especially if you’re training for an event or competition. This is why I like to go by the motto ‘prevention is far better than cure’. I myself have suffered numerous injuries over the years, with the worse being a torn bicep and damaged rotator cuff. I need to put in preventive measures to ensure it never happens again and safeguard my progress.

Warm Up

Top of the list in avoiding injury is ensuring you have warmed up correctly. I cannot stress to you enough how important this is, as so many people waltz straight into the gym, get down on the bench and start pushing heavy weights from a cold position. If you were to stand up now from resting, grab one of your ankles from behind and perform a thigh stretch, you will feel your skin grating against your muscle in a slightly uncomfortable way. This is because your blood, muscles and skin are running at different temperatures. Perform the same stretch after warming up, walking on a treadmill or Stairmaster for instance, and you will find that you can go deeper into the stretch without that same uncomfortable feeling. Breaking into a light sweat is the indication that your body temperature is synchronising with your blood, muscles and skin. This is when you should start stretching and not when you’re cold as you may end up straining or pulling a muscle before starting your workout. An example of the warm up routine I would do say on chest day would be as follows. · 10min Stairmaster or Treadmill · Light dumbbell side/front/rear raises overhead dumbbell press Cable Tricep Pushdowns · 4 sets of 20 reps on the pressing angle that I desire to start my workout with · Stretching my chest in between the warm up sets I have ensured that my body temperature is up to speed, warmed up the most connective joint of any upper body workout your shoulders and finally primed and stretched the target muscle before putting it under load. Not only will this help me prevent injury but ensure that my chest is ready for the intensity I am about to put it under, which in turn will maximise my ability to build muscle and perform at my best.

Listen to your Body

The majority of the time prior to an injury your body will send you clear messages that something isn’t quite right. It may be by way of a slight strain whilst warming up, a niggling pain while pressing or perhaps under recovery of the target muscle from your last workout. Those are just a few examples of the warning signs you need to be aware of. Interpret them and over time and you will gain a knowledge and understanding of how to act accordingly. In my younger years, I used to let my ego get the better of me and ignore the signals. End up putting more weight on the bar, when I have been forewarned during the previous set that I was experiencing a different kind of pain than the feeling from muscle stimulation. Resulting in injuring myself and undoing the progress I had made. anthony larson

Nowadays I recognise the limitations that my body has put on me and opt for reducing the weight and slowing down the rep tempo to maximise the intensity. If I’m still feeling the uncomfortable pain I would have to make the right decision and end my session, saving myself for another day. That is a very difficult place to be in at times especially if you are preparing for a competition and you’re all fired up for the session. Sometimes, if it is just a niggle, opting for a different exercise may help you overcome and continue your session. Just be smart, be wise and listen to your body and never risk your health.

Incorrect Form

This usually occurs when using too much weight and you’re unable to control the movement, opting for momentum and recruiting other muscles and putting strain on your connective tissues. As soon as you are unable to control the downward movement of an exercise your body will start shifting the weight on to other muscle groups and putting strain on your joints. Progressive overload is where you need to be when your goal is building muscle but you must always lift within your means. Be at one with your body and know your limitations. As soon as you start squirming during bench press for example and then one shoulder comes off the bench then you are clearly lifting too heavy. You must be able to stay in control of the weight with the target muscle at all times to avoid injury.

Nutrition

In my world, nutrition is the king of kings, not only for giving you optimum performance in your workouts but for recovery as well. When we break down those muscle fibres during exercise you need to feed your body the necessary proteins post workout to kick start the recovery process. Equally, before your workout, you will need to ensure your muscles have adequate glycogen levels from carbs to fuel your workout. Ticking those boxes will help you avoid muscle failure from lack of nutrients during exercise. In addition, it is vitally important to stay hydrated all day and especially during your workout because your body will try to shut down causing injury.

Rest

You should always have at least one day of rest a week from your fitness regime. There may also be times when you’re feeling sore and tired and need an additional day off. You just need to understand your limitations as it could result in overtraining, pushing you towards a plateau. I can’t stress enough that prevention is far better than cure. Never risk your health and ultimately do all you can to safeguard your progress. Follow Anthony on Instagram here.

5 comments

Craig May 22, 2018

Thanks tony great advice!! Really inspiring physique. Really gives me the inspiration to
Push my training on to the next level!!! I’ll definitely be taking those tips on board! Thanks!
Elite Body Squad HQ May 30, 2018

Hi Simon

Thanks for your input, you’re definitely right. Working the target muscles correctly is so important – something that you can’t always do if you’re trying to heave as much weight as you can!! – EBS team
Elite Body Squad HQ May 30, 2018

Thanks for your comments Harry, yes it is very sound training advice from Anthony. Good luck with your own training endeavours – EBS team
Harry May 22, 2018

Thank you Anthony for posting this great advice.

Due to me recently entering the world of weights and fitness, this has given me an insight to not make silly decisions, listen to my body during and after a workout and to give my body the fuel it needs.

Many thanks.
Simon Scott May 22, 2018

This guy talks a lot of sense, I haven’t been in the gym for about four years since my boy turned up.

Coming back in, you try to pick up where you left off. It doesn’t work, no matter how much you will it to.

He’s been an I inspiration to me, eat well, warm up well, and train well, all with out an ego.

The latter was hard, but you know what “sometimes you have to accept you are not who you were, you can not do what you did” then ask yourself, was what I did then right? Is there a better way?

“Open your mind, leave your ego at the door” if like me that means you have to suck it up, dropping 3/4 of the weight you used to push/pull/press. Form and technique over ego is a hard pill to swallow “I know, I feel this daily. I resist the temptation to compete with those who probably don’t watch anyway” Close your eyes suck up the pride and be prepared to change.

The most valuable lesson I have learned from following this Mr Larson is Nutrion!

Abs, muscle growth, definition starts in the kitchen.

Determination, passion, desire and befriending that pocket of pain starts in the Gym.

I say to myself on every rep of every set PPP (Precision, Pian, Pocket)

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