Maintaining fitness while rehabbing a sports-related injury

Sports-related injuries are the worst.

When I started incorporating weight training into my exercise routine, I made sure I'd nailed down the proper form of the exercises before adding weight and more compound movement. Of course I wanted the benefit of resistance training, but I wanted to avoid injury, as well. I learned the value of mobility training and dynamic warmups to further decrease my chances of tweaking something.

And yet, here I am: recovering from a hamstring pull. The truth is, no matter how conditioned we are, we still put ourselves at risk for injury every time we workout. The level of risk increases or decreases depending on the activity, and the benefits almost always outweigh the risks, BUT...my point is, no one is immune and you shouldn't let an injury sabotage your fitness.

I've never experienced a major sports-related injury (knock on wood), but I have had my fair share of sprains and pulls, like the one I'm nursing now. It's only a minor pull, but if you'd told me when it happened how long it would impede my regular gym routine, I would have laughed. As a result of this injury, I can do very limited to no lower-body work, and even something as restorative as yoga has posed challenges. If you're anything like me, these perceived setbacks can take the wind completely out of your proverbial sails, i.e. make you feel totally defeated.

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In the past, I've given these setbacks the power to destroy my motivation and resolve to workout. Even the Health-usiast isn't immune to feeling more like a Debbie Downer when faced with a sports-related injury! But I've learned that feeling sorry for myself and giving the injury any form of power over me is senseless. Positivity in the face of disappointment breeds a certain type of creativity, and I've applied it to my workouts. Here's what I've done to conquer the desire to wave the white flag:

1) Get to the gym, as much as before. The truth is that that there are so many other things that we can do when injured to maintain our fitness!

2) Mix up the workouts. Since I have to focus on my upper body, I'll break up the workouts into body parts to train on particular days. For example, I'll work on pull strength exercises one day (lat pulldown, cable row, pull ups, etc) and push strength the next (push ups, reverse cable pushdowns, triceps, etc). I'll add a little core in there and maybe some yoga inversion practice to keep things fun!

3) Get creative with acute variables. More reps, less sets, heavier weights, drop sets, circuits, supersets...the possibilities are endless!

4) Self-myofascial release (i.e. foam rolling), and more stretching. I make time before and after my workouts to roll out any sore or tights spots. 

The truth of the matter is that injuries stink because feeling limited in how you can move is frustrating for us health-enthusiasts. But it does no one any favors to become a prisoner of your injury. If I've learned anything while rehabbing this hammie pull is that fitness isn't static; it's dynamic and we have to be adaptable. Also, I will never underestimate the power of mobility training; active, dynamic warmups; rest and restorative activities to prevent injury! We can't be full-steam ahead, 100% of the time. Listen to your body and obey it when it tells you it needs a little R&R, OK!?

The silver lining? As a result of focusing on my upper body more these past several weeks, I can do more pushups, I have more definition in my back and upper arms, and I've maintained my level of fitness. That is an achievement. Plus, I feel like I'm putting my NASM education to work in the real world! I know that this experience will be helpful for when I'm training clients that will inevitably develop injuries that need to be rehabbed. This experience has forced me to learn how to be creative and resourceful--a key attribute for a successful trainer, who must know how to manipulate and modify clients' training programs as needed.

Here's to injury-free, active, health-usiastic lives!