Stay healthy, stay in the gym!
We spoke a couple weeks ago about avoiding injuries in the gym. It’s something all gym rats obviously wish to avoid. But what happens when you do get injured? Do you just sit and allow your hard earned muscle just shrink? Hell no! Here are some tips on how to workout while battling an injury.
Assess the Situation
Now not all injuries are created equal. Some injuries are worse than others of course and sometimes the best thing to do is take a day or two to see how severe an injury is. Once you understand the severity of the situation, you’ll be able to come up with an accurate strategy to train. By no means do we recommend working through it. It’s great to work hard, but sometimes it’s about working smart.
Stay Active
Understanding the range of motion the injured area can handle is essential to begin training again. For example, if you injure your shoulder and can’t lift your arm, chances are you won’t be able to lift any kind of considerable weight. Get the range of motion back slowly then, once you’re comfortable, begin lifting again with a lighter amount of weight than you usual. With every passing week increase the weight amount to steadily build up the injured area until everything is firing on all cylinders. Also, train muscle groups that have no effect on the injured area. If we’re using the shoulder injury example then be sure to work you legs and abs while trying to regain that full range of motion.
Rehab and Use RICE
Even if you’re working around an injury you have to keep in mind that you’re not still 100 percent. Either during or after you’ve concluded a workout be sure to perform the proper rehabilitation exercises. A good key to recovery is utilizing the RICE method (rest, ice, compression, elevation). By employing this method, having patience and rehabbing your injury, you’ll be back to full strength in no time.
Visualization
The mental aspect of training is undoubtedly the most important. When battling an injury anyone would be apprehensive to jump back into the routine, fear of aggravating the injury. You can’t let fear stop you when you’re ready to hit the gym. By using visualization and working it through your head that injuries are common and that overcoming one is all about being smart and pushing yourself, you’ll be able to jump back into the saddle with no fears.
Let us know if these tips can help you with you injury woes in the comments below and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
