How to avoid injury when starting a new exercise routine

You’ve dusted off your dumbbells, washed out your water bottle, and retrieved your sneakers from the back of the closet. But it's important to begin the practice safely if you haven’t exercised regularly — or you’ve never really done so at all. 

To minimize your risk of injury, here are a few things to keep in mind when starting a new exercise routine. 

Start slowly

A lot of people go all-in when launching a new exercise routine. They get excited about some new activity and decide to start doing it full throttle, even if they’ve never done it before. Then, they have muscle soreness or a strain that stops them in their tracks. 

That’s why it’s important to start slowly and build up your endurance gradually. This is even more important if you’re becoming active again after a long break, whether due to illness or injury.  

Just because you start in a certain place doesn’t mean you’re going to remain there forever. So, go slowly for the first few weeks. And reassess your progress, even if it’s day by day. 

Listen to your body

Muscle fatigue is very different from muscle injury. But if you’ve never really exercised before, you might not know that. So, listen to your body and take a step back if you ever start feeling significant discomfort.  

Your body will usually let you know when it’s not a good idea to keep going. But if you’re ever uncertain, ask a staff member at the gym, a personal trainer or a kinesiologist for guidance. It might be that you just need to correct your form — or the way your body is positioned while performing a particular exercise — to resolve an issue.  

Over time, you will learn the difference between the normal strain you feel when pushing yourself through one last set of repetitions and the pain of an actual injury. 

Be aware of your surroundings 

Sometimes, an activity itself is not cause for concern. It’s the environment you’ll be doing it in. So, be mindful of the times and places you choose to engage in physical activity and use common-sense precautions to reduce your risk of injury. 

• Walk, jog or run with a partner when possible and only in well-lit areas. 
• Watch out for sidewalk cracks, potholes and uneven terrain in unfamiliar places. 
• Don’t use noise-canceling headphones or earbuds in high-traffic areas. 

If you’re at a local park with an exercise path that’s set back away from the road, you don’t have to worry as much about traffic safety. But noise-canceling headphones can make it hard to hear car horns, the rumbling of an on-coming train, or even the crunch of gravel as people come up behind you. So, use regular headphones instead, and stay aware of your surroundings. 

Wear the appropriate shoes and clothing

A lot of people feel self-conscious about their bodies, so they wear baggy clothing to disguise their true shape. But this can be dangerous. Wearing baggy pants while exercising can make you more likely to trip and fall. And baggy T-shirts or tops can get caught up in weight-lifting machinery.  

That doesn’t mean you have to wear spandex all the time. But the clothing you exercise in should be comfortable, breathable, relatively fitted, and right for you. 

It’s important to wear the proper shoes, too. For instance, I’d recommend: 

• Walking or jogging: Choose very cushy shoes, with a thick sole. 
• Running: Wear something lightweight, to reduce ankle strain. 
• Circuit training or weightlifting: Wear cross trainers. 

You might not think that what you have on your feet could make that much difference. But cushy walking shoes can be unstable at the gym, and if you’re lifting heavy weights, that’s dangerous. So, you might need more than one pair of athletic shoes, depending on what you want to do. 

Be mindful of the weather

Air quality, heat and humidity can all affect you when you’re exercising, so it’s important to pay attention to whatever climate you’re in. My general rule is that if the temperature outside exceeds 90 degrees, I will only exercise before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.  

Heat stroke and heat exhaustion can come on very suddenly. And if you’re not conditioned to exercise in a particular kind of climate, you might not recognize the signs. So, it’s best just to avoid extreme heat, and walk in the mall or on a treadmill indoors. 

Stay properly hydrated

Dehydration can accelerate both heat stroke and heat exhaustion. So, it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough water.  

A lot of people have heard the recommendation to drink eight glasses — or 64 ounces — of water a day. But it’s quite challenging to consume that much, so most people don’t do it.  

Try to be more intentional about it, though, if you’re exercising. Water keeps our internal organs functioning well and cools us off through perspiration. So, we have to replenish what we’ve lost. That’s why I advise you to drink water both during and after exercise. 

I’d also advise sticking to just plain water. Unless you’re a professional athlete, or working outside in the heat all day, you don’t need to worry about replacing electrolytes.    

Scherezade Mama, Dr.PH, is a researcher who focuses on physical activity in underserved communities. 

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