One of the hardest things to deal with as a trainer is injuries. The biggest reason for this is that injuries are not planned events (of course, who wakes up and says “hey I think I’ll get injured today”) and they take away from your goals and the goals of your client.
As a lifelong athlete, I know injuries! I have had shoulder, back, knee, ankle, and am currently nursing a hip injury (I think that covers all the major joints), all varying in degree of severity.
In my experience, the way people deal with injuries falls into two categories.
“Well, I am injured; guess I’ll stop trying to get in shape. Back to doing nothing, and a life of misery.”
Or
“What injury? It only hurts a little, I’m good, I can work through it”
Both schools of thought are detrimental to your health. The first scenario will allow the injury to heal but leaves you otherwise sedentary, causing serious back sliding of your health and any gains you’ve made thus far in your overall fitness level. Every time you quit, it’s harder to get started again and oftentimes I see clients give up altogether
In the second situation, you will still train, you generally keep your strength and conditioning but you will have a higher chance of aggravating the injury, leading to a longer recovery or worse, a more serious injury, possibly to a different body part as you may be compensating for the problem area..
I strongly advocate that with any serious injury, you go through a doctors’ referral process, meaning see a doctor first and follow their recommended course of action. I classify “serious injury” as anything that causes pain or has been chronically sore for two to three weeks. While you may be concerned that you’re being a baby, it truly is better be safe than sorry with an injury.
From my perspective, this is what I’d like you to understand when dealing with injuries:
- Think of internal injuries like you would a cut; first – stop the bleeding, e.g. provide the appropriate acute first aid
- Second, work around the injury. If you’ve cut your forefinger, can you do what you need to without using it? If yes, do so. If no, skip that task for now.
- Third – crush the exercises that you can do. I once had a client who needed surgery on her foot. She’d bring that little scooter thing that she needed to use to not put weight on her foot, line it up under the pulley machine and do seated one arm rows, lat pull downs, etc. She couldn’t work that leg but killed it on what she could do!
So for injuries that involve ligament/muscle sprains or strains, again think of them like a cut. Just because today your back feels good, it doesn’t mean it is healed fully. Just because the cut stops bleeding, it doesn’t mean it is healed. You have to wait until the scab forms and falls off. Not to be gross but if you pick that scab, it’s going to bleed again! Take the time necessary to avoid reinjury.
When working around your injury, if you are working with a doctor or physical therapist you need to stay within the guidelines that they outline for you. The last thing we want to see you do undo their work and the hard work you’ve been putting in trying to get healthy. If you’re ever unsure about working around an injury or not certain if it’s severe enough to “count” as an injury, seek out help from a doctor or physical therapist.
Remember my two scenarios at the beginning? The key to avoiding both is to keep doing the exercises you can do, that don’t exacerbate the injured area/body part. By doing this, you stay active, you retain your level of fitness and you have a less steep slope to climb when you are fully recovered. If a client is having difficulty bench pressing because of a shoulder impingement, let’s work something else then. Core work, legs, glutes…let’s work on what’s healthy! So bottom line – PLEASE don’t use injuries as an excuse to quit and don’t be bullheaded and push through an injury. Do what is best for you. Don’t do what you can’t and crush what you can.. Once the injury is healed, build it back up and all will be well
Best
JW
Nice!