People are busy. We all want to maximize value from effort. Likewise with exercise. We want to feel good, have more energy, lose weight, get stronger, and get faster. Sometimes, if we want these results immediately, we can do too much, train too hard or too often, or possibly "all of the above". As a result, rather than getting the training benefit, we get an injury.

Injuries happen. There's no way around that. But many injuries can be prevented. Prevention lies in understanding the fine line between training hard and overtraining. The key is to train smart: do smart exercise. How exactly can we increase our exercise IQ? Here are a few guidelines.

First key: Warm up first. Warming up before exercise allows your muscles to gradually get warmer (from increased circulation) and longer. If you just go ahead and do your routine without preparation, eventually you'll tear a cold muscle that is trying to get longer quickly.

Warming up means stretching. If you don't stretch first, you'll have an injury waiting to happen. Baseball players, professional dancers, and football players, for example, all know the value of stretching. Stretching afterward is fine, but the critical time to stretch is before exercising. Ten minutes of stretching before exercise should suffice. After that short regimen, you'll be ready to train hard, knowing you're prepared to do the hard work.

Second key: Pay attention. Focus on what you're doing. If you're lifting weights, visualize the prime mover lengthening, and see it supporting and moving the weight. The prime mover is the muscle that the exercise is targeting. For a bench press, the prime mover is the pectorals. For leg extensions, the prime mover is the quadriceps. For a shoulder press, the prime mover is the deltoid.

If you're running, focus on your mechanics. Keep your chest open and your head erect. Shoulders should be level and relaxed. Abdominal muscles should be active. Stride should be smooth. Over time, these mental images become part of your normal background. You'll have trained your brain and your body to work effectively.

Third key: Be sure to train your abdominal muscles several times per week, and be sure to train them at the end of a workout session. Abdominal muscles function as supporting muscles. If they're trained first, then they're not as available for their supporting function. Two things will occur as a result: You will not be able to train as effectively, and your lower back will be at risk. Also, when doing abdominal exercises, train the lower abdominals first. Then do obliques and middle abdominals. Finally, train your upper abdominals last.

Fourth key: Rest. Rest can be complete rest, as in a full rest day, or relative rest, as in alternating types of exercise day by day. Do aerobic exercise on one day and weight-training on another. Rest for a full day at least once a week. Listen to your body. In general, you should be energized after a workout. If you're fatigued and sluggish, either you've overtrained or have not had enough rest.

Over time, putting these simple, but critical, steps into practice will improve your ability to exercise smarter. If you can exercise smarter, you can then exercise harder. Your capacity for the physical work of exercise will increase. And you'll begin to derive more enjoyment, satisfaction, and pleasure from time you invest in exercise.

Dr. David Lemberg, the author of Commitment to Fitness: Real Fitness for Real People, is a board-certified chiropractic orthopedist in his twentieth year of private practice on Manhattan's Upper East Side. He has been published in national trade magazines such as Muscle & Fitness and Dancemagazine, the peer-reviewed Topics in Clinical Chiropractic, the Florida Chiropractic Society Review, and The Chiropractic Journal. Dr. Lemberg is a member of the postgraduate faculty of Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, and for the last ten years has taught orthopedics to chiropractors in venues across the United States and in Canada. He was Clinical Editor of the quarterly journal, Spinal Manipulation, published by the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, from 1990 through 1995.

Commitment to Fitness: Real Fitness for Real People may be ordered through Dr. Lemberg's web site. His office is accepting new patients: 212-535-7429.