Though exercising has a nearly limitless amount of benefits, the occasional injury occurs to even the most in-shape athlete. As much as you try to stay healthy, injuries can happen to anyone. While it’s crucial to give your body the rest it deserves so that it can properly heal, getting exercise while injured is still a possibility with a few modifications to your daily workout routine.
Keeping your body moving while still protecting your injury can even help you recover faster and maintain your level of fitness. While it’s always advised to listen to your doctor’s advice depending on your injury, here are a few ways you can be smart about still getting exercise while injured.
Benefits of Training Through an Injury
While taking a few days off to let your body recover after an injury is the best remedy, for some people that’s not always an option. In fact, it might even be counterintuitive to the injury itself. One of the many benefits that come with training through an injury is that is sometimes can reduce some of your injury’s symptoms.
As a response to your injury, inflammation will often occur in the injured area to promote healing. This can cause the injured muscle to become stiff or weak as the tissue regenerates. Exercising other muscles in your body can help minimize muscle atrophy, while also keeping the tissue strong and flexible while it heals.
Tips for Exercising Through Injuries
Adjust Your Routine
Once you’ve determined that your injury will hamper your strength and conditioning routine, adjust your fitness schedule until your injury subsides. If you have an injured knee, for example, stay away from workouts that will cause an impact on your legs, such as lunges, squats, and leg machines. You can still focus on your upper body, as well as your core, but modifying your physical training can allow your injury to heal while remaining active in other areas.
Know Your Limitations
We’ve all heard the saying, “No pain, no gain.” While it sounds great, nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, exercise does cause occasional soreness when you push your body to get stronger, but you should not be experiencing excruciating pain while doing so.
This is why it’s essential to know your body’s limits, especially once you’ve determined your injury is past the point of being stiff or sore. Some days will require you to take it easy. You can still workout, but you can avoid further injury by listening to your body and knowing which areas to avoid until fully healed.
Listen to Your Doctor
Ultimately, a medical professional is the best way to seek advice following an injury. Your doctor can tell you whether or not you should stop certain activities while you heal, or if you can modify your current routine in some way. Additionally, your doctor can even offer you new programs to help you heal and stay active at the same time. If your injury is extreme, they might also refer you to a physical therapist who can help relieve your injury and strengthen other areas of your body.
Great Workouts for Back and Shoulder Injuries
Back and shoulder injuries are two of the most common injuries that occur while exercising and can also be some of the most difficult to recover from due to their everyday use. While you should first consult with your doctor before resuming exercise following an injury, below are a few great workout routines you can implement into your current schedule if you’re currently experiencing any pain in your back or shoulder areas.
Each exercise should be performed three to four times for 30-60 seconds each with 15 seconds of rest between activity.
Back Exercises
- Wall Sit
- Partial Crunches
- Chest Press
- Hamstring Stretches
- Overhead Press
- Knee to Chest
- Back Extensions
- Leg Extension Machine
- Pelvic Tilts
- Lat Pulldown
Shoulder Exercises
- Shoulder Circles
- Standing Row
- Bent-Over Row
- Reverse Fly
- Lawnmower Pull
- Internal/External Rotations
- Elbow Extensions
- Single-Arm Chest Press
- Incline Push-Up
- Plank Shoulder Taps
As I said, it is important to consult with a professional if you are injured before doing any exercise routine. They can help you get back to 100% and get back to your routine pain-free. Click below to request an appointment so you can get back to being you as soon as possible.
[vc_row][vc_column][vcex_button url=”https://drchrisharlan.com/contact-us/request-an-appointment/” size=”medium” align=”center”]Schedule an Appointment[/vcex_button][/vc_column][/vc_row]