Posted on January 07, 2016 by Jenny Cromack
Injury can be a very frustrating thing for us, especially when fitness, training or sport play such a big part in our lives. It is often seen as a major threat to our goals and progressions which means we often rush ourselves back to training or don’t do enough of the rehabilitation side of things. The problem comes because often we do not know what is best for us and when people tell us to rest we assume that rest means sitting around doing nothing. For very active individuals that is a big no no!
Having experienced my fair share of injuries both personally and in my line of work I have picked up some general tips for getting through an injury effectively with minimal disruption to both goals and your own sanity.
Here are my top tips for injury recovery, they are not specific rehabilitation exercises or injury specific but they are general tips to help you get the most out of your rehab and recovery.
- Don’t Assume Rest Means Do Nothing!
When someone tells you to rest it doesn’t necessarily mean sit and do nothing. Unless specifically told not to do anything (which is very rare) then you can continue some form of exercise. There are always things we can work on when injured such as lower intensity flexibility, mobility, or light strength maintenance work. We can find alternative ways of maintaining our cardio that do not aggravate our injuries. This will all help both keep us sane, keep us in touch with our training, but also make our recovery more effective and minimise our losses.
- Listen To Your Body!
Even though I have suggested continuing some form of exercise you may find that some of them may cause some issues or pain even though we may not expect them to. The body is a very good machine and is very good at protecting itself. It will tell you when you maybe should give something a miss, avoid an exercise, or lower the intensity. Any exercises or activities that cause noticeable pain should be reduced in intensity or avoided for a while until symptoms improve. A little discomfort is normal, your body (I can assure you) will make the distinction between discomfort and pain so listen to it.
- Keep In Touch!
This means several things. It means keep in touch through your fitness and health goals using the first two tips. It also means keep a presence in your gym, sports team, or health professional go there to do your rehab and light exercises. This maintains your social element and will help keep you sane, provide you with support from like-minded people, and also offer you a place to vent your frustrations with people. This is a big one for me, having experienced losing touch with sport through injury it is very, very hard to get back in and feel part of everything again as injury doesn’t just have a physical effect.
- Don’t Rush Back!
The biggest mistake I see (and have made myself) is rushing back to normal as soon as my pain has gone. It may not hurt anymore but you have not been training at the same intensities, or doing the same sorts of activities throughout your injury period. So going straight back to normal is not a great idea and you are likely to see a recurrence of your injury. Make sure you either plan yourself, or get someone to help plan, a progressive return to training or sport plan. This will include a reintroduction of the specific movement patterns, demands, and skills of the activity. This will ensure your competence in these but also highlight any areas associated with the injury that may be affected by these activity specific demands.
Summary
Like we have said injury can be a hugely debilitating and frustrating period of our lives. Don’t let it get the better of you and by following these simple tips along with a sound rehabilitation plan will make sure you get the best out of your recovery, keep your sanity and motivation, but also make it less of a hindrance on your life and training.