How beginners can avoid injuries in the gym: recommendations from a trainer from Aktau

Fitness trainer with 10 years of experience, international master of sports, champion of Asia and Europe in street lifting Damir Nabiev gave some simple recommendations that will help beginners avoid the unpleasant consequences of training in the gym.

Damir Nabiev told a Lada.kz correspondent about the basic rules for visiting the gym, which will help minimize the risk of injury and harm to health.

Consultation with a doctor

Often people suffering from certain ailments ignore them and begin active training, thereby aggravating their condition. According to Damir Nabiev, before visiting the gym, it is important to consult with a qualified doctor.

First workouts - with a trainer

A person who was once far from sports should start taking his first steps in the gym with a qualified trainer - his experience will help achieve a better desired result, as well as gain valuable knowledge about physiology.

- When a person comes to the hall, he knows nothing. It's like a child who has just been born - he needs to be taught, shown and told everything. A competent trainer will set up the technique and monitor and correct the person during the approaches. For example, breathing, angles, pauses in exercises, speed of movement. The coach is important in achieving results and minimizing the risk of injury. It is clear that not everyone has the means to afford a personal trainer. In such cases, good gyms have trainers on duty, they will conduct an introductory training session and tell you how to perform the exercise correctly,” said Damir Nabiev.

How to determine that a trainer is qualified

In addition to performing certain exercises correctly, it is important to choose someone who will teach them. The champion shared some nuances that will help you decide.

- A competent trainer will not tell you to do an exercise, and then just stand and watch. He will correct, explain why this or that action is being performed, everything will be spelled out. Also, avoid those trainers who are on their cell phones while you work out.
Plus, we live in the age of Instagram, word of mouth. You can ask your friends, they will recommend a competent trainer with whom they have had experience. In addition, the trainer must have certificates; you can ask them to provide them, he recommended.

Warm-up

Often people who start trying themselves in the gym miss such an important thing as warm-up. Performing simple exercises will prepare the body for more intense physical activity.

- People neglect warming up - this is the first mistake. It is necessary to warm up before the main workout, it helps to warm up the joints and activate blood circulation. In this way, we prepare the body for work and avoid injuries,” explained Damir Nabiev.

Large weights in the first workouts

Starting your first workouts with heavy weights is not the wisest decision. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the body has never gone through such “challenges” before.

- The main mistake of beginners is to take heavy weights and start working out with them right away, especially without warming up. This increases the risk of injury. I would recommend starting with small or medium weights. This will help you correctly perform the technique of a particular exercise, feel the amplitude of movement, the weight itself, the working muscles.

In general, I would recommend that beginners first work on block exercise machines, they are also called isolation machines (block exercise machines are special machines in which the load on the working part is transferred using blocks and cables. Note by the author), that is, not with free weights (free weights are any loose sports equipment, the trajectory of which is determined by biomechanics of the body. Author's note), - recommended Damir Nabiev.

According to him, injuries in the gym are divided into two types - instantaneous and gradual.

- An instantaneous injury is when a person performs an exercise and a muscle or ligament may immediately rupture. Gradual injuries “accumulate”, and at some point they can “shoot” and come to light. These are, for example, injuries to joints, menisci, protrusion, hernia. In such cases, it is important to consult a doctor and have an examination,” Damir Nabiev clarified. Cardio training

Damir Nabiev noted that beginners should also not include large cardio loads in their first workouts.

- Very often, inexperienced people come to the gym and immediately start running intensely. I wouldn't recommend cardio. It's better to start with a brisk walk. After all, someone may have problems, for example, with the heart, and first you need to go to the doctor, check the organ, do an ECG. Everything should be gradual,” he explained.

Too many exercises for one muscle group

Damir Nabiev notices that some beginners in the gym perform loads on only one muscle group, in other words, for example, only on the arms, and forget about other parts of the body. At the same time, he believes that a person involved in sports should develop physically harmoniously.

- Let's say a guy comes and starts doing exercises for the pectoral muscles every day. In this case, the muscles will not have time to recover, plus there will be little effect. Ultimately, a person may simply get bored with such training and burnout occurs. Classes should be varied, so the training plan should change after a certain period. This will help you see progress, because muscles have the ability to get used to certain loads and weights,” he said.

Rest between approaches

An important factor in successful training is rest between approaches. It helps to perform quality physical exercises.

- Many people think that after one approach you need to rest for 30 seconds and immediately do the second. In such cases, they will not give 100%, they will quickly get tired, and this will cause their equipment to limp. For beginners, I recommend resting for at least 2 minutes. A short rest is applicable only to experienced athletes,” Damir Nabiev clarified.

Stretching (cool-down) after training

The cool-down has the same important role as the warm-up. Damir Nabiev explained why.

- People neglect stretching after training; this must be done so that the muscles are more elastic and recover faster. At least 10-15 minutes,” he noted.

Insufficient drinking regime

Having a bottle of water will help avoid dehydration during training.

- I notice that there are guys in the hall who don’t drink water at all, or they have energy drinks with them. Energy drinks are very harmful, we have many children aged 18+ in hospitals with kidney failure, liver problems, nervous system problems, some even have panic attacks. Therefore, it is better to drink plain water, without gas, at room temperature, in small sips, after 1-2 approaches. This way the body will not become dehydrated. You should have at least 1 liter of water with you,” said Damir Nabiev.

Nutrition

Regular training goes hand in hand with a balanced diet. It is precisely this tandem, according to the champion, that will allow achieving the best results in achieving the desired physical shape.

- The body needs nutrients in order for it to have vitamins. Approximately 70% of the result depends on nutrition, 30% on training. Training, on average, takes only an hour. If you study three times a week, then it’s only three hours, which is not enough. For these reasons, we need to monitor what we do outside the gym, including what we eat, explained Damir Nabiev. Sports nutrition

Undoubtedly, sports nutrition in the diet is a kind of assistant on the path to your ideal body. Damir Nabiev expressed his opinion on the topic of how necessary supplements are for beginners at first.

- I don’t think the introduction of sports nutrition at first is correct. I have clients who haven’t worked out for a month yet and are already asking what protein they should buy. It’s better to start by establishing the basic areas: nutrition, sleep, discipline, exercise technique. Everything needs to be done gradually, so as not to burn out later, and so that cans of protein do not collect dust on the shelves in the future, he explained.

Workout schedule

It is important for inexperienced gym goers to maintain a balance in their workouts and not overdo it. It is best to create a comfortable schedule.

- I would recommend that beginners practice not every day, but every other day. Why? Because a person will be overworked, his central nervous system will not be able to withstand it, because physical activity is a kind of stress. Need rest. By the way, muscles also grow during recovery, said Damir Nabiev.

Sleep

Often people, while actively working out in the gym and sticking to their diet, forget about the simplest, but no less necessary thing - sleep. Quality sleep, according to Damir Nabiev, helps the body recover faster and fully relax.

- The most important component of the body's recovery after training is sleep. Preferably 7-8 hours. During sleep, the hormone melatonin is released; it is very important for the body. When it is lacking, a person shows aggression, stress and depression appear, he said.

Sportswear for training

Before going to the gym, you should choose suitable clothes, pay special attention to shoes.

- It is strictly forbidden to exercise in slippers in the gym, this is very dangerous, because a “pancake” or dumbbells can fall on your foot. I also don’t recommend doing squats in running shoes, for example, as an imbalance may develop. It is better to exercise in flat-soled sneakers. As for outerwear, wear something that is comfortable for you and that will not hinder your movement, recommended Damir Nabiev.

Discipline

According to the champion, discipline will help you achieve visible results from training and, most importantly, maintain it.

- Discipline is an important factor in training. You need to try to motivate yourself: for example, buy yourself new sneakers, uniforms, a new jump rope, or set yourself a specific goal and go towards it, said Damir Nabiev. Alcohol

After a noisy party accompanied by alcohol, some go to training the next day. Damir Nabiev does not consider excessive consumption of strong drinks to be healthy for the body. If this happens, then you should refuse to go to the gym.

- If the day before training you overdid it with alcohol, then it is better to refrain from going to the gym. All the same, you won’t give your all 100%, there won’t be much efficiency, the person will arrive broken, and in some cases, during training, he may, on the contrary, feel worse. In addition, the risk of injury increases as concentration decreases, he explained.

Dialogue with a coach

Damir Nabiev recommends being frank with your coaches regarding sports: reporting illnesses, busy work days, and general well-being in a timely manner, as this data will help adjust training and make it more comfortable.

*The material is advisory in nature. Please consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before using a gym.