The 7 Most Common Gym Injuries and What They're Telling You About Your Spine

Every common gym injury has a story. That story usually involves not just the movement that produced the injury, but the underlying mechanical context that made the injury possible in the first place. Understanding these underlying stories allows gym-goers to address the cause of their injuries rather than simply managing the symptoms, and to return to training with a reduced likelihood of the same injury recurring.

The following are the seven most frequently presenting gym injuries at Clifton Chiro in Bristol, with their common underlying mechanisms and what they suggest about the spine and movement system that produced them.

1. Lower Back Strain from Deadlifts or Squats

Usually indicates: insufficient hip mobility requiring compensatory lumbar flexion; inadequate core bracing technique; or load that exceeds current capacity. The lumbar strain is the failure point, but the cause is typically upstream at the hip or thoracic spine.

2. Shoulder Impingement from Overhead Pressing or Pull-Ups

Usually indicates: restricted thoracic extension preventing optimal shoulder elevation; tight pectoral minor reducing scapular upward rotation; or insufficient rotator cuff strength for the overhead demands being placed on the shoulder. Treating the shoulder alone without addressing thoracic mobility produces incomplete and often short-lived recovery.

3. Anterior Knee Pain from Squatting

Usually indicates: ankle dorsiflexion restriction producing increased forward lean and knee loading; inadequate quadriceps-to-hamstring strength balance; or hip weakness causing valgus collapse under load. Often labelled as patellar tendinopathy but frequently has a movement pattern cause that responds to hip and ankle work.

4. Neck Pain After Bench Press

Usually indicates: sustained cervical extension during the bench press (neck positioned in extension on the bench); or the cervical and upper thoracic tension that accumulates from pressing volume over time. Cervical and upper thoracic restrictions are common findings in regular bench pressers.

5. Hip Flexor Strain from Running or Cycling Intervals

Usually indicates: tight psoas from accumulated sitting time, insufficient hip extension in the running gait, or lumbar extension restriction that limits stride length. The hip flexor absorbs load at end range rather than through a full comfortable range, producing cumulative strain.

6. Thoracic Pain from Rowing or Pulling Exercises

Usually indicates: pre-existing thoracic stiffness that concentrates stress at particular segmental levels during rowing movements; or scapular stabiliser fatigue that causes substitution patterns in thoracic movement during pulling exercises.

7. Wrist and Elbow Pain from Olympic Lifting

Usually indicates: limited wrist dorsiflexion for front rack position; or thoracic and shoulder restrictions that prevent comfortable front rack without compensating at the wrist.

In each case, chiropractic assessment identifies the movement restrictions upstream of the injury that created the vulnerability. At Clifton Chiro in Bristol, returning gym-goers to training is not just about resolving the acute injury but rebuilding the movement foundation that prevents its recurrence.

References

Hak PT, Hodzovic E, Hickey B. The nature and prevalence of injury during CrossFit training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2013.

Nichols AW. Medical care of the athlete. JAMA. 2007.

McGill SM. Low back disorders. Human Kinetics; 2007.

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About the Author

Tim Scott is the Principal Chiropractor at Clifton Chiro, with over 26 years of experience in healthcare.