5 Warm-Up and Stretch
Warming up and stretching can help you to reduce your injury risk, but only if you know how to do it correctly. Actually, a number of studies show that stretching prior to a workout can increase your injury risk by reducing the control you have over the joint. This is particularly true around the knee.
If you use ballistic stretching – bouncing or jolting yourself into a greater range of motion – then this can cause injury all on its own.
The best way to stretch is by using foam rollers in order to release the tonus in the muscles (i.e. tightness). Likewise, you should warm up by performing the movements that you are about to use with weights – but with far lower resistance.