Why Do I Keep Getting Injured & What Works to Fix It?

Endless injuries can be maddening. It's like you're finally getting ahead of your goals, only for life to throw you a curveball in the form of another injury. Whether it's a muscle strain, joint pain, or tendonitis, injuries can slow your progress, ruin your motivation, and even get you stuck in a cycle of re-injury. If you're struggling with frequent injuries, you may find yourself asking, “Why do I keep getting injured?” This article will help you answer that question. You’ll learn about the factors that contribute to repeated injuries so you can finally understand why they keep happening to you. We'll also cover how to measure flexibility to support long-term recovery and injury prevention. Then we’ll discuss how to stay active, reduce pain, and regain confidence in your body.
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One of the best ways to address repeated injuries and stay active is with Pliability's mobility app. This easy-to-use tool can help you better understand your body and how to improve your flexibility and resilience to get you back to doing what you love, without the aches and pains.

Why Do I Keep Getting Injured? The Impact of Load Tolerance on Injury Prevention

Injuries often appear out of nowhere. One moment, you're in the middle of a routine workout; the next, you're dealing with sudden pain. You may try to push through, but the discomfort only worsens. When there's no apparent cause, no fall, no accident, we refer to this as an insidious onset injury rather than a traumatic one.

To understand these spontaneous injuries, we need to explore a fundamental concept in physiotherapy: load tolerance.

What is Load Tolerance?

Load tolerance is your body’s ability to handle physical demands without injury. 

Two key factors determine it:

1. Load: The demand placed on the body. This includes:
   
   • Intensity (e.g., force, weight, or resistance)
   • Frequency and duration (how often and how long)
   • Volume (such as distance covered)
2. Tissue Capacity: How well can your body’s structures (muscles, tendons, bones, ligaments, joints, discs, and nerves) cope with those demands? This depends on:
   
   • Genetics and physical build
   • Biomechanics (how efficiently your body moves)
   • Strength, flexibility, and endurance
   • Movement variety (which can be limited by the above factors)

When the load exceeds the tissue’s capacity, stress and microtrauma result, leading to inflammation, pain, and injury.

‍Why this matters:

The most common setback in any training or fitness journey is injury. While focusing solely on performance tips is tempting, staying injury-free is essential to consistent progress. Though injuries can’t be prevented entirely, being proactive can significantly reduce risk.

The 13 Most Common Causes of Injury (Unless You Pay Attention)

Now that you understand the concept of load tolerance, let’s examine the top 13 causes of injury you can control. These are the silent culprits behind most non-traumatic injuries, many of which are entirely preventable with the proper awareness and action.

1. Your Warm-Up Routine May Need More Attention

Rushing into a workout with a brief or skipped warm-up is one of the most common ways to get injured. A cold, stiff muscle is far more prone to strain than an adequately prepared one. A thorough warm-up increases blood flow, improves flexibility, and primes your body for the work ahead.

A good warm-up should last 10–20 minutes, depending on the room temperature and your activity. 

It should include:

• 5–10 minutes of light aerobic activity: To raise your core temperature, you can do:
  
  • Jogging
  • Cycling
  • Swimming
  • Brisk walking
• Dynamic mobility work: Focus on shoulder, hip, and knee mobility using stretch bands and controlled movements.
• Light, high-rep warm-up exercises: Incorporate these exercises that is quick-paced and low in intensity, such as: 
  
  • Shoulder-breakers
  • Overhead squats
  • Face pulls

• Progressive warm-up sets
  Before jumping into your working sets, perform 2–3 sets with increasing weight, reaching about 60–80% of your target load.

Once this whole process is complete, your body will be primed, your muscles activated, and your risk of injury significantly reduced.

2. Cooling Down is a Must 

Neglecting your cooldown is a commonly overlooked factor that contributes to injury. After training, your muscles are warm, well-supplied with blood and nutrients, and most receptive to static stretching, precisely when it should be done.

Many people mistakenly perform static stretches before exercise, when muscles are still cold and tight. This can lead to reduced strength output and increase the risk of strain or injury. In contrast, post-workout static stretching supports recovery and helps return your muscles to their natural resting length.

Resistance training causes muscles to contract and shorten. Stretching afterwards restores balance, enhances flexibility, and reduces post-exercise stiffness. For best results, aim to stretch immediately after completing your workout while the muscles are still warm and pliable.

3. Muscle Imbalances Increase Your Risk of Injury

Muscle imbalances are a common yet often overlooked cause of injury and poor performance. 

‍They fall into two categories:

1. Left-to-right imbalances: These are typically visible during loaded exercises, such as squats or presses. If one side of the barbell rises faster or you're consistently shifting weight to one side, it's a sign of uneven strength or coordination.
2. Structural imbalances: contribute to postural issues like kyphosis, lordosis, anterior pelvic tilt, or rounded shoulders. They occur when certain muscle groups are chronically tight and overactive while their opposing muscles are weak or underused.

Correcting these imbalances involves:

• Stretching and foam rolling the tight, dominant muscles, ideally before workouts and throughout the day.
• Strengthening the weaker, inhibited muscles to restore balance and alignment.

For best results, identify your imbalances through self-assessment or with the help of a qualified professional, then apply a targeted corrective strategy.

4. Your Training Schedule May Be Too Aggressive

Listening to your body is essential for long-term progress and injury prevention. If you're feeling unusually fatigued or not mentally prepared to train, it's often better to rest. Occasional extra recovery days can support performance, not hinder it.

Another critical factor is DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). If you're still sore 2 to 5 days after a session, it's worth pausing to assess. While DOMS is common, it’s still a form of muscular injury, involving inflammation and microtrauma to the muscles and connective tissue.

Training through this kind of soreness, especially in the same muscle group, can compromise recovery and increase your risk of more serious injury. Wait until the soreness subsides before returning to targeted training. Working out a recovering muscle isn’t productive and can delay adaptation.

5. Poor Nutrition Can Impact Your Recovery

Nutrition plays a critical role in both athletic performance and injury prevention. Deficiencies in key vitamins and minerals can gradually impair the body’s ability to recover and remain resilient, increasing the risk of injury. A diet rich in vegetables, fruits, and legumes provides essential nutrients, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds that support tissue repair and protect against microtears.

Hydration is equally important, but timing matters. Drinking a large amount of water just before training isn’t effective. Proper hydration should begin at least five hours before a workout, with consistent daily fluid intake. Research shows that individuals who maintain optimal hydration levels are, on average, 27% stronger and 34% less likely to suffer muscle or tendon injuries during high-intensity training.

6. You Are Probably Lifting Too Much Weight

Ambition is valuable in training, especially when pushing through plateaus or aiming for new personal records. But there’s a fine line between pushing limits and ignoring them. Lifting more than you can safely control significantly increases the risk of injury.

So, how do you know when it’s too much?

• If you can’t control the weight on its descent,
• If the movement exceeds safe biomechanical limits,
• Or if you need to jerk, swing, or heave the weight into position. You’re likely lifting beyond your capacity.

Uncontrolled loads, barbells, or dumbbells quickly become dangerous. Once they deviate from your control, gravity takes over, and anything in their path (including your joints) is at risk.

7. Your Form Needs Work

It may appear last on the list, but poor form is one of the most common and preventable causes of injury in the gym. A faulty technique can strain or tear muscles and connective tissue in an instant, often faster than you realise.

Every joint and limb has a natural biomechanical pathway. When under load, there’s little room for error; your arms and legs are only meant to move in specific ways. Deviating from these patterns, especially under stress, puts your body at serious risk.

Focus on mastering form. Strive for technical precision with every rep. If you can’t complete a lift with proper alignment, don’t force it. Make the rep with control and correct technique, or let it go.

8. You May Not Be Getting Enough Sleep 

Like proper nutrition, adequate sleep is a critical component of the recovery process. Again, a body that cannot recover fully cannot adapt to its training loads. This impedes performance and increases your risk of injury.

9. You Might Have Poor Posture 

The effects of chronic poor posture on Western society cannot be overstated. A vast majority of all low back pain (LBP), thoracic pain, and cervical pain is directly related to chronically poor sitting posture. 

The effect of a low-load, long-duration stretch on the muscles, ligaments, and discs of your spine can be devastating. Our bodies were built for frequent movement and activity, not prolonged sitting (especially with poor posture).

10. You Need to Improve Your Focus 

Mental focus is non-negotiable in the gym. Whether it’s stress, distractions, or even excitement, anything that pulls your attention away from the weights increases your risk of injury.

To train effectively and safely, clear your mind of irrelevant thoughts and focus on the task ahead. Watch any elite athlete or experienced lifter, and you’ll see the same thing: intense concentration. That focus doesn’t happen by accident and is built over time. It’s cultivated through: 

• Routine
• Discipline
• Mental checklist.

Better focus leads to better control. Better control leads to better results.

11. You Are Ignoring Pain 

Pain is your body’s warning system. Unlike general discomfort from exertion, sharp, stabbing, or worsening pain during exercise often signals a serious issue, such as a: 

• Torn tendon
• Muscle strain
• Joint damage

Pain accompanied by swelling typically indicates inflammation and tissue injury. Continuing to train through it can worsen the problem and delay recovery.

If you feel pain that isn’t right, stop immediately and seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional. Pushing through might not just stall your progress; it could set you back significantly.

12. Your Training Program May Be Poorly Designed 

Overtraining syndrome (OTS) occurs when the intensity and/or volume of training/exercise becomes too much for the body to recover properly. This usually results from a poorly designed and/or executed training program. 

Pushing your training to the point of overtraining will, at best, impede your performance. At worst, it can lead to serious injury and burnout. Weekend warriors (those who cram a week’s worth of exercise into just two days) are at high risk of injury because their bodies can no longer recover from the training stimulus imparted to them.

13. You Are Ignoring Therapy and Recovery 

Just as a high-performance car needs regular servicing, your body needs ongoing care, especially if you’re training hard. You don’t need to be a professional athlete to benefit from routine muscular and structural maintenance.

Ignoring recovery tools like chiropractic care, massage, or physiotherapy can lead to strains, tears, and preventable setbacks. Investing time in prevention is always less painful and less costly than treatment.

‍Think of it this way: it’s better to stay in the gym making progress than to be stuck in recovery nursing injuries.

Related Reading

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How Can We Reduce and Manage Pain and Injury?

Gradually increasing training variables is essential for preventing injury, such as: 

• Distance
• Intensity
• Frequency

In exercise, “load” refers to the demands placed on: 

• Muscles
• Tendons
• Ligaments

These tissues have a limited tolerance, and exceeding it can lead to pain or injury.

To avoid this, it is essential to choose activities suited to your current ability. Progress your training in a measured, realistic way, and ensure variety to prevent overuse.

Equally important is rest, both during and after workouts, so your tissues can recover and adapt for future effort.

Capacity: Strength and Conditioning Prevents Injury

Concerning capacity, it’s essential to add strength and conditioning to ensure that our muscles are strong and conditioned to cope with the tasks and demands placed upon them. 

Strength and conditioning goals will vary and depend on the tasks and activities we aim to complete.

Variation: Change It Up to Avoid Injury 

Variation of movement or tasks decreases the demands of repetitive stresses and strains on our bodies. Once again, ensuring that you have adequate rest in the form of sleep to allow tissues to recover is essential when managing capacity. Optimising movement is key to moving in an efficient manner.

Biomechanics: Assessing Movement to Prevent Injury

Biomechanical assessment or movement analysis enables us to learn new or modified movement patterns, which result in spreading or sharing the load across body regions rather than focusing on one specific area that may, over time, succumb to load and insufficient capacity.

Example 1: A Cautionary Tale of Load Tolerance

After a 12-month break from exercise, John resumed running with a modest plan, 2 km twice a week. Encouraged by how he felt after three weeks, he increased his running distance to 5 km and added a third weekly run, based on a friend’s advice. Within a few weeks, he developed Achilles stiffness, which progressed to significant pain, eventually forcing him to stop and seek treatment.

Where did he go wrong?

1. Load Errors
   
   • Initial Distance: Starting with 2 km may have already been excessive after a long break. A more conservative approach, such as a walk/run over 1 km, would have allowed for gradual adaptation.
   • Rate of Progression: Increasing distance and frequency simultaneously overloaded his system. Best practice recommends increasing total running volume by no more than 10% per week.
   • Cumulative Load: Adding a third session while increasing distance likely pushed the cumulative weekly load beyond what his tissues could tolerate.
2. Tissue Capacity Issues
   
   • Deconditioning: After a long exercise hiatus, John’s muscular and tendon strength, flexibility, and endurance were likely reduced.
   • Lack of Preparation: Without structured strength and conditioning, his tissues weren’t ready to absorb the repetitive stress of running.
   • Biomechanics: No formal gait or movement assessment was conducted, which may have overlooked faulty mechanics, increasing strain on the Achilles tendon.

Recommendations:

• Begin with a walk/run program and increase volume gradually.
• Strength and conditioning drills should be implemented 2–3 times per week to enhance tissue capacity.
• Consider a professional biomechanical assessment to correct technique and prevent overload injuries.

Example 2: Ignoring Load Changes Can Result in Injury 

After maternity leave, Julie returned to work as a warehouse assistant, involving prolonged standing and manual handling tasks such as lifting and moving boxes. Within four weeks, she began experiencing lower back pain that worsened over time, ultimately requiring her to take time off.

Julie’s injury stems primarily from a sudden increase in physical load:

• Extended standing time: Far exceeding her usual daily activity levels.
• New physical demands: Repetitive lifting and movement requiring strength, agility, and endurance.
• Reduced recovery: Added physical demands of parenting outside of work limited her rest and recovery periods.

How to Physically Prepare for a Demanding Job After a Period of Inactivity

Preparation and gradual adaptation are key to preventing load-related injuries. 

Julie could have taken the following proactive steps:

1. Conditions for Standing Tolerance: Gradually increase daily walking to 1–2 hours to build endurance for standing tasks.
2. Strengthen Key Muscle Groups: Begin a structured strength and conditioning program targeting the legs, trunk, and arms to prepare for manual handling.
3. Learn Safe Lifting Techniques: Attend manual handling training to reduce the risk of spinal overload and improper lifting mechanics.
4. Prioritize Recovery: Implement strategies to ensure sufficient evening and overnight rest, aiding tissue repair and resilience.

Julie’s case highlights the importance of managing load progression and optimising tissue capacity through: 

• Physical preparation
• Technical training
• Adequate recovery

These measures significantly reduce the risk of injury, especially when returning to physically demanding work after reduced activity.

Insidious Pain and Injury 

Understanding load, tissue capacity, and load tolerance is key to identifying the causes of pain and injury. These factors often explain when, why, and how discomfort arises, especially without a clear, traumatic event. So the next time you wake up in pain without an apparent reason, consider your activities over the previous days or weeks. 

Did you exceed your usual physical or postural demands, even something as subtle as prolonged sitting or an unusually long run? Pain doesn’t come from sleeping in a draft or “awkwardly,” but more often from surpassing your body’s load tolerance without adequate preparation or recovery.

Tips to Prevent Injury 

While some injuries are unavoidable, many can be prevented by following some simple strategies, such as: 

Warm-Up and Cool Down

Before and after your activity, perform light exercises, such as jogging, cycling, or skipping, to increase your blood flow, heart rate, and body temperature. Then, do dynamic stretches, such as: 

• Lunges
• Leg swings
• Arm circles

These exercises improve your:

• Range of motion
• Flexibility
• Coordination

After your activity, do static stretches, such as hamstring, calf, or chest, to relax your muscles, reduce tension, and prevent stiffness. 

Hydrate and Nourish

Drink plenty of fluids, such as water, sports drinks, or juice, before, during, and after your activity, to prevent: 

• Dehydration
• Heat exhaustion
• Heat stroke

Eat a balanced diet, rich in: 

• Carbohydrates
• Protein
• Fat
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Water

These will give your body the energy and nutrients it needs to: 

• Function
• Repair
• Gow

Avoid or limit alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and processed foods, as they can: 

• Dehydrate you
• Impair your performance
• Delay your recovery

Strengthen and Condition

Regularly perform exercises that target your major muscle groups, such as your chest, back, legs, and core, to improve your: 

• Strength
• Endurance
• Power

Include exercises focusing on stabilizing muscles, such as your rotator cuff, gluteus medius, and transversus abdominis, to enhance your: 

• Stability
• Balance
• Posture 

Incorporate exercises that challenge your proprioception, such as single-leg stands, wobble board, or Bosu ball, to improve your: 

• Body awareness
• Agility
• Reaction time

Rest and Recover

Allow yourself enough time to rest and recover between your activities, especially if they are intense, long, or frequent. Aim for at least one or two rest days per week and vary your activities to avoid overloading the same muscles, joints, and tendons. Also, get enough sleep, at least seven to nine hours per night, to optimise your physical and mental health. 

Improve your Mechanics

Learn and practice the proper form, technique, and posture for your activity, and seek feedback from a coach, trainer, or physical therapist. Avoid or correct faulty movement patterns, such as: 

• Excessive pronation
• Knee valgus
• Rounded shoulders

These can increase your risk of injury. Use appropriate equipment, such as shoes, clothing, or gear, that fit you well, support you, and protect you. 

Address your Previous Injuries

If you have a history of injury, consult with your doctor or physical therapist to determine the cause and severity of your injury, and whether you need any treatment or rehabilitation. Follow the instructions and recommendations of your health care provider, and complete your recovery program before returning to your activity. 

Address any psychological factors, such as fear, anxiety, or lack of confidence, that may affect your performance and recovery, and seek professional help if needed. 

Building Resilience: The Role of Timely Medical Care

By following these strategies, you can reduce your chances of injury and enjoy your physical activities more. If you get injured, do not ignore or neglect your injury; seek medical attention immediately. Remember, prevention is always better than a cure. Stay safe and have fun!

Related Reading

• Why Does My Leg Shake When I Stretch
• Fitness Assessment
• Why Can't I Straighten My Arm After Working Out
• How Flexible Are You
• Why Are My Hamstrings So Tight
• Sit and Reach Flexibility Test

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