Do you ever convince yourself that you can’t exercise because you have an ankle / hip / foot / knee / back / shoulder / elbow / neck injury?
As much as 80% of clients who come to me for Personal Training are carrying a knock or injury that they have had for months or maybe even years.
(If you have an injury, niggle, pain, or ache, go to a PHYSIO. Don’t be a hero or think that it’ll get better on its own. If it’s been more than 10 days and it’s not better, get it seen to.)
Make Exercises your Own
With that being said, there is almost always a way to keep exercising and moving, even if you have to adapt exercises or scale them to suit your situation.
If your shoulder is sore, it means (that you need it seen to by a physio) you can still do lower body movements.
If your back is sore (again, get it seen to) figure out what you can still do – maybe it’s hill walking, biking, body weight movements etc. If it hurts, don’t do it.
If your knee is sore, you can still work your upper body – weight training, battling ropes, boxing etc. Again, if it hurts, don’t do it.
Is it your technique or your anatomy?
If one particular exercise hurts you, look closer at what you’re doing to make sure it’s not your technique. If your technique is solid, adapt the exercise to suit your anatomy.
Perhaps back squats don’t suit you and front squats or weighted belted squats, or split squats would be better.
Maybe straight bar deadlifts don’t suit you and the trap bar is preferable.
If running hurts your knees, check your technique or try swimming or cycling instead.
Don’t just lie on the couch with Netflix on and give up moving altogether – you need a healthy balance between working and resting in order to rehabilitate effectively.
Don’t let your knock hold you back or stop you moving while you heal. Be creative. Think about how you can adapt the exercise and chat to your physio to help with this.