How To Exercise When You’re Injured
Part of our mission is to empower people to seek movement as much as possible no matter the circumstance. There are very few circumstances in which movement is not possible and beyond that, not helpful. The key is knowing how to adapt our exercises based on our life circumstances.
In this post we will discuss ideas on how to approach exercise when you’re dealing with an injury. We will lay things out thoroughly, in consideration of those who have never been injured. For those of you who have had injuries before, the steps may seem obvious, but we want to ensure inclusivity as incurring an injury for the first time can be panic-inducing and confusing.
Mike and I both previously worked in a multi-disciplinary setting because we know that it is indeed a spectrum of care that yields the best recovery results for people dealing with injuries or chronic pain. Now, working in preventative healthcare and strength training, we still work with clients who occasionally get injured.
Step 1. After the injury happens, it is helpful to get an assessment and diagnosis from a doctor or other qualified practitioner. This will usually entail movement screens, manual manipulation tests of the affected area and/or imaging like MRIs or X-rays.
Step 2. Then you are likely to be referred to a physiotherapist to start some rehabilitation exercises. These exercises should be a major focus and consistent priority in the initial phases post-injury. If surgery is recommended for repair of the injured tissue, then these exercises may act as pre-operation preparatory exercises. And if surgery is not required, then you’ve begun the tireless task of healing and regaining function from the injury.
Step 3. Once you have progressed from physiotherapy and/or rehab from surgery, you are usually functional and hopefully pain-free, but it is with continued training that you will gain strength and confidence to avoid re-injury in the future. Your tissue has been compromised and knocked down a few pegs, so it’s worth putting extra work into building up its’ resilience. It’s important to continue frequent strength training to build up the tissue and its capacities.
If you are in the delightful process of rehabbing an injury, here are some tips:
Continue to train the rest of your body. This will have a positive impact on the recovering body part because of increased blood flow, improving your mood overall and thus mindset towards the injury.
Manage energy when exercising. A lot of energy is being put towards healing so decreasing the intensity, or duration of exercise sessions is recommended.
Patience and awareness are key. Depending on the duration of your recovery, you may experience some compensations due to altered movement patterns. Your body may accumulate tension in areas surrounding the injury or even on the opposite side of the body. Understand that your rehab process will have layers to it and other areas of the body may also be affected. Foam rolling is an amazing practice to help you manage tension. Here is a blogpost on the other benefits of foam rolling.
Avoid putting a deadline on your recovery. It won’t be linear. Take it day by day and do what’s in your control. You’ll know when you are back to a place of being able to do all the things you love.
Consult a movement coach if you need guidance with knowing what exercises would be appropriate during the progression of your rehab. A coach will also be able to help you adapt your recovery depending on how it’s going.
Prove to yourself you are able to do all the movements you need to before returning to sport or activity. Get a movement coach to check your form.
From 2018-2019 I volunteered at a non-profit called MOVE Adapted Fitness & Rehabilitation Society in Victoria, BC. This facility provides a supportive environment with specialized equipment safe for all individuals to access physical activity and exercise, no matter their circumstance. They help a lot of people with various conditions but not limited to things like stroke, multiple sclerosis, paraplegia etc. Although they do have special equipment like hand bikes and counterweight sit-to-stand machines, it’s truly the members that attend who inspire others to keep moving.
Concussions have specific considerations unlike other injuries. Since it is an injury to the brain, this means that symptoms will greatly vary and thus the recovery protocol will as well. Here is another blogpost about exercising for brain health.
If you’d like to read about how I navigated an ACL injury, this blogpost outlines my experience.
Let us know if the above guidelines and tips help you in your injury recovery!
