Training while injured.

SideSteel

Injuries suck.

Depending on what it is, you could be out for a few days, a few weeks, or several months. And if fitness is a big part of your life, that injury could be taking away something that gives you a great amount of satisfaction.

I've had multiple back injuries that have taken me out of competition twice in 2014, a grade 1 hamstring tear in late 2014 and a grade 1 rectus femoris strain about 10 weeks ago.

Disclaimer: I am not a physical therapist. I'm also not claiming to know a lot about optimal rehab procedures but this article isn't about rehab. That being said, here are some very general recommendations that will hopefully put you a bit more at ease.


1) If needed, get help from the appropriately trained medical professional.

It's beyond my scope to make actual rehab recommendations but if you've got the resources, it's generally a good idea to err on the side of caution and get things examined by someone who IS qualified to diagnose and treat. And if it's possible, getting someone who actually lifts can be helpful.


2) No Pain, no pain.

In other words, if it hurts while you're doing a certain lift, stop. My experience tells me that training through the pain can at best, prolong your recovery and at worst, re-injure yourself. You also run the risk of injuring something else because what used to be a great squat is now a hesitant, poorly executed mess because you're trying to train through the injury and your movement quality suffers.


3) Get adequate sleep. You MIGHT experience better pain tolerance when well rested and even if you don't, you'll probably feel better about your situation.


4) This one is big. Focus on what you CAN do rather than focusing on what you can't do.

Injuries are a mental struggle, and it's really easy to get down in the dumps thinking about those deadlifts that you can't do, and that's not a good spot to be in.

Getting on a program that works around the injury gives you something positive to focus on, and often you can still make plenty of progress on different movements.

And sometimes you can still cover muscle groups adequately depending on the injury. For example, a back injury might prevent you from low bar back squatting but you might be able to front squat or goblet squat pain-free.

Don't get so caught up in a few particular exercises that you lose sight of all sorts of other fun exercises you could learn, and get good at.

And if you're injured badly enough that you can't train at all, then don't lose sight of the fact that you have all these other wonderful aspects of life that exist outside of the walls of the gym. You have wonderful friends, family, and fun things to do and see that have nothing to do with how well you can fight gravity.

There is more to life than lifting, and those barbells and plates will be waiting for you when you're ready.

And I can't stress this last point enough.

Willbenchforcupcakes

Very well said, SideSteel.

As someone who has spent the last 5 months rehabbing an injury and the underlying muscle imbalance, I agree whole heartedly.

I miss my heavy squats and deads, but I know the best way to get back to them long term is to not push until I'm in pain, either there in the moment or later in the day (and I've only pulled once in the last 10 weeks). It's hard to remind myself that all I am doing is keepin my movement patterns intact so that I'm not fighting that battle when I'm fully rehabbed.

But in that time, I've gone from bench being fun but a third rate lift, to being my favourite. I've learnt to appreciate the fact that not pushing hard on squats and deads leaves me able to push brutally hard on bench.

I'm hungry and eager to get back to three lift, but I know the best way to stay in three lift is to give myself the time to properly and fully rehab.