While Boston University students enjoy the exercise mecca that is the Fitness and Recreational Center, they should be aware of their own physical abilities and fitness level before overexerting themselves, FitRec coordinators said, after recent media reports called out the dangers of over-frequent and too-intense exercise.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends students should “engage in 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on most (preferably all) days of the week,” according to its website, but FitRec fitness coordinator Rosella Avitabile-Muller said various injuries can result if an athlete is not mindful of his physical condition prior to working out.
“The injuries depend on the activity,” Avitabile-Muller said. “Muscles can become overly sore.”
Avitabile-Muller said generally someone who goes to the gym recreationally can work out for about an hour doing cardiovascular exercises, but stamina depends on the individual person. Strains and sprains are some of the more common injuries seen at FitRec.
“Athletes can condition for longer,” she said.
Only a few injuries are seen in the weight rooms in FitRec, she said, and the most common injuries need just a bandage or an ice pack from the on-site emergency medical technicians.
FitRec Emergency Medical Services coordinator Raymond Levy said he typically sees minor injuries, but FitRec has “the occasional dislocation and on rare occasions, a fracture.”
Although Levy said he does not always witness the cause of the injuries, he said most of them are the result of FitRec sports.
“Someone jumps to rebound a basketball, and they land awkwardly on their ankle, causing a sprain,” Levy said.
He said pick-up games have the most injuries, while club sports have the least.
“As an EMT seeing the injuries, it’s hard to say whether the student was injured because they were wearing improper gear or using the equipment improperly,” Levy said. “We’ll put a band-aid on it; we’ll put ice on it; we’ll pop it back into place.”
Working out too much can also cause more chronic injuries, Avitabile-Muller said. The injuries that are caused by working out too much over a long period of time depend on the activities that a person performs.
Students should be aware of their own fitness levels and avoid over exerting themselves, she added. During workouts the maximum heart rate should only be between 60 and 85 percent higher than the normal heart rate.
Avitabile-Muller said she recommends students work out between three and six times each week.
“You need at least one day of rest each week,” she said.
Safety precautions have been put in place to help prevent students from working out too much. The cardiovascular equipment is set with a 30-minute timer before it shuts off, Avitabile-Muller said.
College of Arts and Sciences senior Ben Ullman said he goes to FitRec about twice each week and has only been injured as a result of the clumsiness of others.
“I was run over on the track,” Ullman said. “I was taking a cool-down lap and someone plowed into me. They were too intense about their workout.”