Thou Shalt NOT Be Injured: The 10 Commandments For Injury Recovery & Prevention To Gain The Stre

So the worse thing possible just happened?

You were working out and you felt this 'twinge' in your shoulder. It felt a little strange, you stopped for a second, shook it off, thought it wasn't anything major and kept working out. The pain continued. You're now noticing it hurts with movement. You later found that you tore your rotator cuff!

This is how many injuries come about. Nevertheless, as with any physical activity, the risk of injury is there. If you’ve lifted weights for any amount of time, you know someone that has gotten hurt. Or you may know someone who have gotten injured from years of torture to their body from some sort of sport or competition. Oh and let’s not forget unfortunate injuries from some sort of accident like slips or falls, motor vehicle accidents etc.

Unfortunately injuries just happens!

Take one of my clients Andrea for instance!

She has suffered from many injuries over the last 2 decades after being in high-level sports most of her life. Her body had taken a beating for many years, which later left her easily injury prone. Unfortunately, many athletes like Andrea are trained to WIN not necessarily trained prevent injuries.

In sports, injury is like a known thing that can happen and is sometimes treated as if “we’ll worry about it if it happens, just give it all you got and WIN the game/competition/tournament” kind of theory.

Sounds familiar to any of you?

Although, there are some efforts implied to prevent injuries like warm-up, stretching and recovery, at some point an injury may occur. Some athletes are more injury prone than others depending on the sport, genetics, the duration of training, etc.

An injury doesn't mean it is quitting time. It means it's time to toughen up and get smart, so you can heal the injury fast and keep your fitness progress in ACTION.

But.....

What can you do to dodge the “INJURY BULLET” and keep your results coming without risking getting re-injured?

My friends, I bring to you....

10 COMMANDMENTS FOR INJURY RECOVERY & PREVENTION.

I hope that these commandments shall help you to recover swiftly from injuries and prevent from getting injured again.

Let's start off at the top!

1. Thou Shall Learn From Your Mistakes

If your injury was one of those bizarre accidents (you did some extreme sport, went bull riding or running from a bull), that's one thing, but if the injury occurred from your training method, exercise technique or lifestyle choices, then you need to get to the source of the issue. Even if you had one of those "It came out of nowhere" kind of injuries where you picked up a plant or sneezed and blew your back out, you really need to figure the source. What is the point of trying to apply solutuions, if you don't know the problem? If you don't find the root cause the injury and start working on the other areas you might make things worse or allow the problem to resurface.

Don't let your ego take you down and be to proud to seek medical attention. If you need to see a doctor, physical therapy or any other specialist, DO IT! If you catch the cause early, you'll save yourself more money, time and pain in the long run.

2. Thou Shall Adjust Your Diet

DO NOT...I REPEAT DO NOT become a victim to self-pity and begin to binge eat because of your injury. We all know injury sucks and we can easily let our emotions take over, but your diet is 80% of your results. Being injured and temporarily inactive is only 20% of the work. So DO NOT self-sabotage with over eating. Adjust your nutrition eat according to your injury and current activity level. You can still maintain a great physique or lose those pounds you want with a proper diet. As long as your diet matches your activity level, you'll be fine!

Remember my client Andrea???.....

On the left is just a few months after she started training with me and on the right is actually about 10months post injury she still was recovering and just getting back to adding light to moderate weights into her program.

She maintained her physique throughout her yearlong recovery and actually got an even more chiseled core during the road of recovery. Your body could use the switch up every once in a while and sometimes an injury is a blessing in disguise. We sometimes run our body like a machine and your injury could be your body calling quits from overworking it so much. So embrace the recovery time could be exactly what your body needs.

3. Thou Shall Not Ignore Thy Injury

You absolutely, positively MUST rehabilitate your injury. Yes, it can be challenging may even hurt, but you will get back to your previous fitness levels much faster if you push through the pain and perform the recommended therapy exercises.

4. Thou Shall Seek Professional Assistance

To piggy back off the 3rd commandment. Please do not ignore your injury or think it’s nothing and it will get better. If you feel pain go to a doctor and if recommended to see a specialist such as orthopedic or physical therapist, be sure to DO SO! The sooner you see someone to help and recover from injury the quicker your recovery. If you rehabilitate properly this also helps reduce your risk of becoming reinjured.

5. Thou Shall Not Be A Couch Potato

Ok so let me clarify something really quick here before anyone takes this the wrong way and bites my head off. People often do nothing after an injury and when they feel better, they just suffer another injury because their muscles were left unattended for weeks on end. Don't let your recovery become stagnant. Depending on the injury and doctor’s recommendation you should rest and maybe take some time off from exercising. However, it is important that you NOT become INACTIVE! If you are capable to do some form of movement, light to moderate exercise you need to do so.

Yes! REST is super important, but once the injured area feels healed (no more pain through a full range of motion), start to slowly get back into training again. Work with lighter weights and see how you feel the next day, and gradually work back into your normal routine. Staying in communication with your practitioner to what you CAN and CANNOT do is great. Working with a fitness trainer that is knowledgeable of injuries is a plus as well!

6. Thou Shall Warm Up Properly

A proper warm up routine should increase body temperature and bring blood to the muscles that are about to be trained. For decades many people tend to do Static Stretching (stretches held for 10 or more seconds) before exercising believing it to be a “proper warm up,” when in fact they do not bring blood to the muscles and has been shown to impair speed and strength, and injuries.

Static stretches actually lengthens and elongates the muscles and are intended for AFTER exercising. Dynamic Stretching (movement as you stretch) is the proper way to warm up prior to exercising. Movements such as high kicks, jumping jacks, knee to chest, lunges, walk outs, glute bridges etc., are all forms of dynamic stretches that properly activates the muscles prior to workout, improves range of motion, and improves muscular performance and power. (VIEW A FORMER BLOG POST AND VIDEO HERE ON HOW TO WARM UP BEFORE SQUATS)

7. Thou Shall Do Strength Training

As I stated the benefits of strength training in a previous blog post. Read more here

Once cleared from the doctor and you feel confident with slowly bringing strength training back into your workout regimen, your recovery may speedy up and I would not be surprised if you exceed your performance, power and strength prior to your injury. Of course this varies by person and injury.

But this is exactly what took place with my client, Andrea!

In the video below you will see her deadlifting 85lbs (with great form might I add) POST-INJURY, just a few short weeks of starting strength training again. She's lifting better and heavier than she did prior to her injury. In less than 2 weeks span, she increased her weight in deadlifts by 20lbs. SO MY FRIENDS THERE IS HOPE!

Pretty Good Huh?!

8. Thou Shall Be Mindful Of Your Movements

Know what area you need to protect and not overstress it.

This is also the perfect time to get started on a specialized workout program to target any weaker and non-injured areas of your body that you want to build up and strengthen. This is also known as foundation training. Yoga and Pilates may also be great as well depending on what you are capable of doing. Allow the injured area to heal and recover, but again be sure to honor Commandment and not allow the rest of your body to slack off!

9. Thou Shall Listen To Your Body

If something is hurting, stop your set. Don’t try to push through pain. If you experience pain, stop your set. If an exercise always bothers you, do something else. Realize that pain is a warning that something is wrong, and if you don’t listen to it, serious injury can follow.

10. Thou Shall Be Patient

Your body naturally works hard to recover, and if you ask too much of it, it will shut down on you. You might risk re-injuring yourself or inhibiting your body's ability to recover. Do not jump back into intense workouts trying to muscle through the injury. Slowly re-introduce your workouts back into your program. This prevents repeated injury and will allow for increased strength. Your body will know how intense and how long you can manage, just be sure to listen to it.

If you follow these 10 commandments you shall recover in no time and become even stronger than you were before.

Are you injured or recovery from an injury?

and want to get active again, but need a

Fitness Professional to assist you??

or

Looking for a Fitness Trainer?

If you are in the NYC area

email me directly info@Lcfitsyou.com

Ok guys that's about it. For those that are injured out there wishing you a speedy recovery.

Share this post with all your workout buddies or someone who is currently injured or help them from getting re-injured!

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​To Your Well-Being,

LC

Certified Fitness Trainer | Holistic Wellness & Detox Coach

Read more about LC's background and credentials here

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Thanks for Swinging By!