How Do I Keep Training With An Injury?
You’ve been on a roll with your training and making good progress in the gym. You finally feel like you’re in a good routine with your health and fitness, and then BOOM, an injury creeps up. Many people will just stop working out completely until they feel recovered. I’m here to tell you there are much better ways to navigate this roadblock so that you can recover quicker, stay in the gym, and continue to maximize your fitness.
Modify Weight
If something is painful using a certain weight, one option is to try the same movement with a lighter weight. While this concept isn’t rocket science, you’d be surprised how many people don’t try this approach. Scale the weight back, but still get a workout in rather than skipping the workout altogether.
Modify Range of Motion
Sometimes you may feel fine through most of a movement, but there’s just one spot that flares up your symptoms. For example, sometimes people will experience pain with bench pressing as they work into the bottom of the movement as the barbell approaches their chest. They feel fine through the rest of the movement, but that last little bit of shoulder extension required to reach depth is what flares them up. Why not try to keep a similar weight, but change the range of motion used? Instead of a bench press, try a floor press. This way you can maintain strength gains while temporarily avoiding the painful portion of the range of motion.
Remember To Manipulate Tempo
This is one of the most underutilized techniques. If you temporarily have to scale back the weight of an exercise, that doesn’t mean that it has to be easy. If you are having trouble tolerating heavy loads but still want to challenge yourself, try slowing down the tempo of the movement. This can include slow eccentrics (negatives), or pausing at various positions. Instead of a heavy squat, maybe you slow the tempo to a 5 second descent, then pause for two seconds at the bottom before standing back up. This added time under tension will serve as an additional challenge, while still minimizing the external load.
Click here to visit our previous blog post on tempo training. Tempo: The Missing Variable in Your Training
Change Exercise Selection
Sometimes the best way to modify the exercise is by changing the movement. You can select an exercise that accomplishes a similar goal, but fits your current situation better. For example, instead of an overhead press, a landmine press may be a more comfortable way for someone with an aggravated shoulder to perform a pressing task. First you can try to change the exercise to something similar to the original movement, but if that still causes you pain, choose another exercise that feels better. Even if the workout doesn’t look as originally planned, some workout is better than no workout!
What if I am not allowed to use that part of my body?
Sometimes a specific area of your body needs complete rest, and using that area isn’t an option at all. For example, if you are in a sling, changing a bench press to a floor press won’t accomplish anything, you’re still in a sling and can’t use that arm.
In these situations, you can continue training the other 3 non-injured limbs. For example, if you’re in a sling you can use the other 3 extremities on an Echo Bike or an Assault Bike. If you’re in a boot you can prop your foot up on a skateboard and row with your other leg and your arms.
Having to avoid using one part of your body isn’t an excuse to avoid training the rest of your body. In fact, by training the limb on your non-injured side, there is evidence that there are positive effects even at the injured limb. Continuing to train around an injury can help you maintain your fitness and stay as healthy as possible. If you get hurt, don’t let all your hard work come to a halt, there’s plenty of other things you can be doing in the gym while you recover.
If you need help navigating your injury, Shore Strength Physical Therapy and Sports Performance is here to help. E-mail us at ezra@shorestrengthpt.com