Most people exercise at the gym to improve their health, but being aware of potential risks is also crucial to health and safety. Learn how to prevent common accidents that can sideline your workouts. With these tips, you can keep yourself safer.

Get a Yearly Health Check-Up

Medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease can sneak up even on active people, so don’t skip your yearly check-up. Most gyms and exercise programs will request or require a check-up to ensure you don’t have a health problem that could be made worse by certain types of exercise. But you’ll have to remember to make the appointment yearly.

Do a Warmup and Cool-Down

A proper warmup can get the blood flowing to your muscles and prepare you for more exertion.1

As part of your cardio exercise session (treadmill, elliptical, or stationary cycle), start at a leisurely pace and light exertion for three to five minutes before increasing your exertion to your target level. After your main session, take another couple of minutes to cool down at a lower exertion level.

For strength training and other exercise activities, warm up with three to five minutes of walking on a treadmill or walking in place will help get the blood flowing to your muscles to perform better.

Increase Gradually

Your body will experience a great training effect if you gradually increase your time, intensity, or reps of an exercise. A great body isn’t built in a day, and doing too much too soon will increase your risk of injury and complications.

Use Good Technique

How you do the exercise is critically important for getting good results and preventing injury. If you are lifting weights in a way that strains your lower back, eventually, you will feel the pain. If you use bad posture and overstride on the treadmill, you will get aches, pains, and overuse injuries. Working on core stability, positioning, and posture will help prevent injuries and sore muscles.

Use Equipment Wisely

One of the most significant risks of a gym accident is tripping over something lying around. Clear the area of objects you may stumble over during your moves. Also, respect that equipment is meant for knowledgeable adults.

Treadmills, exercise bikes, and weight machines all have moving parts with the risk of pinching and crushing your fingers and toes if you aren’t paying attention. Most gyms do not allow children (no matter how well-supervised) in the workout area.

Train With a Partner

It is not a good idea to work out alone in a gym. It would be best if you always had a friend or staff member available in case of an injury or health emergency. Working out with a partner can give you two sets of eyes on any developing problems.

Encourage each other to drink, breathe fully and correctly, and clear the workout area of obstacles. Be each others’ safety buddy as well as a workout buddy.