| It's hard to pin down the source of injury because there are so many factors, but I suggest looking at it holistically: * The weightlifting equipment - whether the barbell is balanced, if your shoes are flat to allow proper force driving, and lifting belt or shirt if applicable. * Basic limitations of your body. I have scoliosis, and while it's a noticeable condition, it doesn't affect ordinary activities. But in the gym, compound lifts are considerably harder. I have adapted towards favoring bodyweight-centric exercises like weighted dips and leg lifts. I haven't had any injury from it in years now. * Other health and nutrition factors. At 32, all it takes is one meal of junk food and I stiffen up for the next four hours or so, or one poor night of sleep and I'm struggling to do cardio the next day. Worse mobility transfers to worse form, and performance degrades from there. For gathering information specific to me, I've just done a lot of data collection of both the "mental note" and "exercise log" kind. I don't aim to be in the gym more than once or twice a week, and as long as my numbers are going up(which I usually measure by total volume to allow weight/reps/sets to shift around) I'm happy. Lately I've been training jiujitsu 2 hours a week and the overall intensity/satisfaction there far exceeds what I usually get out of the gym - grappling uses everything you have - while the injury rate is "scrapes, bruises and soreness from submissions every session" and any more serious injury is generally dependent on my own caution and whether or not the opponent is a maniac, which is most common in two settings: during competition, and when they are completely new. When you're used to rolling, it becomes less threatening and more of a mind game. |