You know those classes you take when you’re feeling amped—killer indoor-cycling sessions, boot camps, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT)? They are a super-fast way to sculpt lean muscle but often yield a less exciting side effect: injury.
In the last few years, physicians have seen a rise in shoulder, hip, and knee woes caused by high-impact exercise, says Eugene Yim, MD, a sports medicine specialist with Hoag Orthopedic Institute. Aggressive gym time can also lead to stress fractures, sprains, and muscle tears, he says. Then there’s an alarming condition called rhabdomyolysis, a severe form of muscle breakdown that can cause kidney damage—and which, you guessed it, has recently been linked to the rise in extreme workouts. “Some people are just pushing too hard,” says Maureen Brogan, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine at New York Medical College, who has studied kidney damage in indoor cyclists.
But the solution isn’t to skip balls-to-the-wall workouts. It’s to practice smarter fitness. To slay your tough classes without effing up your bod, follow this advice.
1 Learn to Love the Ramp-Up
This story is from the December 2017 edition of Cosmopolitan.
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This story is from the December 2017 edition of Cosmopolitan.
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