"avoid straining" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
This phrase is usually used to advise someone to be careful while doing something. For example, "When lifting heavy objects, remember to avoid straining your back."
To be on the safe side, take steps to avoid straining.
Several sources interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid straining relationships with Mr. Cuomo or Mr. Walder.
The disease made him prone to exhaustion and collapse, and he had to take precautions to avoid straining his heart.
The bill was dropped from the current legislative agenda to avoid straining ties between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, who say the measure is too invasive.
To avoid straining it, the ship backs down along the streamer at about a half knot (about 1 kilometer an hour).
"Bishop Spong was a visionary," she said, seated on a sofa in her office far enough from the subway construction outside to avoid straining her soft voice.
A number of preventative measures are recommended, including avoiding straining while attempting to defecate, avoiding constipation and diarrhea either by eating a high-fiber diet and drinking plenty of fluid or by taking fiber supplements, and getting sufficient exercise.
We performed the modified Parker-Kerr suture while the stapler was still in place because it avoided straining the staple line by holding the two bowel segments together.
There are a number of types of drive, but all function gently to avoid strain.
The reason was that, once I was given an injection, both eyes would be bandaged, in order to avoid strain on the one that could see.
However, their mechanical properties should match surrounding tissue in order to avoid strain concentration and possible separation at the interface.
