Exercise and sports related injuries are common. Some sports such as rugby come with higher risks and frequency of injury. General exercise often has low risk of injury but that depends on how hard we push ourselves and the type of exercise we do. It doesn’t matter whether it is a team sport, an exercise class, a personal training session or an individual session, an injury will limit your participation for a period of time.
One common source of injury is ‘training error’. This is usually doing too much, too soon but can also be related to technique (e.g. squat, running) or equipment. Technique is the way you move relative to the load or complexity of the movement.
There is a fine balance between being challenged sufficiently to enjoy exercise and avoiding ‘training error’. A simple message is the more you know your body at each stage of life the less likely injury will occur. This means train at a level of load suited to your body; gradually increase the level of exercise over several weeks; listen and adjust to pain especially if it is in a joint or the spine; and use mirrors to watch how you perform a gym exercise to ensure the technique is correct. It’s simple advice but it works if you want to reduce the chance of injury.