Psychological Factors as Predictors of Sports Injuries in Weight Trainers: A 9-Month Prospective Cohort Study

Weight training contributes significantly to physical fitness but carries a high injury risk. Key contributors include high training frequency, insufficient recovery, and training through fatigue-often influenced by psychological factors such as exercise addiction, obsessive passion, athletic identity, and muscle dysmorphia.

The purpose was to identify demographic, training, and psychological predictors of sports injuries-specifically exercise addiction, passion for exercise, athletic identity, and muscle dysmorphia-to guide injury prevention strategies among weight trainers. It was hypothesized that psychological factors such as obsessive passion, exercise addiction, athletic identity, and muscle dysmorphia are significant predictors of injury risk in weight trainers.

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2.

A total of 381 weight trainers (mean age 31.9 ± 8.6 years; 62.2% women) completed an online baseline survey assessing demographics, training patterns, injury history, coaching status, and psychological constructs, including obsessive passion, exercise addiction, athletic identity, and muscle dysmorphia. Sports injuries, defined as any musculoskeletal complaint from weight training or competition, were tracked biweekly from November 2023 to September 2024, and incidence was calculated per 1000 training hours. Logistic regression with backward selection was used to identify significant predictors.

Over 9 months, 22.05% of participants reported 157 injuries, with an incidence rate of 1.86 injuries per 1000 training hours. Men had a slightly higher injury rate (23.61%) than women (21.9%). The most affected regions were the lower back (24.2%), shoulders/neck (20.38%), and knees (16.6%). A significant regression model (χ²(3, N = 381) = 27.4, P = .001) revealed that previous injuries increased the risk of future injury by 3.74 times. Obsessive passion and exercise addiction increased injury risk by 73% and 12%, respectively, while training with a partner reduced injury risk by 70%.

Our study showed that psychological factors, particularly obsessive passion and exercise addiction, significantly elevate injury risk in weight trainers. Training with a partner offers protective benefits. Injury prevention programs should incorporate psychological screening, promote rest and recovery, and encourage supportive training environments.