Injuries and setbacks getting better

I have a bucket load of injuries to my back, knees and ankles that are permanent and impact a lot of what I am able to physically do. I have found that with my weight loss so far the chronic pain has improved and that in itself is motivation to keep going, but I've also incorporated a lot of weight training into my program which has given me a lot more basic strength that I didn't realise I was missing. One bit of advice I can offer is to look into weight training over cardio, while cardio helps to burn fat, weight training helps to build muscle which burns fat more effectively and its amazing how much better I feel after a good weights workout over a cardio session!

Best advice I can offer is to see an Exercise Physiologist, they can assess your injuries and tell you which exercises to stay away from, and which exercises will help. Or how to modify exercises so that you can still get the most out of it but with no risk of further injury. They will give you advice on how to protect the area that is injured(correct strapping) and also how to alleviate any stress after a workout like swelling and inflammation.

I'd also see a quality PT who can run you through a workout, whether at home or at the gym and give you some new things to try week to week so that you're not getting bored and your body doesn't get used to the same exercises etc Mixing it up helps a lot!

Good luck!

i think the key is to be honest about your limitations. o guess part of the problem is that many people don;t actually know what their limits are or know when they are close to a threshhold.

when you get to the point where you are in pain then that's your body's way of saying STOP and recover.

case in point i have an old injury from when i played rugby years ago. i tweaked it again last year when i challenged myself to do 100 pushups in 10 minutes. by the time i reached 85 my shoulder was saying it was time to stop, yet i wanted to finish those last 15 to reach my goal. i ended up in a sling for a few days because it hurt to move my arm in anyway. it also took about 2 weeks post sling until i could comfortably raise my arm overhead. now i make sure to build rehab movements into my workout

for ankle injuries weight loss helps but there are also lots of rehab movements you can do. you can also try running in the pool or on a trampoline as that will help get rid of some of the impact.

final advice is to always always use proper form when performing exercises. i see many people on here get knee and back issues, blame it on the exercise bit majority of time it's probably because they are using incorrect form.

I know all about setbacks and injury. I'm 4 months 1 day into recovering from a completely shattered ankle (3 shattered bones in the ankle, torn ligaments, broken foot, torn ligaments in foot and big toe) and I'm still banned from high impact activities that I'm used to, such as running and zumba. I've just taken up what I am able to do at this point, which is weight training and yoga. The yoga, along with physical therapy and weight lifting are really helping me regain my range of motion and I'm hoping that I can begin running again in the early spring.

Experiment until you find something that works for you. Weight lifting has been a god-send for me. I'm losing inches (not really any pounds, but I don't care about that as long as my pants fit!) and my mental attitude is a million times better thanks to working out.