6 Helpful Exercise Modifications to Lower Your Injury Risk

The problem: Extra weight puts more stress on the joints, such as your knees or wrists, says Lisanne Cruz, MD, a rehabilitation medicine doctor at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital. That can raise your risk of a strained muscle, torn ligament, or other injury.

Don’t let that stop you. Modifications make most moves simpler to do, and safer. Here are six to try. 

If you’re not active now, ease into it, gradually increasing your exercise repetitions over weeks. Some muscle discomfort or “burn” is normal, but stop if you feel sudden or sharp pain, or if your joints feel weak or unstable. Also, while doing any exercise, focus on good form and take a break if your form breaks down because of muscle fatigue. The quality of your reps is more important than the quantity.

1. Jumping Jack

Jumping jacks can increase your heart rate and strengthen your muscles before strength training. But obesity makes them riskier because each time you land, joints in your spine, hips, knees, and ankles absorb the impact, says certified personal trainer Carla Baccio, director of health coaching at Mindful Wellness, a weight loss centre in Manhattan Beach, CA. 

Modification: Step jack

Take the “jump” out of it with this low-impact alternative. 

1. Stand with your feet together and hands by your sides.
2.  Step your right leg to the side as you bring both arms above your head. 
3. Lower your arms as you step your right leg back to the starting position. 
4. Step your left leg to the side as you bring both arms above your head. 
5. Lower your arms as you step your left leg back. 

2. Move: Squat

This exercise strengthens the muscles in your lower body, but it can put too much pressure on your knees and ankles. Weight gain can also shift your centre of gravity, which may lead to a slip or fall.

Modification: Sit-to-stand

A bench or a chair makes this move more doable. 

• Sit on a chair or bench with a firm surface. 
• Place your feet shoulder-width apart, flat on the ground, and slightly behind your knees.
• Lean your upper body slightly forward and stand up. 
• Slowly lower back down into the chair with control. Pause and repeat. 

3. Move: Plank

This core strengthener may set the stage for a wrist injury. “Some people with obesity have difficulty getting onto and off of the floor, so a standing move is a good option,” says Christian Jones, MS, an exercise physiologist at Duke Health & Fitness Center in Durham, NC.

Modification: Wall plank 

Instead of planking on the floor, do it against a wall. Here’s how:

1. Stand facing a wall with your hands flat against the wall. (If this puts too much pressure on your wrists, place your forearms on the wall.)
2.  Step back so that your arms straighten, keeping your wrists in line with the shoulders and feet hip-distance apart.
3.  Engage your core by tightening your core like someone is going to punch you in the stomach while keeping your body in a straight line from head to knees. 

How long: Hold for a few seconds, building up to 15 seconds. Gradually add more time.

4. Move: Push-Up

This classic exercise strengthens your chest, arms, and back muscles. Doing it standing up takes some pressure off of your shoulders and wrists.

Modification: Wall push-up

1. Stand facing a wall with your hands flat against the wall.  
2. Step back so your arms straighten, keeping your wrists in line with the shoulders and feet hip-distance apart. (If this feels too hard, step closer to the wall.) 
3. Slowly bend your elbows downwards to a 45-degree angle (not out to the side) and lower your chest toward the wall with control. Keep your back and hips straight. 
4. Slowly push back to the starting position. 

5. Move: Sit-Up

This core exercise puts pressure on the spine. It also may be too much for your hip flexors, the muscles that run from the top of your thighs to your lower back. If your hip flexors are too tight – and that’s common for people who sit a lot – sit-ups pull on your lower back muscles. “I wouldn’t recommend sit-ups for people with obesity,” Baccio says. 

Modification: Imprint

1. Stand with your back against a wall, hands by your sides and knees slightly bent. 
2. Slowly press all the vertebrae of the spine against the wall as you tighten your core muscles like someone is going to punch you in the stomach and slightly tilt your pelvis backwards. 
3. Hold for a few seconds, and then return to your starting position. 
4. You can also do this move lying on the ground, with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor, Baccio says. 

6. Move: Bridge

Unlike some of the other exercises, Baccio recommends bridges for people with obesity. “It engages your hamstrings and gluteal muscles without straining the back,” she says. But she also provides a modification if it’s hard to get down to the floor. 

 To do a bridge, lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Tighten your glutes and stomach muscles as you raise your hips off the floor. (Ideally, your hips will be in a diagonal line from your knees to your shoulders. If not, that’s OK; make it a goal to work toward.) Hold for a few seconds before you return to the starting position.

Or try this modification, done standing up:

Modification: Standing kickback

1. Stand facing a wall an arm’s-length away, with your palms flat on the wall and your elbows slightly bent. 
2. Tighten your gluteal muscles as you lift your right leg behind you off the ground with control. Raise it as high as you’re comfortable while keeping your upper body still.
3. Lower your leg back to the ground.