Hi everyone,
Today’s post is in response to a question I recently received from LD, one of my Fitbit friends! Hi! LD! Welcome to the Hive Blockchain! I hope that some of what I have written in this post helps!
To get everyone here up to speed, LD had some questions having to do with injury recovery. After some consideration I decided that my answer should be long form and so I am publishing my recommendations to my Hive blog.
If any of you guys and girls have further questions about coming back from an acute or overuse injury commenting down below will prompt a response from me!
Thankyou for reading and your support!
Certified Personal Trainer
Fitness Entrepreneur
Hi LD!
Thank you for asking me about injury and recovery on Fitbit.
I speak from experience as I have been injured before on several occasions. In fact, I limped for 2 years after one particularly bad snowboarding accident in 2005... It was really really bad and of course it happened at the worst time possible, (Is there ever a good time to be hurt?!) right while I was taking a soccer PAC at university. The pain was so bad that I was on crutches on the sidelines for months.
So, LD, I think I know how you must be feeling right now and I’m sorry because by the sounds of things you’re experiencing a great deal of pain right now.
Now here’s the thing I want you to do... Keeping in mind... I’m a personal trainer and not a doctor so all things considered always consult with your physician because, besides yourself, he/she knows your situation best!
Rethink Your Pain.
Ok... back to the pain that you are dealing with. It might not seem intuitive but here’s what I’m thinking about in terms of advice.
This might be hard to wrap your mind around buuut I want you to befriend your pain. It’s a signal. A message from your body that only you can discern so learning to listen carefully... that’s the first step to living a life that's free of injury and pain.
It sounds simple right?
But how? Most of us have lived our whole lives tuning out the discomfort of our bodies for the performance life demands of us... only thing is... the older our bodies get the less forgiving they become.
It’s the second law of thermal dynamics hard at work!
Basically, for things to improve energy and effort has got to go in... otherwise everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) trends towards decay and slips towards a less than optimal state.
But this “Listening to your body” is the tricky part… especially if your not used to doing it!
Listening begins with doing the right sort of activities... and in the right sort of way... because let’s face it! There is a right way and a less than right way to do things when it comes to putting your body through it's paces.
Performing exercise with the strictest of form keeps the integrity of the joints from being compromised. In addition muscles atrophy and loose mass around the joints specifically if they are not challenged through their full range of movement. The joints respond by protecting themselves.
How do they do that? By tightening up all of the surrounding connective tissue further limiting range of motion around the joint.
These things happen gradually over time and they usually sneak up on the unsuspecting. Someone who’s been less than aware or honest with themselves (i.e. Not listening to the feedback their bodies are giving them.) will often find themselves in for a rude surprise!
That’s when the resulting weak links are eventually exposed and injuries are likely to happen. If not via an acute event it will happen through overuse of the unstable structure.
How To Deal With An Injury: Step By Step
Step 1
Be honest. Tell yourself the truth. Example: I had to admit to myself that if I continued to snowboard down black diamond mountain peaks on the weekends... I was going to be injured. Even professional snowboarders who take on the slopes every day commonly face injury. Being a weekend warrior, I was lying to myself and that’s why I got hurt that day.
Step 2
Forgive yourself. If you’re going to do something about the situation you have got to completely focus on moving forward. You can’t do that by staying frustrated with yourself and with the past. Learning from what's happened is vital but you can’t stay there. Action is the only way to get an injury(s) like these ones under control. And by action I don’t mean doing anything extreme! Forgiving yourself is going to get you in the mindset required to let you take the right measure of action.
Step 3
Set daily goals that you can compound. Small #wins that can add up to monumental ones! As I like to tell my clients. The way to turn cobwebs into cables is with small but consistent action applied daily without fail! Failing to plan is to plan to fail. So, what sort of goals are we talking about here? Goals that you can literally grab onto!
Step 4
You are only as strong as your grip strength. If you can not pick it up then you had better not attempt to lift it! If you can not smoothly and effectively move the weight through the normal range of motion for a minimum of 12 repetitions (6 if your uninjured) then either the weights your using are not right or the exercise your doing is not right.
Knowing yourself is the sort of experience required to effectively train your body without injuring it. Most people have no idea how much weight they should be lifting or what exercises they should be doing. In fact, if a strong wind blew them onto the ground how many people do you know who know how many times they could pick themselves off the ground? Not many right?! 😳
So! Starting light and starting easy. This is the way... and where there’s a Wil there is always a way! 😉
Giving yourself time to listen to your body... yes you have BIG GOALS... but Rome wasn’t built in a day and your best you isn’t going to be either! Focus on moving your joints through their FULL range of motion with just as much focus on the eccentric phase (elongating) as the concentric phase (shortening) of the movement. All you want to do is build integrity into the joint so that it will release the tension around it's effected points.
Until you have reached this level of fundamental strength and body understanding there isn’t any advantage to lifting heavier weights so start small and work your way up patiently. Trust me! This is the fastest way to recovery and the fastest way to bring out the strongest version of yourself!
Annnnnnnd... one more thing! If you did this step without a proper warm-up... STOP RIGHT NOW! Warming up BEFORE you workout is injury prevention 101! Normally a 5 to 10 min. warm-up is adequate... but if you’re dealing with injuries... That means you are going to need to build an additional 15 to 20 min. into your workout for your warm up! Yeah! You heard me right! 15 to 20 min. and nothing less.
Step 5
More about form: Watch carefully in the mirror while completing each repetition. If you are unable to complete the movement with the strictest form 2 consecutive times in a row you had better stop immediately.
It’s not about how many reps you’re doing but, rather, it’s about the intensity you are expending and the range of motion that your able to move through.
Injury recovery is all about switching from a reps and weight focused workout to a functional dynamic workout. By moving those effected joints through their full range, you are becoming strong throughout the entire movement. Where the movement is hardest… That’s the place where weak links will show up over time especially if your in the bad habit of not listening to the feedback that your body is giving you.
Step 6
So, I mentioned weak links, right? Well, these are certainly something to watch out for. When exercises are not completed with an attention to FULL range of motion weak links will develop. (It’s only a matter of time!) Add to that an injury and weak links can produce chronic problems along the entire kinetic chain.
You can find a weak link by selecting a moderately heavy weight. (Not to heavy but not to light either.) Pick any exercise that you do regularly and then move extremely slowly through the range of motion.
Where is the movement easiest?
Where is it most difficult?
This is where your weak link is hiding!
Another way to assess your right to left weak links is to select an exercise that can be done independently on each side of your body. Example: Single Arm curls on the right and on the left.
Count your reps (beginning with your supposed weak side first) and go until you can not maintain correct form and full range of motion. Then repeat the exercise on the other side.
How many can you do on your left as apposed to your right?
Is there a significant difference or are they exactly the same?
This will inform you where exactly your week link are. If there is a form break it is the weak side that will break first and it is also the weak side that will likely sustain an injury as well... not the strong side. Strength and proportional balance is therefore paramount to not only injury prevention but also injury recovery. Taking the time to take those readings from the performance of your body will inform your recovery. It’s worth doing and it’s worth doing right! Right?!
Step 7
Stretching is just as important as lifting weights and doing cardio. As you progress in chronological age keeping your body in a younger state is all about taking time to stretch after every workout. Never skip stretching and lengthening your muscle fibers after spending effort shortening them during exercise. There is always enough time to stretch… because, trust me, there’s never time to deal with an injury!
Be sure to hold those stretches past the 20 second mark as this vastly improves flexibility and allows the joint to move past the initial stretch reflex; a protective neural response from the autonomous nervous system which protects the joint from moving past a safe range of motion. This is why many people struggle to actually improve their flexibility. They just don't hold the stretch long enough to get it's full benefit.
No bouncing during the stretch. Slow dynamic (moving stretches) and static (in place) stretches only!
After workouts, stretching for 5 to 10 min. is ideal... however!!! If your injured... you absolutely must make more time to stretch not less. Skipping out and hurrying will only lead to less than optimized results and more than likely injuries that will set you back!
Always stretch after your workouts and not before! You want to warm up to prepare the muscles and joints before pushing those fibers to their full extent.
Ever see what happens in a car accident in minus winter temperatures? Anything that’s cold has a high likelihood of flying to pieces. It doesn’t take much to fit in stretching into your routine and avoiding what can go wrong with a thorough warm-up is of course wise.
Step 8
Repeat each of these steps every day until the pain you are dealing with alleviates (or completely disappears!) This is a practice mindset after-all.
And... If your pain doesn’t disappear then this injury may be a lifelong one. This is not a bad thing. Remember… Make your injury a friend rather than an enemy. An example of this is how I used my snowboarding injury to drive me rather than hinder me. If I slip up and do not stay disciplined with my health and fitness the pain from the injury will signal me. It’s a constant reminder for me to prioritize this aspect of my well-being... and if I want to avoid limping again... believe me I listen to my body!
Another consideration... you may want to seek out medical help in the form of surgery... but if it was me... I would try everything in my power first before going down this path.
Surgical procedures certainly are getting more and more sophisticated and doctors are becoming more and more skilled with their methods... but more oft than naught a surgery can be just as life changing (positively or negatively) as the initial injury you are dealing with!
Proceed with caution and make sure that you are fully informed and have tried every common-sense avenue first!
I learned a lot first hand dealing with my injury. That second where I got hurt changed everything. I went through all the roller-coaster emotions and I learned some very painful lessons as I limped along those 2 years following my snowboarding injury. Those were painful times and boy did I suffer!
But, with hard work and dogged determination, I eventually recovered! I now do not feel pain at my injury site... and I am able to do things that I NEVER thought I would ever be able to do! Things like running a marathon on the Great Wall of China... in barefoot running shoes!
[May 2012 - almost 9 Years Ago]
I’m going to share my marathon on the Great Wall of China story sometime this year... When? That completely depends on you guys and girls!
Would you like to hear this story?!
Incidentally it’s one of the major influencing factors to my development of @AdventureReady, the #Win & #AutomaticWin Initiative’s, and the Win System!
Leave a comment bellow! If I get enough interest I’ll fast track things!
Ok LD! This is my advice for dealing with injuries and I hope that my story has given you the boost you need to take action! Having a clear strategy for dealing with injuries gave me hope when I was hurt and I sincerely hope that this post helps you as well!
The pain that you are experiencing can and will affect your mindset & well-being in unexpected ways… Please know that I am here to support and help in whatever ways that I can. I have been where you are and I care so please reach out whenever you need to!
In health & recovery,
Certified Personal Trainer
Fitness Entrepreneur
@Actifit
@AdventureReady
@BeachReady
@OneMoreNutrition
@EveryStepCounts
And the creative mind behind the Win System and the #HighFive Initiative!
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