If you've strained a muscle, you're not alone. The Mayo Clinic says that muscle strains are commonplace--especially in the lower back and thighs. Strained muscles result either from tearing or excessively stretching the muscle or both the muscle and the tendons attached to it. That happens by putting too much pressure on a muscle or on a muscle and tendon together, such as through putting your body in an awkward position while playing sports or lifting heavy objects too suddenly or quickly.
Acute Causes
Stretching one or more of your muscles too abruptly or too far, according to the Mayo Clinic, can cause acute muscle strain. Some of the ways that can happen include running, jumping, throwing, slipping on ice, lifting a heavy object or lifting any object in an awkward position, the Mayo Clinic says. Activities such as these can strain your muscles suddenly.
Chronic Causes
Repeatedly moving one or more of your muscles for a prolonged period of time can lead to chronic muscle strain, reports the Mayo Clinic. That can happen when you're engaging in sports, such as gymnastics, rowing, golf or tennis, or when you do physical labor frequently on the job, according to the Mayo Clinic. Activities like these can strain your muscles gradually.
Risk Factors
You're prone to muscle strains if you have certain risk factors that contribute to their causes. Fatigue is a risk factor for muscle strains, the Mayo Clinic reports, because you're more likely when you're tired than when you're well rested to make decisions that can overextend a muscle or stress a joint. And when your muscles themselves are tired, they may not support your joints well, according to the Mayo Clinic. A 1996 Duke University Medical Center research study published in the "American Journal of Sports Medicine" showed that fatigued muscles were able to absorb less energy than well-rested muscles before reaching the degree of stretching that causes injuries. Poor athletic conditioning also can leave your muscles weak (and therefore more likely to sustain injury), says the Mayo Clinic. Failing to properly warm up before vigorous exercise is another risk factor that contributes to muscle strains, the Mayo Clinic says, because it leaves you without the muscle-loosening benefits of a proper warm-up that can make your muscles less prone to strains.
