"I'm Afraid I'll Get Hurt"

I hear this often from people who are new to strength training. And while not wholly unfounded, fear of injury also isn’t a reason to avoid getting stronger. Here’s why.

First, you’re more likely to get hurt doing other things.

Statistically speaking, training with weights — even very heavy ones at a highly competitive level — is significantly less hazardous than engaging in most other sports. Take powerlifting, for example, in which competitors squat, bench press, and deadlift the heaviest loads they can manage, for one repetition. Powerlifters average between 1 and 4.4 injuries per one thousand hours of participation.

Compare this injury rate to, say, soccer players, who rack up 7.9 injuries per thousand hours of practice time, and a whopping 35.8 per thousand hours of game time. (For youth players, this figure jumps to 48.7 injuries per thousand hours of play. As the mother of three former soccer players, I have no trouble trusting these stats. For years, I stockpiled crutches, ankle braces, knee sleeves, ice packs, and ACE bandages, and I was on a first-name basis with the pediatric orthopedist. But I digress.)

More relevant to most of us, the general injury rate for adult recreational fitness activities is 7.83 per thousand hours of participation. (Recreational running accounts for many of these injuries, with a rate of up to 8.9 per thousand hours). This is about double the injury rate for competitive powerlifters — and remember, those folks aren’t just training for general strength; they’re testing the limits of their muscles and joints on a regular basis. 

For those of us who simply want to get stronger, without subjecting our bodies to maximal loads, lifting weights is generally very safe.

Second, consider the risks of NOT strength training.

We lose 3-8% of our muscle mass per decade after we turn 30 — a process known as sarcopenia — and the atrophy accelerates once we hit 60. We also lose density in our bones and flexibility in our joints, especially if we happen to be post-menopausal women. These changes raise our risk of falling and becoming disabled or functionally dependent.

And — no surprise here — strength training is one of the best methods of counteracting both sarcopenia and bone loss. It can also slash your risk of injury in other athletic activities.

So, if you’re worried you might get hurt if you lift weights, consider what could happen if you don’t.

Third, you can take steps to stay safe.

Of course, it is possible to hurt yourself while strength training — and if you do it long enough, you’ll probably pick up a tweak or two. Injuries happen when you demand more of your body than it can presently tolerate. In my experience, this typically happens in one of three ways.

You do too much, too soon. If you’re new to resistance training, it’s best to start low and go slow. Like muscle, connective tissue strengthens in response to loading, but it adapts more slowly. You need to give your tendons and ligaments time to accept your new reality as a badass before piling on the intensity and volume. And even once you’re seasoned, you’ll need to listen to your body and give it periodic breathers. (I’m notoriously bad at this. Do as I say, not as I do.)

You get too loose under a load. To protect your spine and transmit force to your limbs, you need to maintain tension through your torso while lifting weights — even if that weight is simply your own body. Getting loose under a load not only lessens the amount you can lift; it may also expose you to injury. 

Your form gets too wonky for too long. “Perfect form” is a myth, as there are many ways to perform most exercises, few of which are categorically dangerous for everybody. That said, moving in a manner that places undue stress on unprepared body tissues can cause trouble — rounding your lower back in the middle of a heavy deadlift, for example. Your form needn’t be perfect, but it should allow you to load your muscles and joints without unnecessary strain.

Bottom line: you can cut your odds of getting hurt by starting slowly and backing off when needed, staying tight under a load, and maintaining decent form.