You made a decision to regularly work out from now on? Congratulations! But before you start, you should know about a few exercises with which you can avoid some of the most common injuries caused by muscle overuse during walking, hiking, running, swimming or cycling. Do the following moves at the end of your warm-up or right after your workout.

To avoid tight calf and foot muscles when walking face a wall, stretch out your arms and place your palms on the wall. Put one leg behind you and press the heel into the floor until you feel the stretch in the back of your leg. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 5 times. Then repeat with other leg.

Before you go hiking balance on one foot, bend your knee and slowly lower your body a couple of inches with a straight back. Slowly straighten your knee and stand upright again, then rotate your upper body from the hip from left to right. Repeat 10 times and switch to other leg. This will strengthen your ankle.

Runners can avoid knee problems by pressing the back against a wall and slowly sliding down with feet flat on the floor until the thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold for 30 seconds, then return to upright position. Repeat 5 times.

To avoid shoulder pains swimmers can do the following exercise: stand up with slightly bent knees, feet hip-width apart and lean forward from the waist with arms hanging down. Hold a weight (3 to 5 pounds) in each hand and slowly lift arms to the sides away from the body with your shoulder blades moving towards each other. Hold for a few seconds, then return to starting position. Repeat 10 times.

To counter lower back pain while cycling get down on hands and knees and slowly extend and lift right arm and left leg. Look towards floor, keeping your body stable and your abs contracted. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat 5 times. Then switch to opposite side.