Welcome to the Get Fit Guys quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Ben Greenfield and I'm the Get Fit Guy.

You know, in previous episodes and articles, I've taught you how to exercise with an ankle or foot injury, exercise with a knee injury, with a low back injury, with a shoulder injury,

exercise in the water when you're injured, and make your exercise injuries less sore.

But with all this talk about injuries, it seems prudent to learn how to avoid getting a pesky

exercise injury in the first place.

So in this episode, you'll learn common exercise mistakes that cause injuries, how to keep

your body injury free, and how to

stay safe when you work out. Let's start by jumping right into the first mistake that causes

injuries. And here's number one, seat height not properly set. In the episode, How to Use Weightlifting

Machines, I give an introduction to seat height and mention that before getting started, you need to make sure each machine's seat is at the right setting for you. This will not only improve the comfort and effectiveness of your exercises, but it keeps you from injuring your shoulders or your low back. On a weight machine, if the seat is too low, you will arch your back and risk straining your low back muscles. And if the seat is too high,

you'll risk injuring your shoulders. On a bicycle, if the seat is too low, you can hurt the front of your

knees. And if the seat is too high, you can hurt your hips or the sides of your knees. So here is how to

adjust seat height. On a weight machine, line the handles up so that they approximately draw a straight line through your shoulder

joint. On a bicycle, adjust the seat so that there is a slight approximately 30 degree bend in your

knees at the bottom of the pedal stroke. Number two mistake that causes injuries, lifting too much

weight. Low back strain, shoulder pain, neck injuries, lifting too much weight.

Low back strain, shoulder pain, neck injuries, and abdominal injuries are often the result of just lifting too much weight.

In the episode, How to Tell If You're Working Out Hard Enough, I mentioned the rule of three, and here's how it works.

If you can get to the goal number of repetitions for the exercise you're performing, and you can do three or more repetitions over and above that goal number while still maintaining good form, then you should increase weight. If you can't

get within three repetitions without sacrificing good form, you should decrease weight. This rule works

especially well for workouts in which you're lifting a weight 10 to 15 times, which is the typical

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