Put potentially risky movements early in your routine!

Let me just sit here on this ball.

I did it again. Fell in the gym and caused a commotion. It was embarrassing.

I was doing box jumps. That’s where you jump with both feet up onto a bench or step. And then you step down to the floor, one foot at a time, before jumping up again.

I maybe do them once a week. Three sets of 10 jumps, with a 45- to 60-second rest between sets.

I just started doing these recently after a long hiatus from them. They’re challenging for anybody, really. They require a lot of explosive power to land on the bench just right.

And the exercise is particularly challenging if you’re 5’3 ½” and you use a tall weight bench.

Some lessons hurt. Literally.

I missed the bench while jumping up. And I kind of fell over the bench, but didn’t go all the way over. My arms went out to brace my fall.

Which worked—I didn’t fall on the floor—but my right wrist and forearm paid the price!

I think something is sprained. So I got off lightly, I’d say.

My concern was my osteoporosis. I’ve got seriously low bone density, which increases my risk for fracture. I could have broken a wrist, so I count my blessings and will suffer the pain.

RICE for now!

That stands for: Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation.

Once home, I wrapped my wrist and forearm. I have my arm up on my desk, with one ice pack under and one over the wrist-forearm. And as much as I can, I’m resting that right arm. (Hard to do when you have to write/edit at the computer all day.)  

What’s the lesson?

Do potentially risky movements early in your routine—when you are not fatigued.

Or, perhaps, make a plan and stick with it.

But this latter advice is not always what we do. We sometimes add things for the fun of it. That’s just human nature, right? But that’s when problems can arise.

I’d had an intense, 40-minute weight-training workout, followed by about 15 minutes of challenging calisthenics.

I was headed for the locker room when I decided to squeeze the box jumps in.

I didn’t have an accurate sense of my fatigue.

I did the first two sets just fine. So I was feeling confident.

And then I fell.

What will I do differently?

Skip box jumps? Nope. Nothing wrong with the exercise. Just the execution!

Next time, I’ll do the box jumps before I do my calisthenics circuit. When my energy is still up there. And my motor skills haven’t been as severely taxed.

It will spare me another potentially injurious incident.

Embarrassment, I can get over. A broken wrist, much harder!

One other thought…

If you find you’re fatigued when you’re just walking into the gym, re-think your routine. Avoid risky movements!

Save challenging work for days when your energy is good!