Regardless of what you are training for, no one wants to deal with an injury. Sadly, injury comes with the territory of putting your body through the ringer physically. Some injuries are pretty serious, and others are more of a nuisance. Sometimes though, the little injuries that are left unattended to can lead to something more serious.
Most people in their life have experienced a pinched nerve. Bodybuilders and weight lifters maybe have experienced more than any other athlete. Why? First reason is the stress on the body and improper lifting. Many times, a pinched nerve will occur in the lower back due to an improper lift or too much weight being heaved around. Second reason would be the compression of nerves trapped in between inflamed muscle tissues. Bodybuilders experience this quite often. When a muscle is being trained or has been trained, the fibers are swollen. This at times can cause unwanted pressure on nerves which can lead to a loss of comfortability. At times pain can be felt in the limbs (arms and legs) and the person might think they injured that part of their body. The truth is, they could have a pinched nerve somewhere in there back or even neck region that is causing the pain to be felt in the arm or leg.
If a pinched nerve is left untreated, in some cases in can cause permanent nerve damage. Many times, people will just write off a nagging injury such as a pinched nerve and just “cope with the pain”. After a while numbness can set in which then effects strength and movement. You can connect the dots here to see how that could severely hinder one’s training. If you cannot move right and have no strength, chances are you will not be in the gym.
When it comes to prevention of pinched nerves, the biggest thing is making sure you are working out smart, not lifting too much weight which will compromise form and technique. Also making sure you stretch properly and stay limber will help. Many bodybuilders go to get massages to keep the muscle fibers from getting too inflamed and also visit the chiropractor to make sure their neck and back are all in proper alignment. Some suggest not to lift consecutive days as well, or at least break up push and pull movements to every other day to keep pull and compression strain to a minimum on the back and neck.
