Here are some Do's and Don'ts to help you when you're dealing with an injury.
DO:
Adjust Accordingly- Modify your workouts to around the injury. If you injure your lower body do an upper body workout or vice versa. Or lower the impact with something like swimming can be a great idea, but it also gets your heart rate up.
Focus on Recovery- Use a foam roller and a lacrosse ball, use heat before the workout or ice the area after, visit your chiropractor or massage therapist, or do yoga. Remember to do a proper warm up before and stretch after your workout.
Know When to Stop- This may seem obvious, but listen to your body so you don’t make the injury worse! Don’t push through the pain.
Ask a Doctor- Dr. Google is not a medical professional. The internet can help to an extent, but get diagnosed if you do not know what is going on before you start working out with the injury. Whether you see a MD, Physical Therapist, Chiropractor, or even a Personal Trainer. Get evaluated!
Eat Well- Some foods can either promote inflammation or have an anti-inflammatory effect. For example, fried and processed foods are inflammatory promoters which you should try your best to stay away from during this time. Anti-inflammatories such as ginger, avocado, berries, and raw veggies can speed up the healing process instead.
DON’T:
Don't Quit - Don’t use the injury as an excuse to not workout! Take a few days off at the start. Then remove aggravating exercises and modify your workouts while working through pain-free range of motion with the injured part.
Don’t Ignore Conditioning- Aerobic exercise speeds up recovery by allowing blood flow around the injured area, removing waste, and regenerating cells. Doing this 2-3 days a week is ideal.
Don’t Completely Ignore the Injured Site- When comfortable, you should stress the injured area. Use common sense. Movement at low intensity and reasonable volume will increase blood flow around the site and promote scar tissue development that will allow the area to handle more stress in the future (as soon as you are healed).
Don’t Create Imbalances- For example, if you injure one arm and only train the other arm, you can potentially set yourself up for imbalance issues if you really overwork the one arm. You can focus more on training your lower body and core instead.
Don’t Pick Up Where You Left Off- If you jump back into training at the same level you were at right before the injury, you are very likely to get hurt again. Start slowly and conservatively, avoiding agitating exercises.
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